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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 71 - Wednesday August 03, 2005 |
Who Won Dominica's First Soccer Tournament?
 by Avonelle Christian
The full back cover page of the Dominica SUN in Monday�s article was drenched in the headline � DOMINICA WHIPS USA.
The week prior, Dominica had played the USA and had won the game 4-2, amidst the US team having landed freshly from a greuling two-day flight that was delayed overnight in Puerto Rico, an ambivalent Dominican crowd routing only for the team formed in Dominica, and a field significantly smaller and far less conditioned than the customary regulation size fields on which those �strange boys� are used to playing.
But most ironic, the full page photo of opposing players that the SUN chose to display was one of two Dominican boys, albeit in different uniforms! The US player that was shown defending the �Dominican� player, was in fact one of Dominica�s own sons who had migrated to the United States just two years prior.
The irony of the situation begs itself the question � who won this tournament? While Dominicans locally believe that the Dominican team won, it goes without question that we ALL won. All the players who visited this island returned home with positive memories.
Memories of hiking the Syndicate nature trail, snorkeling in the pristine, warm waters hugging Dominica�s shoreline, gazing in stunned amazement at the historical sites at the Cabrits, and the breathtaking views from the plateau above to the picturesque Portsmouth valley below, frolicking in the sulphur springs and basking underneath the refreshing, rejuvenating Trafalgar falls.
The organizers of this historic event, having poured countless hours of intensive labor and insurmountable personal financial sacrifice into this project, were by far some of the biggest winners.
As we stood on the podium and relished at the thousands of Dominicans who gathered to watch this event on the Newtown Savannah, as well as the several thousands who listened internationally and locally on radio or watched on TV, we concluded that a dollar amount could not be placed on this invaluable contribution that we had made to our country.
The hotels who benefited from an additional two weeks of otherwise slow revenue at the trench of the tourism season, namely the month of July, were undoubtedly winners.
The local restaurants, strapped during lunch and dinner hours because of the insatiable demand from our teenage boys for more pizza, more chicken and fries, more burgers, basked in the glory of their registers ringing with the sound of significant cash transactions.
The street vendors, those selling kennips and mangoes, who often would see their entire stash eliminated after a group of these youngsters passed by, certainly were left with the impression that they were also winners.
Yet the biggest winners are the people of Dominica, who for the first time witnessed premier international youth soccer right at their doorsteps.
To continue this winning trend, we must **all**, as fellow Dominicans, embrace the players, organizers and coaches who traveled great distances, at great expense, to bring this international competition and educational exchange camp to Dominica.
As I leave the island on Saturday, I stretch forth my arms to embrace and thank all those who participated, and emphatically declare all of us as winners!
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