The new Caribbean Cycling Federation executive board.

TORTOLA—St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Trevor “Sailor” Bailey, was elected present of the Caribbean Cycling Federation during its general meeting held in conjunction with the weekend Caribbean Cycling Championships on Tortola.



Joining Bailey on the executive are: David Thomas of the BVI as vice president; Cyril Mangal, St. Lucia, secretary; Cliff Williams, Antigua, treasurer; Michel Marie-Sainte, Martinique, public relations officer; Eddie Padilla Puerto Rico and Keith Yearwood, Barbados, trustees.



Bailey, the former vice president, said his aim is to take the federation forward and he thinks he has a good team to do so. “Right now, we are highly respected by the Pan American Cycling Confederation and the International Cycling Union,” he said. “We want the Caribbean Cycling Championships becoming bigger and better every year. From seven countries when we started in Aruba , this is the sixth championships and we have reached to 20 countries. We want to get all the Caribbean countries coming to this championship in the future. We have a lot plans to implement to take the federation forward.”



One of the challenges facing the six year old organization is finance, something Bailey said can hinder the development of the sport regionally. He said once his federation works with National Olympic Committees within the region and Olympic Solidarity, he thinks they can get good assistance. The International Cycling Union, he noted has pledged its assistance as well as the United States Cycling Federation who had a representative at the weekend championships on Tortola, have pledged equipment and coaching expertise for Caribbean cyclists. “We have a lot of plans and our executive will be meeting soon to discuss the way forward,” Bailey said.



Bailey said sourcing sponsorship has been a challenge regionally, especially with hosting the championships which costs a lot of money. Among the federation’s plans is to approach regional airlines about special travel rates and sponsorship. He said they are also targeting regional telephone companies as well, for sponsorship.



Youth development Bailey stated is another area his federation will tackle. He said there are a few islands, St. Lucia , BVI, Puerto Rico among others, that have young women cyclists. “We are going to target those ladies and other youngsters,” he promised. “We are going to set up a sub committee in our federation and we want to focus on youth development and try to get more women involved in cycling. When we had our first championships, we didn’t have women, but have had them since the second championships. Now, we have created other younger divisions, we want to get more of them involved. When they win medals, we want them to try and encourage other women to get into the sport.”

© Copyright 2003 BVI Cycling Federation

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