In a show of great social responsibility, on Friday, 8th April, Digicel announced its sponsorship of five local track and field athletes who will compete in the 2022 CARIFTA games, held in Jamaica, April 16th to April 18th.
Over the past months, these athletes had been working diligently at training and preparing themselves for the upcoming CARIFTA meet, in which they will be competing against a host of other countries in the Caribbean region including Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks & Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands.
Head of DIGICEL-Plus, Mrs. Nadica Rawlins, congratulated the five Anguillian athletes who had met the standard for participating in the games. She said: “Today we are here to celebrate our athletes who will be going off to Jamaica to represent our island, Anguilla, in the competitions at the CARIFTA games. Let me congratulate all of you for your hard work and dedication. It is only through hard work that you will achieve success.
“There is a saying which goes, ‘an athlete cannot run with money in his pocket; he must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head. I am sure that many of you have had dreams of representing your country and today those dreams have been realised. Perhaps you have bigger dreams of competing in the Olympics one day. This surely can be realised with a little hope in your heart.”
The Honourable Minister of Social Development, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers spoke highly of the athletes: “I know that a lot of hard work has gone into bringing us to this moment. You will be travelling to Jamaica to represent Anguilla. Not too long ago I stood where you are standing.
“Our people who travel to represent Anguilla are the best of what this country has to offer. It will be a very proud moment when you stand before the crowd in Jamaica and hear Anguilla’s name called. Speaking from my experience, there is nothing like that. There is nothing to compare with hearing the name Anguilla and having the proud feeling of representing that name and that people.
So, on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development and Education I want to say how proud I am to see you, our young people, go off to represent Anguilla. I am also grateful to DIGICEL who has stepped up to provide sponsorship. In addition, I recognise the hard work of the Anguilla Amature Association as well as the relevant coaches and parents who have put their time and effort into getting you here. I want to remind you athletes of one thing – Your journey to the sporting world is a community effort, and the successes on this journey are not gained by your own effort.”
The President of the Anguilla Amature Association, Ms. Lorna Kentish-Rogers was on hand to thank DIGICEL and to compliment and encourage the representative athletes:
“My first task,” she said, “is to acknowledge DIGICEL and to extend the appreciation of the Association in partnering with us. These are times when, for several years now, establishing partnerships with the business community has been virtually impossible. So, I must thank DIGICEL for what it is doing here today. Thank you, DIGICEL.
“I also thank Mr. Alexis Ryan and Tashanta Brooks who dedicated their time in coaching the athletes.
Coach Alexis spoke saying: “I would like to thank Digicel for coming on board with its generous support of our athletes. I want to also thank the coaches from the First Stride and the Rainbow Rockets Club for the training of the athletes. You have made it possible for us to have good representation. As you know, it is one thing to have representation, but it’s another thing to have ‘good’ representation. Thanks to you all, once again.”
The five athletes who will be representing Anguilla in the CARIFTA games are: fifteen-year-old Sage Connor; seventeen-year-old Thalia Hinds; eighteen-year-old Terrone Webster; sixteen-year-old Tajhjani Brooks; and fifteen-year-old Jo’Quan Richardson.
Head of DIGICEL’s Consumer Sales, Mr. Keithroy Proctor said: “Digicel Jamaica will sponsor the upcoming CARIFTA Games at the National Stadium in Kingston. DIGICEL’s effort along with our partnership with the Local Organisation Committee will ensure junior athletes have a platform to showcase their talent.
“As a Digital Operator, DIGICEL will be leveraging our partnership with SportsMax for this event. The SportsMax app will serve as a main portal to catch all the excitement of the games for our customers.”
