BVI Youth Campers enjoy fun day at the Olympic Games Village

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

 BVI Olympic Games youth camp participants Leniece Lewis and Bryshaun Scatliffe enjoyed a fun filled day at the Olympic Games Village on Friday, as a part of their program of activities, when they reunited with the rest of the BVI delegation.

They toured the Olympic Games Village, had lunch in the main dining hall, met with Dion Crabbe and other athletes including the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Lavorne Jones after she advanced to the 100 meters quarter finals. They also took pictures with other athletes, toured their respective team offices and living quarters, then had chances to call home and use the internet.

The BVI campers joined participants from 200 other countries at the August 11-26 camp said they have been enjoying it. Lewis said for her, the camp is a totally new experience. “I’m meeting a lot of different people from countries I had no idea existed, but its fun,” said Lewis who now has friends from Palau, Fiji, Nieu and Van Vatu among others. “In one week it will be over, but I’m not really looking forward to going back home as yet.”

Among the exciting things for Lewis who competes in track and field, was being able to see some of the Olympic Games events including basketball, swimming, table tennis and fencing. “I got to meet some of the athletes I’ll be competing against in the next four years,” she said. “Going on visits to Acropolis and the Temple of Poseidon were interesting, but I’m looking forward to going to the beach—finally. We are going on a cruise to one of the famous islands and that should be exciting.”

Lewis too enjoyed the Olympic Games Village atmosphere. “The village is much more interesting than our camp, they have better rooms than we have, but I enjoy coming to see all the athletes and eating the food which is better than ours,” she said.

Scatliffe said his camp base has been a bit of a culture shock as he’s learning different habits of some of his European mates. “But, it’s going good and I like it,” Scatliffe said, noting that he attended a basketball game where he saw China’s Yow Ming playing against Spain. He also attended field hockey, baseball and archery. “I’ve only really been meeting people from the Caribbean because they speak English. The other people only speak French and Portuguese.”

Scatliffe said he liked the Olympic Games Village setting. “Oh, it’s much better than the camp. I want to stay here man and the food is good,” he noted. “But, I’m now looking forward to our trip to one of the Greeks islands.”

Before visiting the Olympic Games Village, the campers had a ‘Walk in Athens Day’ on last Wednesday where they learnt about Greek history and visited museums. Last Thursday, they participated in a magic show. On Saturday they went to the beach before taking off on a 3-day tour to the Greek isle of Sepstes on Sunday.