Hon Walwyn bats for Softball in schools
Hon Walwyn’s remarks were made during the Umoja show on ZBVI 780 AM with host Cromwell Smith aka Edju Enka on Thursday February 9, 2017. Other guests on the show were Acting Director of Culture Brenda Lettsome-Tye and Former Legislator Mrs Eileene L. Parsons OBE, speaking on the topic: Self-Determination: What should the territory’s national sports be? Softball or Cricket?
The Minister responsible for Sports was responding to a caller inquiring whether the other major islands in the Virgin Islands will be involved with the revitalisation drive of Softball, which he said has been fading over the years.
According to Hon Walwyn, a promise for a larger and better field was made for these islands and they are still incomplete.
“…But I do see your point, to make sure that on all the sister islands we revive the sport, that we have adequate facilities there. So I take your point and it has to be looked at,” Hon Walwyn said, promising that the outer islands will be part of the process.
Village Softball faces challenges
According to the Minister, they would like people to look at village softball but “it is not that easy”.
He admitted that the fields, with specific mention of Tortola, require attention since their undersized perimeters are some of the disadvantages that the sport currently faces, and although the E. Walwyn Brewley Softball Field in Road Town is the biggest that the VI has, it is still undersized. Minister Walwyn mentioned that some cannot be expanded as the properties adjacent to these fields in Greenland, Sea Cows Bay and in the capital Road Town do not belong to the state.
Softball league to begin in schools
Meantime, to kick start the softball revitalisation process, the Sports Minister informed that Softball Leagues in primary and secondary schools will be one of their priorities this year, with the Primary School League expected to begin in April.
“But I think we can really make some significant progress by trying to implement what we have discussed in terms of really trying to get the schools more involved in it. This is something that Brenda (Lettsome-Tye) and I discussed as part of our work plan for this year already, in the primary and secondary schools to develop leagues there,” he said.
The private schools will also be involved.
Calls for Softball to be made official sport of VI
Meanwhile, many who called in to the programme wanted Softball to be made the official sport of the Virgin Islands.
Persons can also contact the office or email their preference. For more information, call 468-3701 or 468-4949 before the final decision is made by March month end.
“So we are hoping that by the end of March to be able to close this off and take it to the House of Assembly,” Hon Walwyn said.
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7 Responses to “Hon Walwyn bats for Softball in schools”
At its zenith, softball was embedded in most villages. Road Town had up to four or more teams, i.e., Marlins, Astros, Jets, vets, hunters. There were also the Birds from Sea Cow Bay, Blue Wings from Baughers Bay, Hawks and Atoms from East End/Long Look, Clippers ..........etc. Villagers were passionate about and took ownership of their village teams. Centralizing sport in Road Town started the decline. Another contributing factor to the decline is the emergence of other sports, e.g., basketball, soccer.......etc. Moreover, the opportunity to make it to a professional league seems to make sport like basketball more attractive. Yet another contributing factor is the lost of some playing fields, e.g., Baughers Bay field. The disenagagement of former players may be also another factor. How can the sport be revived?
Introducing the sport into public and private secondary and primary schools is a critical start. Other actions can include 1)brining the sport back to villages( decentralizing the sport), 2) sponsotingvillage/district competitions, 3)engaging former players, 4) sponsoring different levels of competition, i.e., senior league, slow/modified pitch league , fast pitch league, 5)construct and maintain modern facilities, 6)keeping accurate stats and establishing a hall of fame, 7)re-engaged villagers ownership of village teams, 8) participate in more international competitions, 9)Celebrate teams overseas and domestic accomplishments, 10)coordinate leagues scheduling with other sports, 11) plan to field team in 2020 summer olympics, 12)establishing training academy .... etc.