Olympic Day celebrations were held in June with a run through Road Town and The Valley. Photo: BVIOC

It was particularly exciting to conclude the bumper year of games with a Gold medal win by long jumper Chantel Malone at the CAC Games. Photo: BVIOC

The Virgin Islands was represented at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China in August. Photo: BVIOC

A total of 24 athletes represented the VI with participation in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia (February), the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland (July – August), the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China (August), and the Veracruz 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mexico (November). It was particularly exciting to conclude the bumper year of games with a Gold medal win by long jumper Chantel Malone at the CAC Games.

Community-wide events hosted by the BVIOC included the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay in April which brought the community together in a 2-day, public relay through Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, and Virgin Gorda; Olympic Day celebrations in June with a run through Road Town and The Valley; and the BVIOC partnership with the BVI Health and Wellness Council to promote the Walk/Run for Health campaign with a pledge of $30,000, sourced through the Olympic Solidarity programme, to support a three-year campaign to encourage VI residents to increase their physical activity.

The BVIOC hosted the ZEUS workshop on how to organize, develop, and plan for regional, national and international sporting competitions. 13 National Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Games Association delegates from the Caribbean and Canada attended the 2-day workshop.

Activities with National Federations included the first National Sport Structure contract signed between the BVIOC and the Virgin Islands Volleyball Association. The financial support of $30,000 was offered through the Olympic Solidarity Organisation to all National Federations as an opportunity to review their sport’s existing programme and to manage a development programme from Primary School through National Junior Teams.

Through the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees and Toronto 2015 (CANOC/TO2015), and the Elite Athletes Programme via the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) a volunteer leader, and coaches from Athletics, Taekwondo, and Swimming attended workshopsin Grenada, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Colorado.

Squash took advantage of the Pan-American Festival to benefit from athletic preparation for participation in the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The BVIOC, in conjunction with the Brazilian Olympic Committee / Olympic Solidarity selected Mr Derwin Scatliffe, Athletic Director of the Elmore Stoutt High School, to attend the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Exchange and Cooperation Programme in Mexico.

Athletes became beneficiaries of Olympic Solidarity Programmes with Rio 2016 Scholarships awarded to Alec Anderson and Christopher Brockbank for Sailing,  Elinah Phillip for Swimming, and Chantel Malone and Eldred Henry for Track and Field.

On November 1, the BVIOC marked 30 years of the VI’s participation in regional and international Games with a reception that honoured the first Olympians to represent the territory and also acknowledged all 25 of the territory’s Olympians.

Other notable achievements for 2014 included continuing with promoting Sports for All through the Walk for Health and Swimming though the KATS Swimming programme; advisingGovernment on the Virgin Islands National Sport Policy; establishing an Elite Athlete programme in collaboration with Ministry of Education and setting up aQuarterly meeting between the BVIOC members with the Minister of Sports.

The BVIOC also made big strides in expanding the VI’s Anti-Doping Programme to ensure that the territory is in full compliance with the 2015 Code. The VI now has 2 certified Doping Control Officers (DCOs) who attended aResult Management workshop in Guyana in February and re-trained online in October. The DCOs conducted 9 out-of-competition testings during the year. Educational programs were carried out at the National Basketball tournament and at the Olympic Day Run at Tortola Sports Cub.

The BVIOC President and Treasurer ended the organisation’s year of commitments by attending the 2^nd Americas Best Practice Symposium hosted in Miami by PASO and the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and Olympic Solidarity. The symposium enabled national Olympic committee leaders to exchange knowledge and experience and discuss athlete development, resource allocation and branding.

Upcoming 2015/2016 activities, and programmes include the enforcement of the 2015 World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list; hosting the 2016 Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO) Board meeting in Tortola; rolling out 16, LIMA 2019/CANOC 2015-2018 Workshops Agreements, and supporting the 2015 BVI National UNESCO Education Project.

Games of 2015 and 2016 include Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games in Canada from July 10 – 26, Chef de Mission Xavier Dag Samuels; Samoa 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games from 5-12 September, Chef de Mission Angeleta Bernard; and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil from August 5-21, 2016 - Chef de Mission to be decided.

The BVIOC is a not-for profit organization that operates on a year-round basis to provide practical and financial support for the territory’s National Federations and their athletes representing the nation in international games. The BVIOC also represents and promotes the Olympic Movement values of Respect, Excellence, and Friendship.  

The BVIOC relies on a committee of volunteers and an executive director. The current committee comprises President, Ephraim Penn; 1st Vice President, Neville Smith; 2nd Vice President, Roy Barry; Secretary General, Lloyd Black; Treasurer, Mark Chapman; Athlete’s Representative, Sabinah Clement. Cleave Farrington holds the post of Executive Director.