Collins, Harrigan-Scott Help Launch BVI Twilight Invitational

Officials launched the BVI Twilight Invitational on Friday, Nov 30, 2012: L-R: Hon. Marlon Penn, Rosalind Leonard, BVI Twilight Association Secretary, Willis "Chucky" Todman, BVI Twilight Association Treasurer, Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway, BVI Athletics Association President, Tahesia Harrigan-Scott, Kim Collins, BVI Twilight Association Chairman, Steve Augustine, Chief Coach, Dag Samuels, Sports Minister, Hon. Myron Walwyn

DECEMBER 2—St. Kitts and Nevis’ sprint veteran Kim Collins, who won the 100m at the 2003 IAAF World Championships and hometown heroine Tahesia Harrigan-Scott, a 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships 60m bronze medalist, were on hand to help organizers launch the forthcoming BVI Twilight Invitational, a NACAC Area Permit Meeting, scheduled for June 1, 2013.

“Our mission is to raise the profile of athletics in the British Virgin Islands by hosting a world-class invitational track and field meet that allows our best home-based, collegiate and professional athletes to compete against their regional peers with the advantage of having a home crowd,” stated BVI Twilight Association Chairman, Steve Augustine, a 1996 Olympian. 

Augustine said proceeds from the hosting of this annual event will be used to selectively inject resources into BVI athletics that allows them to;

•       Provide opportunities for further exposure to institutions of higher learning

•       To aid in the identification and development of talent in athletes.

•       To provide financial support to athletes pursuing a career through athletics

•       To provide additional training equipment for athletes

•       To provide additional training and competition gears for athletes

“Not surprising to us is the fact that our ability to receive the status of being recognized on NACAC’s yearly calendar of athletic events has already resulted in an inflow of continued interest of regional athletes expressing their desire to complete at the 2013 BVI Twilight Invitational,” Augustine pointed out. “We have, thus far, received interest from persons in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, the US Virgin Islands and Jamaica. Having said this, the stage for what is intended to be a spectacular event has already been set.”

BVI Athletics Association President Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway noted that a year after the association was formed in 1970, there had been a BVI Invitational between 1971 and 2010, which was a pre curser to the forth coming BVI Twilight Invitational.

“Over the years we have had no less than 11 IAAF World Championships finalists at the Youth, Jr. and Sr. levels—7 of whom have won medals—who have cut their teeth in the BVI Invitational,” Greenaway recalled. “Besides Kim and Tahesia, World and Olympic Games 400m champion Kirani James of Grenada who holds the track record, competed here along with his compatriot Rondell Bartholomew.”

Others Greenaway cited included Antigua and Barbuda’s Daniel Bailey, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Meritizer Williams, members of the St. Kitts and Nevis’ 4 x 100m Relay team, U.S. Virgin Islands’ Allison Peter and homegrown Chantel Malone. He said there were numerous athletes who have competed in the BVI Invitational that were World Championships semifinalists.

“With the advent of the BVI Twilight Invitational in 2013, the quality levels of competitors will certainly rise and I congratulate Chairman Steve and his group, for taking on such a venture and may they enjoy every success, as they embark on this endeavor,” he said.

Treasurer Willis “Chucky” Todman—a 1988 and 1996 Olympian—said the meet will also showcase some of the top Jr. athletes coming out of the Carifta Games as well as the top home based athletes. Events on the program he noted will include 100, 200, 400 and 800m for both male and female as well as the Long Jump and Shot Put. There will be exhibition Hurdles and a relay, which will help not only the BVI but teams such as teams as Puerto Rico, Colombia and Dominican Republic tune up for the July 12-14, CAC Sr. Championships in Trinidad, with the aim of qualifying for the August 10-18, IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia.

“We want to keep this meet short and sweet and we’ll end with a relay,” Todman noted. “This meet is something that’s needed for sport in the BVI. It’s not only for entertainment but it can definitely put the BVI further on the map when it comes to sports.”

Minister of Sports Hon. Myron Walwyn commended the BVI Twilight Association which was formed on June 29, 2012, for their effort and vision in utilizing the existing infrastructure.

“A more fundamental impact the BVI Twilight Invitational will have I believe, will be for the advancement of sports in our territory and that is the exposure of our youths to world class athletes in our territory,” he said.  “For the first time, this meet will allow a large number of our young people to watch regional stars on their home track.”

The Minister said the meet has government’s support and as Sports Minister they have his full support. “I will do what I can to ensure that the meet is successful and sets the stage for additional meets of that caliber,” he assured. “I wish the association every success in its endeavors, and may you continue to be a blessing to these Virgin Islands.”

Harrigan-Scott said being a supporter and a participant in the meet means a lot to her and she’s pleased with what the association has done, something that should have been done a while.

“For the most part, it’s not about competing for me, but more as an inspiration for the younger athletes coming up on our sport,” pointed out the territory’s 100/200 meter record holder. “I’ve done a lot of great things in my athletic career and I’m thankful for that, but, my job now as an athlete, is to make sure the younger athletes are getting the exposure and the things they need to ensure they receive the same excellence I did in my career. So I’m actually looking forward to the interaction between the younger athletes and the professional athletes on that stage, because it gives them something to look up to,” she added. “To actually see them in person, even though we think they are big and boasting, they are just like us and they an accomplish those things on their level if they continue to work hard and try.”  

Collins who competed in ’93 and ’96 when the track was grass, said he has not showed any signs of slowing down and looks forward to competing 20 years after his first run here.  “You can be assured it’s going to be a very fast race,” he promised. “We are really going to campaign and we are going to ensure that people in the region understand what we are doing. We’re going to make them want to come and we are going to make sure we have to beat off people with a stick, because there are so many athletes that are going to want to come here and experience what this is all about, because athletes love to compete.”

Collins said people are going to want to come, not just because of the competition but want to see what the country is about. That is what sports is about he noted. “You get to travel the world and experience a culture outside of what you see on television. And that is what we love, we can say ‘we went to the BVI and it was great, we saw this, we saw that’—it does a lot for your country,” he stated. “And, when you have the support of your government, it’s very important and I’m pleased to see you have that and you’re on the right path. We are going to have a good time here.”