TORTOLA—The British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee has appointed a select group to meet with member federations and association at its headquarters in the Road Reef Plaza at 5:30 p.m. today, to begin preparing for upcoming games.
BVIOC 2nd Vice President Ephraim Penn said the purpose of the meeting is to bring all the associations together and apprise them of the upcoming games in which the BVI will be participating in.
“We want to let the federations and associations know how they can qualify for these games and what we can offer them a assistance to help them to prepare,” Penn said. “In the past two games we have attended, we have had low performances and low attendance of athletes so we are trying to be proactive and have ongoing programs in place leading up to the major games, first of all so that the number of athletes will improve and the level of performances will improve.”
Among upcoming games includes the:
- 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China
- 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, Pune, India
- 2009 Caribbean Games, Port of Spain, Trinidad
- 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
- 2010 Commonwealth Games, Delhi, India
- 2011 Pan American Games, Guadalajara, Mexico
Penn said this is the first time that such an initiative is being undertaken. He said that as things progress and with a new structure in place, this will lead to a more proactive Olympic Committee and a more vibrant and competitive federations and associations. According to Penn, BVIOC members will become familiarized with the new structure that is being put in place to govern the body.
“Following this meeting with our members, we will have an Olympic Committee exchange with the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee next week, where we will have a professional coming in to look at our structure, and advise us as to how we can better prepare our organization and our federations and associations for the challenges that lies ahead,” Penn explained.
After next week’s meeting, the BVI Olympic Committee will have its General Assembly at 5:30 p.m. on Dec 5, where a new constitution and By-Laws will be ratified by its members.
