Nation’s elite athletes to gather for National Sports Awards

The country’s biggest and brightest athletes will converge at the Royalton Resort on Saturday evening for a night of glitz, glam and celebrations for the 2024 edition of the National Sports Awards.

The annual event which honors athletes, sports administrators, officials and other sporting personnel was initially scheduled for March 15 but with the tragic discovery of nine-year old’s Chantel Crump body, officials from the Ministry of Sports pushed to postpone the ceremony until a week later.

A moment of silence will be held for Crump at the ceremony.

Four young track & field athletes who were denied the chance to compete at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru last August and a number of national boxers who excelled at the 2023 OECS Boxing Championships held in St. Lucia, will all be recognized by the Ministry of Sports during the ceremony as well.

Last August the four young track and field athletes who qualified for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships — Dwayne Fleming, Ajani Daley, Geolyna Dowdye and Kasiya Daley — were not able to attend the championships after an administrative boo-boo resulted in the athletics association missing the final registration deadline.

Meanwhile, in 2023, boxers from Antigua won six gold medals in total at the Caribbean Boxing Championships. Two juniors, Leon Laudat and Osahar Browne and novices Taliek Henry, Uriah DeSilva, Zalaan Jan and Quanlee Henry represented Antigua and Barbuda at the championships.

The boxers were not nominated for the National Sports Awards following their exploits.

Prominent Antiguan sports administrator Mr. Lynford Inverary will be the Guest Speaker of this year’s ceremony.

 Inverary is currently the Chief Operations Officer at Cricket West Indies (CWI) and has had a stellar sports administrative career. In September 2024, he was appointed acting COO and CEO of Cricket West Indies, becoming the youngest to act in the role of CEO.

The confirmation of Inverary as the Guest Speaker this year adds to the growing list of trailblazers to address the august gathering at the nation’s highest sporting awards ceremony.

Last year’s awards featured track and field champion and icon, Asafa Powell.

The reigning Sportswoman of the Year is Ambassador Kimberly Percival of the National Bodybuilding and Weightlifting Federation, and the reigning Sportsman of the Year is kitesurfer, Tiger Tyson.

Sprinters Kasiya Daley and LaNica Locker were named the junior male and female athletes of the year.

 The nominees for Sportsman of the Year include Daren Benta from Softball Cricket, Cejhae Greene- Athletics, Noah St. Clair- Rifle, Dante Browne-Fencing, Marlon George- Golf, Tony Phillip-Bodybuilding, Raheem Deterville-Football, Yashid Auguiste-Volleyball, Xavier Meade- Basketball, Alzarri Joseph- Cricket, Jodon Wuilliez- Swimming and Rocco Falcone- Sailing.

Ambassador Percival has been nominated once again. Joining her as nominees for Sportswoman of the Year is Joella Lloyd (Athletics), Bianca Mitchell (Swimming), Jewel Crump (Fencing), Junella King (Sailing), Josanne Lewis (Volleyball), Reyana Regis (Netball), Amanda Edwards (Cricket), Alexandria Hunte (Golf), Makada Samuel-Hector (Softball Cricket), and Iressica Allen (Football).

The Junior Sportsman nominees are Craig Massiah (Basketball), Khaliq Joseph (Volleyball), Tahje Browne (Cycling), Maliek Francis (Athletics), Jewel Andrew (Cricket), Elite Thomas (Triathlon), Tivon Benjamin (Swimming), Joel Crawford (Fencing), Shanoy Malone (Sailing), and Marquise George (Golf).

In the Junior Sportswoman category, the nominees are Tyra Fenton (Athletics), Jenah Andrew (Basketball), Ellie Shaw (Swimming), Daena Bird (Fencing), Emily Gaillard (Sailing), Keitonya Skepple (Football), Jassania Joseph (Volleyball), Kimberly Anthony (Cricket), Stute Kashyap (Table Tennis), and Akevia Warner (Golf).

In the Coach of the Year category, the nominees are Oswald Baptiste (Athletics), Ollyn Martin (Bodybuilding), Timothy Thomas (Triathlon), Nelson Molino Fojo (Swimming), Schyan Jeffers (Football), Carl Williams (Volleyball), George Hughes (Basketball), St. Clair Williams (Cycling), and Pernel Watley (Cricket).

In the Mind Sports category, four competitors have been nominated with Bernard Joseph (Draughts), Glenford George (Domino), Natalee Heron (Domino), and Abner Farquhar (Chess) being named.

The Sports Official category will see acknowledgement of seven dedicated individuals with nominees being T Jamille Nelson (Athletics), Alvin Jarvis (Basketball), Dwayne Edwards (Bodybuilding), Michael Hamilton (Volleyball), Ken Pennyfather (Football), Niko Antonio (Drag Racing), and Melissa Lawrie (Cricket).

A total of nine persons were nominated from the Sports Administration Recognition category which comprises of Elvis Cordice (Draughts), Lisa Abraham (Drag Racing), Dane Gustave (Cricket), Inga Francis (Basketball), Beverly Percival-Tonge (Bodybuilding), Ken Warner (Swimming), Ileathea Cabral (Fencing), Wilbur Harrigan (Volleyball), and Matthew Bailey (Chess).

This year’s Lifetime Recognition award will honor Steve Williams for his contributions to bodybuilding.

Winners will be determined based on their resume of success in regional and international competitions as submitted by the athletes’ various nominating sporting associations. The accuracy of submissions will be triangulated by independent research.

The awards will begin at 6 pm which means that invited guests will have to be seated by 5:30 pm.

It is an invitation only event.