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‘We are proud of you & we will keep investing in you.’- Hon Sharie B. de Castro

-Minister acknowledged the contributions of VI Athletes
Minister for Education, Youth Affairs, and Sports, Honourable Sharie B. de Castro (AL), has pledged the government's commitment to investing more in local athletes to enable them to compete on regional and international stages. Photo: Government of the Virgin Islands
A welcome home ceremony for the athletes who represented the Virgin Islands at the Carifta Games in Grenada took place on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Photo: Facebook
A welcome home ceremony for the athletes who represented the Virgin Islands at the Carifta Games in Grenada took place on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Photo: Facebook
TRELLIS BAY, Beef Island, VI- Minister for Education, Youth Affairs, and Sports, Honourable Sharie B. de Castro (AL), has pledged the government's commitment to investing more in local athletes to enable them to compete on regional and international stages.

The minister made her comments during a welcome home ceremony on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, for the athletes who represented the Virgin Islands at the Carifta Games in Grenada. 

Minister acknowledged VI athletes

She acknowledged the contributions of Virgin Islands athletes, stating, “We had some amazing accomplishments. I know we wanted more medals, and that's good. Next year we will get some more, but I want to say to you guys, from your personal best to the national records, to the qualifiers, and of course, that we acknowledge Jah'kyla Morton.” 

Jah'kyla Morton secured the Virgin Islands’ only medal at the 53rd Carifta Games in Grenada, finishing second in the Girls U-20 High Jump on Monday, April 6, 2026 receving a sliver medal.

Honourable de Castro recognised Morton’s accomplishment, noting that Morton had already left to pursue her studies overseas. She encouraged the athletes to reflect on the fact that sports can provide a pathway to higher education, stating, ”I want you to realise that that is what this environment does to you. It not only gives you a pathway to sports but it gives you a pathway to higher education, and I don't want you to take this for granted.”

The minister also recognised Ty’Rique Charles, one of the youngest competitors, who made it to the U-17 200-meter finals and finished with a time of 22.07 seconds. She emphasised that there are valuable lessons to be learned from this experience.

'We will keep investing in you'- Hon de Castro 

Honourable de Castro stated, “I think the blessing for me right now is even though many of you didn’t get what you wanted, you still went out there.” 

She encouraged the athletes to remember, “You’re not always gonna get what you want, if you stick together, you keep pushing, you represent team VI with everything that you have. we gonna be proud of you, and we’re going to keep investing in you and supporting you.”

She further added, “We are proud of you, and from a permanent standpoint, we will keep investing in you.”

15 Responses to “‘We are proud of you & we will keep investing in you.’- Hon Sharie B. de Castro ”

  • yea (08/04/2026, 11:37) Like (5) Dislike (3) Reply
    Welcome home. We are proud of all of you. We will continue to work at it.
  • Anonymous (08/04/2026, 11:47) Like (4) Dislike (5) Reply
    Not to impress with the performance something went wrong
  • TRUTH TELLER (08/04/2026, 11:48) Like (0) Dislike (1) Reply
    Everyday Words Of Knowledge, Truth And Wisdom.

    God resist all prideful proudminded people, but He gives more grace to humbleminded people. James 4:6.







  • Got to go (08/04/2026, 12:13) Like (11) Dislike (0) Reply
    First of all. Congrats to who got PB's and to the sliver medalist.

    The BVIAA needs to be fair and honest with the selection of the athletes. There are to much division. No coach suppose to be on the BVIAA.

    Chucky is the biggest down fall for the BVI team not to secure a medal, he puts his athelete to do the last leg of the relays knowingly that it had a better who could if done better..
    The entire BVIAA needs to resolved.
    Chucky and Steve got to go
  • Ayo %^*& (08/04/2026, 12:50) Like (5) Dislike (0) Reply
    The play on words, playing politics
  • Sam (08/04/2026, 14:09) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
    The team has great potential. The athletes went out and did their best. Some had me at the edge of my seat and screaming in excitement. We are proud of the team and look forward to seeing where the future will take them.
  • Quietly Watching (08/04/2026, 17:04) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    Congratulations to our Athletes! We love each and everyone of you. You gave it your all. Welcome back home. Use the experience and put in the work and we'll be back same time next year. We will be better and stronger. We have to work on those times. We have to research workouts. Like maybe more hill running, et cetera. Whatever we got to do, let's do it and let's encourage the athletes from the primary school to do serious training. The athletes you are seeing tha are successful from Jamaica and Trinidad et cetera, they are on the track from very young. We got this! Let's go. BVI never back down from nothing. We know Tiondre was on the injured list. We missed him. Let's goooo...
  • neutral (08/04/2026, 17:18) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    @ Got to Go. From reading between the lines you seem to be a sport enthusiast and someone from the inner circle who has knowledge of what is going on with the trainers and athletes on the field. You insist that the two trainers got to go, but who is going to replace them? Maybe it is time for some intervention from the Director of youth & sports affairs. We never know what heights our athletes can reach until we invest in them. They have the potential so we all need to encourage them.
  • OF Course (08/04/2026, 17:50) Like (7) Dislike (0) Reply
    Of course we are proud of mediocrity. We live in it. We accept it from the politicians so why not accept it from the athletes.
  • %100 raise (08/04/2026, 19:34) Like (6) Dislike (1) Reply
    I have a big problem with the sentence, We will keep investing in you. As if the government money belongs to she and her crew. Its the same athletes parents tax money being spent on them.
  • The Stickett News (08/04/2026, 19:49) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
    Hope they support all the athletes in track and field.
  • Wicked man (08/04/2026, 22:13) Like (2) Dislike (2) Reply
    @Anoynmus. Chucky is the problem
    He made a statement and said. He rather lise than give Fraites a chance to run the 4×4 relay...but he dont have a chance to do so because the athletes was qualified.
  • Anonymous (09/04/2026, 07:39) Like (0) Dislike (11) Reply
    Hats off to hon decastro she is indeed the hardest working Minister and the strongest 4 more years for sure
  • BRAD BOYNES (10/04/2026, 22:23) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Why the person dogging Chucky sounds so much like Karl Scatliffe? Stop it man.


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