BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A team of 35 athletes and seven officials departed St. Kitts this morning (May 21) on their way to Anguilla, where they will compete in the 2010 Leeward Islands Youth Track & Field Championship and hope to bring home the title of champion for the 12th straight year.
The squad departed from the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport this morning around 11:30 and will return to St. Kitts on Monday (May 24).
Speaking to SKNVibes, Head Coach Stuart Joseph said that the squad was selected from a much larger group that has been in training for the past month.
“We had a squad of 75 athletes preparing for the CUT Games coming up in July and the Leeward Islands championship. From that squad we selected the best 35 after being evaluated by the coaches.
“In my opinion, they are all shining stars so I don’t want to single out anyone. But, there are persons who were on the team last year who are going this year that we really expect good things from,” he said.
The coach noted that the spirit of the youths is very high and they fully expect to return to St. Kitts with the championship after they defeat their main rivals, namely Nevis and the British Virgin Islands.
“These kids are always excited and they are very competitive among themselves. If this meet could have been held yesterday they would have been ready. What we have tried to instill in them is that they have a high standard to maintain. They don’t want to be the team to lose the championship,” Joseph added.
St. Kitts has won the Leeward Islands Youth Track & Field Championship a total of 12 times, including their 11th straight victory last year at the Silver Jubilee Anniversary Stadium. At last year’s event, team St. Kitts wowed the home crowd with a total of 51 medals, 30 of which were gold.
The British Virgin Islands came in second in 2009 with 12 gold medals, while Nevis finished third with five gold medals.
Over the course of the two day event, athletes will be competing in three different age categories ranging from under 11 to under 15.
