Vincentians walk to support athletes competing in Penn Relays

After a three-year hiatus, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, several Vincentians on April 8 converged on Marine Park in Brooklyn for a walkathon in supporting Vincentian athletes competing in the annual Penn Relays Carnival at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The event, last held in 2019, was organized by the Brooklyn-based Vincentian educational and cultural group, Club St. Vincent, Inc.

“The members of Club St. Vincent, Inc. organized this walkathon, dating back to 2015, to bring awareness to our people about the Penn Relays and to raise funds to support the athletes from schools in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to participate in the Penn Relays, organized by the University of Pennsylvania, during the last week of April,” Ancilla Friday, coordinator of the walkathon and a former Club St. Vincent president, told Caribbean Life.

“So far, the athletes have come from Thomas Saunders High School and the Boys Grammar School,” she added. “They have represented their schools and our nation very well, and I am pleased to organize this walk as a fundraiser, while keeping fit, in their support.

“Our former Consul General (Howie Prince) had been with us in the past; and, this year, we were honored to have Mr. Rondy McIntosh, the present consul general, with us,” Friday continued. “He gave us some words of encouragement for now and in the future. The weather was favorable.”

Prior to the walk, she said prayers were offered; light refreshments served; and brief remarks made by Sandra Millington, Club St. Vincent president, and Laverne McDowald-Thompson, president of the Brooklyn-based Vincentian umbrella group, Council of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Organizations, U.S.A., Inc. (COSAGO).

Friday said Michael Hathaway, a warm-up coach, “who has been with us over the years, gave us a good jumpstart for the walk.”

“This year, we had some new participants, including Kamla Millwood, daughter of the late Kenton Kirby (former editor of Caribbean Life), who, in her own way, brought much excitement to the group,” she said.

In addition, Friday said the medical team, headed by Registered Nurse Olga Husbands, president of the Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines Nurses Association, Inc., “provided medical care to someone in the park who was not with our group.”

“It was a blessing to have a nurse on hand,” she said, adding that the NYC Parks Department “had a stay on permits during the pandemic.

“We applied for the permit as soon as that was lifted,” Friday continued. “’To whom much is given much is required’. As the coordinator for this walk, I am pleased that we were able to do it this year. Some of us will be traveling to the Penn Relays at the end of the month to give further support to our Vincentian athletes.”

McIntosh, who assumed office on Aug. 1 last year, told Caribbean Life that he “wholeheartedly” supports the event, “whereby funds are raised to assist our student-athletes traveling from SVG to participate in the Penn Relays on the last weekend of this month.

“The event also promotes health and wellness, as we are all aware of the benefits of walking and exercising,” he said. “I expect to see this event grow in strength, by assisting in its awareness and promotion.

“I would like to see more support from our Diaspora community, so that Club St. Vincent can deliver a solid contribution to our athletes,” added McIntosh, who plans to attend the Penn Relays this year “to get a first-hand experience of what it is like.”

Participants warming up for the walkathon.
Photo by Nelson A. King

The consul general said he has already met with Irwin Claire, the president and chief executive officer of Team Jamaica Bickle, the organization that provides meals and other hospitality support for Jamaican and other Caribbean athletes competing in the Penn Relays, and that he was hoping to attend the group’s “Labor of Love” fundraising gala on Sunday in Long Island.

There, McIntosh said he was hoping to “further discuss how we can support what they are doing in the interest of our athletes and to build a relationship between Team Jamaica Bickle and our Vincy community.”

“The continued effort of Club St. Vincent to raise funds to help offset expenses of our athletes, who come to take part in the Penn Relays, must be commended,” McDowald-Thompson told Caribbean Life. “One such expense is accommodation.

“The organization has been doing a sponsor walk for over five years and, although they encountered various challenges, they pushed through them and made it happen,” she added. “According to Ms. Friday, ‘every little bit helps’. Thanks to everyone who participated.”

According to James Cordice, the Philadelphia-based coordinator of Vincentian athletes participating in the Penn Relays, “preparations are in place for receiving the Thomas Saunders Secondary School (TSSS) on April 21,” adding that the athletes will return home on May 1.

He said that, unlike previous years, when both girls and boys from TSSS competed in the relays carnival, only girls will participate this year.

Cordice said that the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Grammar School, which competed before the pandemic in 2019, will not participate this year. TSSS and the Grammar School competed in the Penn Relays in 2019.

Cordice said both teams were preparing to vie in 2020, but organizers did not stage the relays carnival that year because of the onset of the pandemic.

TSSS made its debut at the Penn Relays in 2011, with an all-boys team, winning both heats.

Cordice noted that Brandon Valentine Parris, who was in the first TSSS batch, is now a head athletic coach at a middle school in North Carolina.

The Penn Relays resumed last year, but Vincentian athletes did not compete.

Cordice said this year’s Vincentian team, TSSS, will feature seven girls. They will be accompanied by the school’s   principal, who will serve as manager; the coach; and a chaperone.

“I’m always elated to have Vincentian athletes compete in the Penn Relays,” Cordice told Caribbean Life on Sunday. “It’s just a joy to know that they can use this opportunity of competing at Penn for academic and economic reasons.

“They are actually competing with that in mind, because it’s really helping them,” he added.