Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second Monday in the month of March, and this year it fell on the 11 March, 2019.
Around that time the primary schools on the island hold their various Commonwealth Day sporting activities when the different houses within each school compete against each other, and the winning team is rewarded by having its names engraved on the Commonwealth Sports Day Plaque/Shield that was introduced by the Anguilla Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA) in the year 2013.
Before Commonwealth Day, the President of the Association and the Administration Officer held an Information Session at each primary school. One of the things the President (Mr Kenn Banks) spoke about was the number of countries that made up the Commonwealth and Overseas Territories and their various locations all over the globe.
Mr Banks also spoke about the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games that were held in Australia, and informed the schools about the performances of all the Anguillian athletes, especially one cyclist by the name of Hasani Hennis who finished top out of all the Caribbean countries in both the Cycling Road Race and the Cycling Time Trials.
Hasani, who won the 2018 John T Memorial Race, an annual event held in Anguilla, returned to Australia in January this year to continue training with Brad Reardon, the cycling coach who trained Cycling Team Anguilla for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Hasani’s win was the first time Anguilla had ever won this auspicious annual race, in what was then the 19 years history of the event.
Hasani joined his fellow cyclist, Zambezi Richardson (who also represented Anguilla at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games), who has been out in Australia since September of 2018, also training with Brad Reardon. Both cyclists are determined to win the 20th Annual John T Memorial Cycling Race to be held in Anguilla on 21 July, 2019, and are prepared to finance and put in the grueling training required to fulfill that dream!
A poem written by Walter D Wintle in 1905 called ‘THINKING’ was read by the President to inspire the children:
If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If you’d like to win, but you think you can’t
It is almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!
Winning Houses
Omololu International School – Blue House EAGLES
Vivien Vanterpool Primary School – Blue House MARLINS
Adrian T Hazell Primary School – Blue House TURTLE DOVES
Valley Primary School – Green House
Morris Vanterpool Primary School – Green House
Orealia Kelly Primary School – Yellow House
Alwyn Allison Primary School – Green House
– Contributed
