Nevis Special Olympians off To Puerto Rico

Robert Boddie Chairman-Nevis Special Olympics Committee

ZIZ Sports…February 18, 2010 – Randolph Boddie, Chairman of the Nevis Special Olympics Committee, has indicated that a group of Special Olympians from Nevis will travel today to Puerto Rico where they will participate in the Latin American games.

The 11 athletes from Nevis will team up with 19 others from St.Kitts to comprise the Federation team of thirty athletes for the event. The team will be accompanied by ten officials, three of whom are from Nevis.

According to Boddie, this is a very big event and would also see participation from Latin America, Central America, Italy and Spain. This event is second only to the big Special Olympics scheduled for next year in Greece and would actually serve as a prelude to the event.

The Nevisian athletes will participate in four disciplines: viz Swimming, Tennis, Track and field and Bocce (pronounced BOCHIE)

The athletes are: Swimming: Tameka Wells, Lolorney Rogers and Robert Liddie

Tennis: Leon Silcott and Shakia Stapleton Track and field: Lavanda Forbes, Latisha Davis, Akimo Freeman and Mark Forbes Bocce: Katravia Smithen and Valencia Wilkerson

Boddie is expecting great results from the team as he explained that based on their past performances they would all have done well at various meets. He was however quick to refer to the Special Olympics motto: ‘Let me be brave in the attempt’. “It’s not all about winning gold”, he stated.

The athletes will be assigned to various families for their first night in Puerto Rico, as is the custom of acclimatization, referred to as ‘Host town’. The games officially commence on Saturday 20th February and run right through to the 27th February 2010.