Twelve athletes from Anguilla, accompanied by seven officials and up to three invitees, will be among over 5,000 athletes, coaches and managers from 70 countries at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The April 4-15 games will be held on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
On Monday, this week, March 19, the Anguilla Social Security Board presented a cheque for US$25,500 to the Anguilla Commonwealth Games Association to finance the uniforms and kits for the island’s athletes. The rest of the sponsorship will be met by the Commonwealth Games Federation and donations raised in Australia by Keith Connor and Mervin Christian, two patriotic Anguillians residing there.
The twelve Anguillian athletes are Mauriel Carty, Rechelle Meade, Artesha Richardson, T-Kailah Richardson, Saymon Morris, Curlun Richardson, Kenwal Hodge, Sherman Osborne, Hasani Hennis, Saleem Romney, Huekeemi Hughes and Zambezi Richardson.
Travelling with them to perform varying roles will be Mr. Andre Collins, Director of Sports; Mr. Rollins Richardson, Team Manager; Mr. Timothy Hodge, Team Attache; Mr. Kenn Banks, President of the Anguilla Commonwealth Games Association; Mrs. Althea Hodge, General Secretary; Coaches Mr. Derick Carty, Mr. Calvert Fleming, Mr Calvin Carty and Mr. Alexis Ryan; and Chef de Mission, Mr. Cardigan Connor who, in a dual capacity, will also represent the Minister of Sport, Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers, in a cost-saving arrangement.
The athletes will participate in three categories of events: athletics, cycling and boxing. Two other Anguillian athletes, Shara Proctor and Zharnel Hughes, will also be in attendance but will compete for Great Britain in the sprint and long jump categories respectively.
Director of Social Security, Mr. Timothy Hodge, said the Social Security Board was happy to provide partial sponsorship for the athletes. “I am very happy that Social Security is associated with this event and I am very pleased to be travelling with the team as Attache, and I look forward to Anguilla doing well.”
Mr. Cardigan Connor recalled that in 2002 Anguilla’s athletes to the Commonwealth Games in Manchester were sponsored by Fairview Foods in the sum of over US$100,000, part of which was committed to the Anguillian cyclists while training in England. He noted that in subsequent years there were other sponsors for Anguilla’s participation in the games. He noted however that this time, in 2018, it was a huge challenge to obtain sponsorship. Accordingly, he was pleased that Social Security had come forward as a sponsor as part of its assistance for the development of the young people of Anguilla.
Mrs. Althea Hodge observed that over the past several years there had been significant reductions in sponsorship funding from the Commonwealth Games Association and other sponsors. “The fact that Social Security has assisted our athletes is something we really appreciate. I don’t think we can really express how appreciative we are for the funding,” she added.
Director of Sports, Mr. Andre Collins, commented: “We are excited to see our athletes represent Anguilla at the upcoming Commonwealth Games. From the perspective of the Department of Sports, we are keen to see how our athletes are advancing themselves through the various sports. There is a lot of work to be done in creating an infrastructure for our young people to be successful in sports and to have the vision to push themselves towards that end. I am looking for some big things from the athletes. The Department of Sports was especially pleased to support some of the development and preparation of the cyclists, and we challenged them that this must be their best performance ever.”
He was grateful that Social Security not only provided sponsorship for the athletes but for him as well.
The accompanying coaches for the cyclists are Mr. Derick Gumbs and Mr. Calvert Carty who joined Mr. Collins in encouraging them to perform well.
The overall Team Manager, Mr. Rollins Richardson, said that Anguilla’s athletes in the Commonwealth Games were mostly in the United States undergoing training while the coaches for the boxers were being trained in Trinidad. “We are hoping that with this extra training we will see a much better performance of other athletes on the Gold Coast in Australia,” he went on. “We know that probably over 5,000 athletes from various sports in the Commonwealth will be there. We are very happy that Social Security is on board with this sponsorship so that Anguilla can be represented and stand out at the Commonwealth Games.”
