By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
New presidents were elected in Cricket and Softball and new men’s and women’s coaches were hired in Football. Here’s a 2025 reflection on team sports.
Cricket
Francis takes BVICA Helm
BVI Cricket Association Vice President and Royal Knights Wicketkeeper-batsman Richard Francis, is now the association’s president after Neil Hayes stepped down over the weekend. Francis became the association’s 12th president since 1945.
Francis said Hayes, Road Town Wholesale general manager who became president last January, gave the board his reasons for stepping down.
BVI All Starts win President’s T20 title
A BVI All Stars team whipped the St. Thomas All Start to win the inaugural President’s Day T20 Tournament in St. Thomas. Man of the Match Julian St. Clair—who won most wickets with five—ripped through the St. Thomas All Stars lineup, taking 4 for 10 and the BVI All Stars denied St. Thomas Cricket Association President, Doyle Jones from obtaining his ultimate goal of winning the title, with a 57-run victory, after posting 170. St. Thomas All Stars were all out for 113, after Jones and his brother Samuel Jones started with a 32 run opening partnership. Dhanpaul Chrisnanand and Imran Smith, bagged 2 for 22 and 2 for 18 respectively.
Vikings stun Cavaliers for BVICA T20 title
Whatever record was available, Julian Bannet grabbed it. Bannet stood in the middle of two century partnerships, and had his third century of the season to fire the Vikings past Cavaliers—denying their fourth straight BVI Cricket Association T20 crown and ninth overall—with record breaking performances.
Bannet, 23, hit the first ball he faced for a six, then went on a 121-run partnership with fellow opener, Rahkumar Seepersaud who was caught for 45, as they found every seam, in response to Cavaliers 306 runs. Bannet then teamed with Captain Deco Khemraj for a record 175 run second wicket stand, before Khemraj was caught for 80. Bannet stood in the wicket and went on to make a season’s best and finals record, 177 not out, to claim most runs scored award, with 533 on the season, sending the Vikings to record chase down, of 309 for 2 and the title.
T30 Nations League
Guyana rode Keon DeJesus and Jamal Mickle’s fourth wicket century partnership to wrestle the title away from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and complete a 3-peat of the BVICA T30 Nations League championship. Guyana openers Julian Bannet and Avishkar Sewkarran began laying the foundation to take control of the game, after the St. Vincent pair of Casnell Morris and Kalbert Springer had used a 132-run third wicket partnership to reach 282 for 9 in 30 overs.
With Bannet and Sewkarran gone, DeJesus and Mickle took control with a 137-run fourth-wicket partnership—with the help of dropping DeJesus on 78, before he went on to 94 not out, to complete the most runs at 284 and being named Man of the Match. Mickle was bowled by Kazim Haywood for his highest score of 60, helping Guyana to 283 for 2 in 23.0 overs.
Royal Knights whip Vikings for 1st Peter Haycraft T10 Cup
Royal Knights whipped the Vikings to claim their first BVI Cricket Association Peter Haycraft Ten10 Cup title on Sunday afternoon in Greenland, for their first title since 2019 in any form of BVICA play, when opener Keon DeJesus batted through the innings, firing them to a convincing six-wicket victory.
“This means a lot. I’m speechless right now,” DeJesus told Island Sun Sports before huddling with his team. “It was an uphill battle to chase down 164, but we wanted this badly. It’s been six years since we’ve won a tournament in 2019, six years and I’m just speechless right now. It hasn’t sunk in yet. It was an awesome game.”
Football:
New Coaches
David Pérez Asensio, 42, of Spain, was formally introduced as the BVI Football Association’s new men’s national Football team head coach, and Barbados’ Fitzgerald Carter as women’s development director in March.
VG United wins BVIFA Triple Crown
After winning the BVI Football Association’s 2024-25 Men’s National League title, then repeating as President’s Cup champions with a thrilling 4-3 penalty kicks victory over Wolues, VG United beat cross town rivals Sugar Boys, 3-1 at home, to lift the FA Cup and claim the Triple Crown, becoming the first team to do so.
BVI Holds Jamaica in 1-0 WCQ loss
Playing before 1,060 fans, a defensive BVI squad contained the favored and “disappointed” Jamaica Reggae Boyz to just a first half goal, during their second round Group E encounter in the CONCACAF Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, at the A. O. Shirley Grounds
U15 Boys at CONCACAF
BVI U15 Boys fell to Guatemala, 9-1; Dominican Republic, 4-0; St. Kitts-Nevis, 4-1 and Barbados 5-0, in Aruba.
U17 Boys at CONCACAF
BVI opened with a 4-0 victory over St. Maarten; then fell to Trinidad and Tobago, 3-1, before a 5-0 setback to hosts Costa Rica. They played Guyana to a 1-1 draw.
U14 Girls at CFU
BVI U14 Girls made their CFU debut in Trinidad and Tobago with a 3-2 loss to French Guyana in their opener, then beat Grenada, 6-0; Barbados, 2-1 before falling to Suriname, 3-2.
Wolues CFU Club Shield Debut
BVIFA 2023-24 League champs Wolues, became the first team to participate in the CFU Club Shield in Trinidad and Tobago. They opened with a 3-0 loss to Suriname’s SV Transvaal, before being mauled 8-0 by eventual champs, Barbados’ Weymouth Whales.
Softball:
Chief Umpire Glenford “Chappy” Maduro, was elected the 8th British Virgin Islands Softball-Baseball Association President in its 73-year history, during the association’s February 18 elections.
Power Outage Sweeps
In 2022 and 2023, the Pirates swept Power Outage in the VI Softball Baseball Association Men’s best of five Championship Series. Power Outage returned the favor when they completed their back -o-back sweep by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning—the last on a pass ball—to beat the Pirates in a comeback 6-5 thriller, after losing pitcher Oscar Sanchez hit a grand slam, putting them in a 4-0 first inning deficit.
Pure Problems Forfeit
Pure Problems forfeiting Game 3 to Synergy, who won their record fifth successive Women’s championship, overshadowed the series.
Then it was another celebration for Claury Scattliffe and Darier Malone, after helping Synergy to their fifth straight Virgin Islands Softball Baseball Association Women’s League Championships title last month.
Scatliffe struck out the last Netherlands batter she faced and Malone hit a crucial double, as both women helped Great Britain storm back from a 9-0 deficit, to win the European Women’s Baseball Championships 10-9, in Hluboká, Czech Republic.
Volleyball
Men’s Volleyball finals MVP Liverpool, had a triple double that included: 24 kills, 17 receptions, 15 digs, 5 blocks, 2 aces, and 1 assist, as Phoenix, in an epic rematch of last year’s finals, swept 3-time defending champs Dream Team in straight sets, 26-24, 25-21 and 27-26.
Liverpool, who led the league in several categories, was tied with Kryptonite’s Javin Wattley for Most Digs with 74, was the reception leader with 88, had most kills with 68 and was fourth in blocks with 19.
“We started off a little shaky today but I have to thank my coach and my teammates for always motivating me,” Liverpool told Island Sun Sports. “That third set was really tight, I had to tell the team ‘let’s go, we got this’ and pushed forward, no backing down. It’s a great feeling to win this title.”
Women’s Championship
Women’s Volleyball finals MVP, Danielle Selkridge, had 20 kills, 11 receptions, 8 digs, 2 blocks, and 1 ace, as Kiss My Ace fended off 1st time finalists Raw Power in 4 sets, 25-11, 20-25, 25-20 and 25-22.
“This was really a hard fought victory. We had some challenges. One of our players sprained her ankle and we had to rely on the young people on our team and they came out, rallied and played very well, and I’m proud of them,” Selkridge said. “Raw Power came out and played with a lot of confidence, a lot of heart, a lot of fight, but in the end, we were victorious and they played well.”
