On this episode of Comes With the Territory hit bus and run in the ongoing effort to bring back the glory days of horse racing to the Territory is gaining momentum will sit with Sports Park and Recreation Commissioner Calvert Whyte and other stakeholders for an update.

Plus, developers have again said a new completion date and ask for more money to finish a long delayed poorly Joseph Stadium in Frederick State.

We'll have more.

And later, an update on the proposed Virgin Islands Olympic Center on St Thomas, a multi-million dollar sports facility designed to help advance sports tourism in the Territory.

Joining this week's panel discussion to provide insight on these issues and more are Jose Tony Rosario, president of the Virgin Islands Amateur Boxing Federation, and help Chico Morales, President of the Virgin Islands Olympic Committee, and Uzi Richard, FIBA Central Board member and a Cody Bar Vice President.

Comes with the territory.

Starts now.

Hello and thank you for joining us on comes with the territory I'm Leslie commission.

We begin with a look at recent positive developments in the Territory's horse racing industry.

The effort to restore the Territory's once vibrant horse racing industry has faced some major legal hurdles in the six years since the devastating hurricanes of 2017.

But things appear to be getting back on track this year.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in April for the Clinton e Phipps racetrack on Saint Thomas and progress is swiftly followed since then.

Last month, Southland Gaming announced that phase one was finished, including a new grandstand and parking area.

Contacted via email recently, cell phone Gaming's Chief Operating Officer Shane Gaspard wrote Phase two construction activities have now began.

Materials and crews are on site ensuring the project's progression remains on track.

Southland Gaming is committed to ensuring the project's completion in a timely and collaborative manner and delivering on its pledge to the Virgin Islands community.

The Clinton e Phipps racetrack is poised to become a significant cultural landmark, not only for Saint Thomas but for the broader Virgin Islands.

On Saint Croix, progress at the Randall James racetrack has faced its own set of challenges.

At a Senate committee meeting in August, the Eagles general manager of racing operations, Jason Williams, told lawmakers they were still waiting on necessary permits and licenses to begin.

I'm just as frustrated as everyone as I go about the island.

I you know, I can't go anything place without anyone commenting to me about the racetrack and the lack of progress.

So I sincerely hope that we break ground within short order.

Contacted recently, Williams had some good news.

The project is now moving forward and Williams said a groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for December 14th.

And joining me for the show today are Commissioner Calvert White, commissioner of the Department of Sports, Parks, and Recreation's Hugo Hodge, Jr.

The chairman of the Saint Thomas Saint john horse Racing Commission and on scene for joining the show virtually is Elroy Bates jr, president of the flamboyant park horseman Association, and Marcus Knight, the vice president of the flamboyant Park Horseman Association.

So he gets the first question in this one.

I'm going to start with you, Mr. Bates.

We just had a recent announcement of a groundbreaking on the island of Saint Croix via Eagle is ready to go.

Has that bred any life into the horsemen?

And what are your feelings about hearing about this December date for groundbreaking at the track?

It's it's a good thing.

I wish we have heard that too, because up to today they haven't totally horsemen association anything about that groundbreaking So you got the news before us, but that's okay we'll accept it.

But I like before we've had many dates before and nothing ever happened.

So let's hope something happen this time.

Mr. Knight, with all the delays, I'm sure there's been a lot of frustration.

Explain to our viewers how many horse owners there are approximately on the island and how many horses there there are.

And let's talk about the economics of maintaining a horse.

Well, right now, I can't do a specific number of horse owners because it's been seven years since 2016.

We have had no horse race in.

A lot of owners have left the game.

Horses have passed.

It's a pretty expensive sport to take care of us.

So with old racing going on, a lot of the owners have left.

It's not a cheap sport and feeding the horse is not very cheap, so it's very expensive.

So right now owners have left only the strong people out here we know have horses.

Mr. Hogg, we're going to come to you and talk about St Thomas, where we've seen some really rapid progress progress at the Clinton East Phipps racetrack.

I believe the groundbreaking was on April 11th and cell phone gaming has already announced completion of phase one and the start of phase two of the project.

And it looks like we may just be on on target to have Carnival races for 2024.

The disparity between the two and I know that has nothing to do with you and I.

We're going to talk about the recent split between the two boards, but how do you feel about how things are moving on?

Saint Thomas I'm very pleased.

What I'm seeing at Saint Thomas spoke to the guys from Lake Gaming earlier today.

And correct phase one is complete.

Phase two is underway, which includes the VIP section, the restrooms, the entertainment center, the the court, all the rest of the development for the under the stands and whatnot.

And so so that's a good positive thing for us.

The dates it's supposed to be completed by is before Carnival next year.

There's a possibility we may have something prior to that on a temporary basis.

So looking forward to getting some horse racing at Saint Tom was really the best thing for me.

Would have both of them moving at the same pace.

I'm all about the entire territory, not just one district.

So I really was hoping to see Vega move at the same pace and they had a jump start on certain games.

I was hoping to see them actually farther ahead, but that hasn't been the case.

Commissioner White let's talk about Saint Thomas's track and how we'll be able to put races on for Carnival.

What's the next steps with South Bend completing the construction phase?

Is there promoter that has to be secured?

Are they going to be promoting the races?

Let's talk about those logistics.

Yes.

So so prior to the track being finalized and opened, the Department of Sports Park and Recreation will probably put out an RFP for potential promoters who are interested in promoting the sport of horse racing.

I do know that currently the Saint Thomas Saint John Horse Racing Association and the other association and not a horse racing association is interested in running.

The race is temporary, but we'll put it out there and have potential promoters bid on bid on the package going back to the island of Saint Croix.

Mr. Bates In the interim, what how does your organization stay together?

Mr. Knight talked about how difficult and expensive it is to maintain a horse.

How is your organization basically keeping it together?

And let's talk about the frustrations that this six year period since 2017 has challenged your organization with.

And how were you guys working with Viggo towards the development and eventual holding of races on the Randall James track?

Well, my organization is frustrated when we have meetings.

No one shows up and I don't blame them because there's nothing going on.

The ideal we met with them BOJ, I think it was about two months ago.

They asked us to help who we know, doctor who we know if we see them in the street, speak to them, but we are doing that.

But the ideal to me, I think they're playing a game because right now Virgil have early permit to start walking on the racetrack.

Guy you have your DNR permit, you have everything, walk on stock, but they look at it.

Don't trust the government that they might build a casino and then cannot get their license.

So they're waiting on that liaison in order for any work to start, which it is frustrating, but that's out of our hands.

We do not know what we as a government and Virgil Commissioner White to Mr. Bates's response just now encapsulate for the audience sort of a timeline.

Since 2017, what has happened with horse racing and how, you know, we've ended up with the disparity.

And to be honest with the progress, you know, shooting forward so far is on Saint Thomas and seeing Roy still kind of left behind encapsulate that for the audience.

And we try to give this short version.

I think prior to this administration, the former administration and my administration had issued a franchise agreement to Viggo to run both racetracks, the run the Jack James and the Clinton Danny Phipps.

During that time, Southland came in, file a lawsuit claiming that the government infringed on their exclusive contract to run the royalties in Saint Thomas.

That took several years.

We were able to come to an agreement where Viggo decided that they would release the Saint Thomas truck from under that contract and just focus on Saint Croix.

And then at that point, Southland Gaming then agreed to build out the track on Clinton Phipps Racetracks.

And here we are today.

And Mr. Hodge, we talked about the progress.

I mean, for folks living in the Buffone native area on the East end, the grandstands went up really fast.

It's almost like, could we put somebody in charge of rebuilding everything?

Because, I mean, the progress has been so rapid.

Has that breadth any enthusiasm into, you know, members of the commission, the horse owners associations on both islands?

You're talking about even doing potential temporary raises even before Carnival, which is amazing to hear.

And I'm sure for horse racing fans that are viewing, they're excited to hear that.

Let's talk about if that were to happen, how it would happen and how people feel now that they're seeing this level of progress take place.

Definitely a lot of excitement.

I get approached and industry that my daily basis.

People are happy to see the progress.

They take pictures as they drive by.

They show you pictures of what they're seeing with the construction.

So it's kind of re-energized.

The horse racing enthusiast here on the island of Saint Thomas and those from Saint John.

As a result, you have a lot of conversation taking place.

You're starting to get requests from different entities about maybe hosting a temporary race.

When you speak to Southern Gaming, you know, the construction schedule for the grandstand with everything phase two being completed is prior to Carnival sort of Carnival races, as has been their goal of being completed by then.

But with the advent of some of the other entities that want to some of the horse owners that want to hold temporary racing and their requests that are coming in is a lot of excitement out there right now.

And I imagine that we will see something take place.

The main thing is safety, right?

So so we're construction going on the site.

You want to make sure that you're at a point where it's safe to have fans out on the track, not disrupt what's being done construction wise, but make sure it's safe for them to enjoy what takes place on the track itself.

And I know that right now they're finishing Phase two of the grandstand, but they're also going to deal with the the jockey, the paddock or the jockey room for the sister and in the paddocks and whatnot.

So there's a lot of work that's still going to take place.

But but they're moving at a good pace now.

We're going to go back to centroid.

To Mr. Knight.

I have a quick question because in this conversation it almost feels like a tale of two cities.

And we talked about some of the frustrations being experienced by horsemen on Saint Croix.

And recently there has been a split from a unified commission to each districts now having their own commission.

How do you think that's going to improve the status of horse racing on the island of Saint Cory?

Well, over here, I think we we have been dealing with our own commission for all the time.

We have been doing horse racing.

I mean, it was put in place when Governor Mapp came on board and had a one from order, which was was going to run a two tracks.

That's when he brought the idea of having one commission.

But like like like you said earlier, the progress in Saint Thomas always going on and just maybe everything is in the government and islands right now.

People are saying crazy that we get left behind and nobody's doing nothing to bring it forward.

And we, the members are flamboyant backers, administration.

We've got to present the body and everybody like we need to get this split is we're going to get left more behind and the billion dollar grandstand and everything that's going on in Saint Thomas just make it more harder for us.

So we said we have to get it done.

We've been this way before and we think that's the best thing for us to do.

Commissioner why, based on that response, from my perspective, it seems like you have two entities that were responsible for our job.

One entity is moving forward and one has had delays for whatever reason, despite having a head start, like Mr. Hodge mentioned.

Do you think that split will facilitate any further progress in what's going to take place at Randall Dock, James Park, or is it does it just boil down to one entity, you know, basically having their act together and moving forward with a plan and having the finances to move forward with a plan versus one that was introduced to the territory as an entity, quite frankly, after solid plan to do this and is wrangled the group to move things forward on St Croix will keep in mind as this is bittersweet for me because as a Commissioner for Sports, Parks and Recreation, I have oversight over both facilities.

So while I see progress being done on, say, Thomas Saint John and not seeing progress on Saint Croix, it's kind of up and down for me.

But but to answer your question again, I'm on both commissions.

You know, when we had one unified commission and I serve as the ex-officio by virtue of my position with the split, I now serve on two commissions because I'm on the Saint Thomas Saint John Association and the saint quite so for me personally, it doesn't change.

You know, my job is territory wide, so I'll work with both, both commissions.

I've been working closely with Virgil to try to push them to to get some progress started.

I just like the horse owners.

I'm frustrated also because, as I stated, sports, parks and recreation oversees the sport.

And, you know, I've seen a lot of progress.

Saint Thomas not seeing anything done and say the Saint Croix.

So, you know, I'm going to keep my foot to the pedal, keep keep pushing video so that we can see horse racing territory wide.

Let me ask you a question.

At what point does the government decide if progress doesn't take place?

You know what, we need to find somebody new.

Yeah, I think, you know, personally we're getting close to that point.

You know, that's a decision that the governor of the Virgin Islands will make.

That's above my pay grade.

But but I think we're getting close to that, that if we don't see something in the near future, we'll have to make a decision.

I'd say maybe the government needs to build this track.

Let me ask that question to our guests on Saint Croix.

Mr. Bates, at what point do you think that there's how much more patience is there with the horse owners and the horse enthusiasts on the island of Saint Croix?

And how long are you willing to give vigil with the pending groundbreaking and to see what developments take place in the months after that, before you and others say to the government of the Virgin Islands, hey, they've had their chance.

This is a moving forward.

Let's let's get somebody else different to do this.

This is my opinion, not the opinion of the flamboyant Park Horsemen Association in dealing with Mr. Jason Williams.

For the past six years.

Seven years, Mr. Jason Williams have never, never given an answer to a question.

You have never given an answer to a question.

This is the first time Mr. Jason Williams have ever put out a deed stating something is going to happen, he said.

December 14th, 2023, is groundbreaking.

This is the first day, Mr. Williams I've ever given that.

Did you go acts?

Mr. Judge, You go ask Mr. Knight, you go ask Mr. White every cent here and he goes, Don't you get root for not answering questions?

So this is my opinion.

I think we're on our way in seeing.

Gray Well, that's definitely good news to hear.

And Mr. Hodge, you certainly have an entirely difference in there you're dealing with now.

It's almost like, you know, a good the best position to be in.

Let's talk about the economics and how the economy is affected by horse racing.

And we only have a few more minutes left.

So I want to end on a positive note.

What segments of the community will see rejuvenation as a result of horse racing being reintroduced to at least this district?

Horse racing is an entrepreneurial business opportunity for many other horse owners as well, right?

Absolutely, yes.

So you have entrepreneurs, you have groups.

I'm part of a group that owns horses.

We have an LLC form that what number of individuals that own horses you have, you can teach our craft to young men.

You're going to need to be handlers to be the Roseman grooms, you name it, throughout the the responsibilities.

Part of what the commission has to do is to bring in trainers to teach all the different responsibilities of a track.

So you're teaching people to have a craft that people who've left here and gone abroad and taking this craft to the next level.

So it's a it's a big part of our community is always has been.

Sometimes when I hear the historians talk about how far back it goes, I'm amazed at how far back it goes.

So it's something that's really missing from the community and it's going to bring an injection of of of capital into the economy, is going to bring some excitement, is that it brings some concession opportunities for certain people.

Vendors will have a chance to make some money.

The fans will come out, they'll spend.

It's just going to really boost the economy.

And I'm hoping they can be on board districts.

I'm a Virgin Islander and I want to see board districts thrive because we're better when there's enough for all of us.

Absolutely.

Commissioner.

Right.

Real quickly, we got about a minute left on the process for the RFP, securing promoters, how long we anticipate that.

Lastly, you know, it all depends on how many interested parties we're going to get.

It usually we would put it out for 30 days.

So it's a quick process.

I know there's already talk about some potential individuals that want to put out that bid to be promoters.

So I estimate I was doing that before Carnival races.

And what's the capacity out at Clinton Phipps Racetrack?

I think it's the grandstands we're talking about, you know, total, how many people we go, who's out there?

I know the standard itself is 220 500.

I'm going to go we're going to say 7000, you, Lou.

Well, I could guess.

I could tell you that whatever the capacity is on those horse races, especially Carnival races, every everybody over here is going to definitely be there.

Because I think the the excitement and the people anticipating the return of horse racing is definitely something that Virgin Islanders want to see.

We're going to ask Commissioner White, could you stick around for the second issue?

Absolutely.

Excellent.

From hosting the annual Paradise Champ basketball tournament on C Thomas to leveraging the FIFA certified soccer field on Saint Croix.

The territory has long been familiar with and promoted the concept of sports tourism.

Integral to this mission has been the redevelopment of the Paulie Joseph Stadium in Saint Croix.

But the troubled project has been undergoing revisions and design changes since its inception in January 2020.

Governor Brian submitted legislation to support the completion of the long delayed project, but work on the stadium was again halted in August 2020, pending FEMA's approval, which the governor announced a year later, clearing the way for work to continue.

The Public Works Department released some construction images in February and announced that the $27 million project would be completed in the second quarter of 2023.

It did not happen, however.

A new completion date was announced on November 7th, when lawmakers considered a funding request to provide $5 million to the project for construction and site improvements.

The approximately $5 million being requested will cover the cost of add ons and further improvements to the project site.

The project schedule provided by the contractor has the expected completion date with the additional items in the last quarter of 2024.

However, this may change once orders are pleased for long lead and fabricated items.

I think that any project of this magnitude brings with it inherent problems.

We've been working through those problems with the contractor.

There's been a number of issues.

I think a lot of it even started with the issues that we had with FEMA, which caused a delay that was over a year.

That has really set us back significantly and we've been trying to catch up since then.

Another long delay project aimed at advancing sports tourism.

The Territory is a Virgin Islands Olympic Center, a proposed multi-million dollar sports complex designed to be a resilient shelter during disasters, making it eligible for FEMA funding for its construction.

The proposed plan for the dome shaped sports facility includes locker rooms, concessions, a training area, media rooms and weight rooms.

The complex would be designed to host a variety of sports events and made available to all territorial athletes regardless of what sport they play.

The proposed site for the new facility is the land behind the cricket field adjacent to the Eudora Can High School on Saint Thomas, The Virgin Islands Olympic Committee and our sport federations can play a major role in developing the sport tourism industry in the Virgin Islands, and that's what this facility will also be able to help us in.

There have been other talk with a soccer field and a soccer association getting a lot of their and we have been talking about putting their facilities out there.

And we are also trying to get space for the Olympic Committee in order to put that structure.

So the issue of back and forth, there have been many talks, many meetings, and I believe that we need to find a way to assist the Olympic Committee because the need is to start the more important on them.

However, it is going to be talked about at the same time to find a way of find a piece of property to assist the Olympic Committee, because I believe it's that important in terms of the return on investment.

With us now to share expert insights on horse racing in the Territory, the long awaited Polly Joseph Stadium, the Olympic Center, and other initiatives to advance sports tourism are Jose Tony Rosario, president of the Virgin Islands Boxing Federation, and Chico Morales, president of the Virgin Islands Olympic Committee.

And Uzi Richardson, a board member of the International Basketball Federation and vice president of the Association of the Pan-American Sports Confederation.

And, of course, Commissioner Calvert White agreed to stay on for our power panel today.

Mr. Morales, you just returned from Santiago, Chile, where our athletes who are competed in the Pan American Games.

Tell us a little bit about how that went for our athletes or at least competed in Chile.

It was cold, the weather was cold, but they performed well.

We had Michelle Smit.

She competed in the 400 meter hurdles, crew member in the foil and fencing.

And Nicholas, the more as you know, he's ranked in the top ten in the world in archery.

Archery.

Yes.

Yes.

And Cruz as his sister, he's one top ranked in the junior division.

So he has an, you know, a bright future ahead of him as you know, our federations can bring in international events, but we must have facilities that can host, you know, the countries that are coming in.

And it's important for us to finish our facilities, especially, as you mentioned earlier, the baseball using the track, the track, all the work.

And even to certify this, there's still need to have some amenities in the sessions, bathrooms, etc., a cover of, you know, check this out.

But we attended also a General assembly where we I heard a presentation by this company doing that and building a dorm here and femur up to being a current facility, paying for those.

And that facility provided the are able to use it in times of disaster.

So I said this is a win win.

So I started the process via chemo first.

Initially as senators of course, and then went to visit Modibodi and they filled out the application for us, presented it to female and we've been had a few little verbal, but we, we've been overcoming them and right now we have a team back and those are the governors, representative and female via housing authority.

So everybody's on board and what they want to see this facility come to.

And we'll and we're going to talk about the facility and what it will do with a Commissioner Wade a little bit later.

But I want to talk to you, Mr. Rosario, as someone who has represented the territory abroad as an athlete in martial arts baseball, you're president of the Boxing Federation and a member of the Softball Federation as well.

Let's talk about and I don't think a lot of people really get how much economically can be contributed to the territory and what happens when we have teams visit here.

Recently, St John just this year hosted a female softball tournament.

That was amazing.

See, Giants were very enthusiastic and our own local team did really well in the tournament from an economic point of view and a crime prevention, which is a point that I heard you mentioned over the years perspective.

How does this really benefit our students and the economy overall?

Well, to start off, we looked at the numbers of people who came on and online.

Look, we had 67,000 people and in two days watching it and we never really promoted it like how we could have promoted it.

So, you know, it sports, tourism at its best.

These teams want to come back.

We are working actually right now on A and C double a division one softball tournament for C And John, once we get the facility, the commission on the Commission and Assistant commissioners inquiries working in that field, once that happened and we to have an NCAA, they came in already they looked at the venue, they went to DV, they went to the other and they said, Perfect day will come.

So sports tourism at its best.

We have the Thanksgiving tournament here with Paradise Gem and we'll have softball tournament Division one and Sequoia.

We're going to go to Saint Croix, too.

Mr. Richards Mr. Richards Basketball is arguably the sport that the predominance of Virgin Islands athletes have excelled, excelled at.

In fact, the sport that we have the most acclaimed athletes in.

And you've been involved with basketball.

And the same question I asked that Mr. Richards, from a crime prevention point of view and from an economic point of view, how the sports tourism affect our territory.

My, my main concern at this particular point is on it's our understanding of what we mean when we use the term sports tourism, because there's some impression that I'm just bringing events to the Territory is in fact a sports tourism activity.

I think more importantly in my mind, there's a there's a need for some structure and organization in the development of sports throughout the territory.

The government has has a specific purpose and policy, the manner in which some sports federations and the Olympic Committee have to be able to implement and host activities needs to be greatly coordinated so that we could get a major impact and benefit out of it.

But the direct response for me in regards to sports tourism is that we need to create an authority to govern, manage and to organize and coordinate sporting events throughout the Territory.

We are fortunate to be a territory that I don't have 12 months of good weather and 12 months of good weather, meaning activity can be happening at least each month, at least every two or three months.

That would aid and promote the development of sports throughout the territory and at the same time be able to encourage greater participation by the local athletes to see that there is some focus on the development of the sport.

Not only being able to host the events, but to develop the sport locally in the Territory.

I'm glad you brought that up.

And let me ask you directly for the Basketball Federation, what program, starting from the youngest age that students can participate in the sport until the, you know, high school level.

Do we have in place and are those programs standardized where coaches have all been coached the same way and are teaching our students in a uniform way and their standards that are established within those methods that are taught to our students at all?

I wouldn't want to specifically address the subject matter of basketball solely and speak on a matter because of my experience with the Basketball Federation.

I'm speaking in sports in general.

There's no current tie in relationship between interscholastic sports.

What are you call volleyball, basketball, baseball, football, and these international sports federations represented within the territory.

In the case where you have a National basketball federation, you have a National baseball federation, you have a National boxing federation.

So that in the structure and the organization and the presentation of sports and I'm sure Mr. Morales and others there on your forum have seen that in the different countries there's a direct relationship with the school system, the community sports system.

In this case, the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation, where you can develop, organize and provide not just coaches, clinics and players clinics, but a purpose and a nationalism in the development and implementation of sports policy in the territory.

Well, let's talk about that, Commissioner White.

We have a sports federation that exists in the Territory.

For viewers that may not be familiar.

Explain the purpose of that federation and how they interact on the scholastic level with the Department of Education and then programs that are run by the various sports federations in the territory.

When you say federation, we talk about the Sports Commission, the Sports Commission, Sports Commission.

So we're correct.

So that commission was created, I think about four or five years ago myself and Mr. Rozario is on that.

And they are mandated in creating the policy is in which governs sports in the territory, as Mr. Rich is known, as well as the members on the panel.

Federations are to be carrying out clinics and teachings to the different sports.

What is within the education system or in the recreation, and who make sure that they do those clinics?

Is that the department's response to your department's responsibility or so?

In my opinion, it should be that individual sports federation, they should be whole in the federation to to to to a level where they are ensuring that throughout the year that they're carrying out clinics, teachings, development of our youth from from a young age.

Is that being done now.

I don't think is being done on a level that it should be done, but we have a ways to go.

I'm confident that that once the Sports Commission do create its mandates and policies and pass on to all the federations, that those will be carried out on the Territory.

Mr. Rosario, how do we ensure that those federations do do what Mr. Richards mentioned, and who ultimately should have the oversight?

Because I know that in certain countries, you know, from the time you can walk, even there's skills and requirements that an athlete at a certain age are supposed to have.

And then they progressed to a particular system and certain countries are able to pick out the elite athletes and remove them from the school system even to where they're playing sports for a certain time of the day.

And their academics are covered outside of the formal school system in that particular country.

Who would be responsible for making things like that happen here?

Well, it's the president of each sport and federation.

Should be responsible for that.

It's just like, let's say, boxing.

No, every boxer that I because that we have is mandated to become certified.

And both the referee, both sides of a referee judging and coaching.

Same thing with this type of federation.

The Federation of Coaches should be and we are working on some stuff right now to do that that every coach that is coaches.

But if they're not certified, they cannot coach softball.

So we are working on that through the Federation right now.

But before we do that, we have to bring in the courses which we are working in that right now.

So it it falls on the President's of each sport and federation and from my perspective, to make sure that you do courses.

Okay.

And I would say, you know, to the Olympic Committee, every time we need money for any course and we put it in, the Olympic Committee always passes it.

Mr. Morales, how do our athletes become members of the Olympic Committee, or how does the Olympic Committee make themselves aware of the talent that is in the territory?

And quite frankly, who's eligible to represent the Virgin Islands?

Because we know that individuals that may live abroad, like, for instance, Michelle Smith, goes to school in Florida right now, but has parenting from the Virgin Islands or parentage from the Virgin Islands.

Who qualifies and how do they get in contact with the Olympic Committee to represent the territory?

Well, like the past panelists mentioned, each federation is responsible for developing their sport, and that's from the youth level to the junior or senior levels.

And then they in turn, they notify us we have this athlete who they are qualified to attend the game.

So our main responsibility, the Olympic Committee, to make sure we have funds for them, for the major games, and also to assist the federation in the development of their elite athletes.

But each federation has to identify those athletes, each identify each federation responsible for having programs, youth talent identification programs, junior programs, and, you know, develop their sport, develop the athletes, and then we send them to games.

And many of them have excelled in the past.

You know, basketball has a good program, as evidenced by the gold medal won this summer.

And what are your question concerning who can represent?

You must be a born Virgin Islander or of a parent born in the Virgin Islands.

Thank you for answering that.

And if you go we've had a citizens from the US come down here.

You must be served for three years before you're eligible to compete for the Virgin Islands Olympic Committee.

Not necessarily for their federation.

They can compete for the federations and the ten world championships in one two years.

I don't know what the restriction, but our history is.

Life is a good thing.

Back to the Islanders Synchro and Mr. Richards, Let's talk about the poorly Joseph Stadium.

There seems to be a theme with delays in projects and the police in Joseph Stadium in the heart of Fredericks said is one of those that for years Virgin Islanders have been waiting for the completion.

We are appetites were all whetted with those pictures that we saw in the piece before we started the discussion, hoping that progress would be taking place.

But explain to the viewers exactly what the completion of that project would mean for Frederick Stetson Croix.

All right.

I'm at a loss.

I wanted to at least make one quick point on the subject that you were speaking out on before, because you left the impression that the question that you asked the commissioner why the damned that the sports commission is some entity that has some jurisdiction over national federations with the in the territory.

And and that is completely false.

I think the the purpose and intent of the Sports Commission was very important, but I think that it is flawed in looking at the context of the structure and how we develop sports in the Territory.

The Poorly Joseph Stadium is a long running activity and program that's been around for quite some while.

As a matter of fact, the first term of moneys that was awarded for partly Joseph Stadium under the the young Francis administration was some legislation introduced by me for from the East and Capital Improvement Fund to to make some major repairs to the stand and a facility at Parlee Joseph Stadium the following year also under the the young Francis administration.

And this is what frustrates me in listening to the continued requests for more money for the party.

Joe The stadium, the the young Francis administration was floating bonds under the public finance authority for a number of capital projects and we were able to successfully include a portion of funds in there to to do the party.

Joe the stadium in addition to not just the stadium, Senator Sam was signed.

It came with an amendment to do a permanent site for for the village.

So this is something that is frustrating not only to those that play the sport of basketball, but to the entire synchro community that this project has been lingering for quite a long period of time.

And then the projected facility that was initially supposed to be built under the map administration, I think when my parent administration was again reduced to a different design, a different approach.

And so for me, I think that we have seen a community that is suffering from not only a lack of facility because prior to Polly Joseph, we also have the Terrence Martin softball field.

I was there.

And so that the amount of funds that is being put into this project and not seeing the results that are expected is frustrating us in a committee that know the potential that the facility has.

And we can go as far back to when we had the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox playing.

And Fredric said since Croix in the Virgin Islands.

Thanks for that little bit of history, Commissioner.

White facilities.

We're talking about a new facility on Saint Croix completion.

Finally of Paul Joseph.

How do you see us getting past these bottlenecks that we've been experiencing?

I mean, does your department have the capacity in conjunction with public works and all the other departments to make these things happen?

Yeah, I think we do.

You know, just to piggyback off of what Mr. Richards was saying, keep in mind, this project started, I think it was 2012, talking about some 11, 12 years ago, as he stated then doing the map administration, that design was changed.

We had a more Lutheran facility.

There was some add ons that Governor Matt had on there.

And then during that administration found that the the the base of the facility was starting to sink and the governor made the decision which was needed to put pilings in the ground so that the facility would be on a solid base during the Bryan administration.

That design then was then torn down some.

So you the three different designs with three different administrations, I don't know what happened or where the bomb was dropped, but the $5 million that we're asking for now, some key stuff was left out when I became the commissioner.

We had a facility that was $27 million that had a chain link out to events.

We decided to put a wall in outfield.

There was no press box in the design.

You know, that's unheard of to have a baseball field without a prison, especially if you're talking about sports tourism to $1,000,000 facility with no press box.

So that's part of the $5 million.

There was no equipment in there to maintain this facility, right in lawn mowers, stuff to cut the grass.

That's part of the $5 million.

So, again, as you see different administrations come in and different eyes, look at the project.

I think that's where we see, you know, oh, we miss this and we miss that.

Going to knock on wood, because I firmly believe that I am going to be the commissioner that cuts the red ribbon at Parley Joseph Stadium under the leadership of Commissioner Gabriel and to one that public works.

We see some movement now with the project and so I'm confident in the direction that is going right now.

Speaking of facilities, Mr. Rosario, you have had to get very creative in providing facilities for amateur boxing in the Territory.

Let's talk about some of the ideas that you've utilized that perhaps the Government could also follow and some of the public private partnerships you've put in place to make sure that students can participate in boxing?

Well, you know, you know, none of the facilities that we have, you know, is no student pays is free, completely free.

So we are working right now.

I would like to see I mean, we have some private people that have been helping us with the gym and seeing Cory.

Without them, the gym would have been closed and approximately how many young men work out at the gym right now and an average?

About 50.

Well, 50 young people off the streets, young men for a couple hours each day, as you said before, about, you know, crime prevention, since a lot of these kids that came into the program, some are referred to by police, some are referred to by the courts, since they've been in the program, we haven't had any problems that we're not one.

Okay.

So same thing with Saint Thomas.

Every so often we may find one that or to that, but we just come up a train track and put them back on a train track.

But be creative right now.

Like I said, you could probably build up facilities in quarry that if we get this facility built, you will see boxing and some of the other bigger countries.

Like I said, we have 12 months of the year that we can do training.

They are willing to come in and train in the wintertime and that would help us also with developing our product a little bit more.

Mr. Richards, getting back to you on a point that you made earlier in our discussion about sports tourism just not being bringing an event.

You know, it's the training that can take place, the invitation of athletes to come here to the Virgin Islands, to train for other events that may represent other countries or that they may be competing in elsewhere.

If we were to make it the goal of the territory, to put in the proper facilities and to put in the housing, most importantly, that would be necessary to host these kind of events that, you know, we could potentially host.

What do you see would be the effect that would take place?

And do you think that perhaps even a renaissance could happen, a rejuvenation of both islands and more interest from our young people in participating in some of the sports that may take place on the island?

I want to pick up where Commissioner White left off and make sure that you and the panelists clearly understood the point that I was trying to make and I'm glad to hear the comments that was made by Mr. Rosario.

We do not, as we speak today, have sports development with a purpose and a policy that is recognized throughout the entire territory within the Olympic Committee is sport is for the region and the government.

I think what what is most important that I wanted to bring about is that there is a need for a sports authority in the Virgin Islands that would encompass the national federations, our Olympic committee that was set up, set for the purpose and goals that we would like to accomplish by having sports in the Territory and by utilizing sports as a tool for food tourism.

Mr. Rosario just mentioned a facility, some arms, and then over a decade ago, legislation was passed and funded to to acquire some 42 acres of which Mr. Morales, then Commissioner of Sports Parks, Sinclaire Williams, was part of a commission under the Advanced Housing Finance Authority to develop a multipurpose sports facility on the property in Freddie, said 42 acres and politicians were going back and forth and giving the discussion during the Maputo administration to begin and commence the construction of this facility.

They reached an agreement to relocate that facility to the campus of University of Ordinary Islands.

To date, not nothing has happened.

This is still a project under the Housing Finance Authority, Mr. Rosario said.

In the land they have 42 acres of land that could only be used for sports development purposes, according to the deed we purchased, said the Government own it and so that that may be a site that Mr. Tsarukyan can move towards too.

But the point that we need to clearly understand we must have a unified approach of what we would like to get out of tourism by utilizing sports.

And my last point, and which is something that concerns me greatly, you have the Department of of Tourism that have moneys for sports tourism that don't understand, in my mind the importance what sports tourism should be in about an island.

And so when we when we sit back and look at this kind of funding being used to enter into an a contractual agreement with the New York Jets or to have one professional athlete promote the territory in regards to tourism, that in my mind does not achieve what needs to happen with sports tourism.

And my last example of which Commissioner Whyte was one of the beneficiaries of in 2002 we had ten men, team seven woman team, 17 teams from the Caribbean on Island in Sintomas playing basketball from 8:00 in the morning until midnight, ten times more.

The amount of participants and guests that you have seen at any Paradise gem tournament and we still have not find ourselves to, to understand the importance of developing sports and using sports tourism as an inside out tool in comparison as outside into for sports and young people to be able to participate, support and use as something to promote in the Territory.

Well, with that said, and we only have a few more minutes left, so in one minute, how can we best I'm going to ask each of the members on the panel, and I'll start with you, Mr. Morales, to the points that were just made by Mr. Richards.

How do we then redirect, restructure and get the money that this government has invested in the places that will yield us the future athletes of tomorrow?

Well, the first thing we need to do is get this sport policy.

I know several of the members have mentioned that there has been a lack of support from the individuals WHO are on that commission.

I don't think they were fully invested in bringing out a sport policy.

That's my opinion and I think once we have this done, like Ms.. Richard mentioned, we will be on our way.

Ms.. Mr.. Rosario The same question I feel is saying exactly as Ms.. Moran is.

You know, we have been working on some some policies and that I said is lack of interest with some people, you know, to get a quorum to be able to to finish that.

We we came a long way.

But I feel if they are not interested, then we just put people who are interested.

Okay.

And finish what we started.

Let me ask you a blunt question.

With all the years of experience, you've had an interaction with different sports.

Do you think our politicians actually get it?

No, I don't think they actually get what sport tourism actually can do for the Virgin Islands, because, you know, you I said if you go to a certain places in Chicago, New York, everything is built around.

I mean, small time, billion dollar industry that we are losing on because we are not building it.

Mr. Way, you two have been I think I mean.

Mr. RICHARDS that up.

You've represented the Virgin Islands as well.

Let me ask you take you back to the days.

Do you think you've got the level of support from our government that you needed or your team members needed to to excel?

Absolutely not.

I think it's a little better now.

We're seeing the government and I'm not just saying that because I'm the commissioner now, but we do see a lot more resources being put into some of our federations and our athletes.

But I think if we're going to get serious about sports tourism, there's going to have to be an entity or an organization created solely for sports tourism.

I know I had this this conversation with the former commissioner tourism under the map administration, but they say there needs to be an organized organization in between sports, parks and tourism that deals with bringing events to the territory.

And I think a lot of people think when you just bring a team from the states and put on a tournament that supports tourism, well, if we're not bringing any fans and people are not filling up our hotel rooms and all of that, we're really just putting on a tournament or an event.

So I would like to see that organization created where their sole focus is on sports tourism.

Mr. Richards In one minute, what do you think that entity should look like?

We created a division of festival within the Department of Tourism to handle a fit.

So could we do the same for sports?

All I could do is smiling wholeheartedly.

Agree with Commissioner White and the department and Commissioner right runs now.

Used to be known the Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation.

And I recall when the de Young administration sent down the bill to change the name to Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation.

And as a senator, I'd had the authority to create a piece of legislation known as the Virgin Islands Sports Authority.

That bill was held up for some six or eight months, and I couldn't convince my colleagues the importance about creating a sports authority instead of just simply renaming housing, Parks and Recreation the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation.

I think that the Department Commissioner White runs should be revamped, retool, restructure and reorganize, funded as an authority to work within the Olympic Committee Sports Federation Interscholastic Association in developing the sports so that not only will we have sports development, but through that development we will also have an opportunity to have a unit under the Sports Authority to develop tourism.

I think that's the roadmap, right?

De La agree with that potential solution.

Gentlemen, I'd like to thank you all for joining us.

Believe it or not, our time has run out.

These conversations go real quickly, but I'd definitely like to have you guys back on the show at some point to discuss this and other issues.

That's all the show we have for you today.

Be sure to tune in next Sunday at 1 p.m. for an all new episode of Comes With the Territory.

Your news updates.

Tune in every weekday at 5 p.m. to WTMJ on 93.1 FM or by downloading the TJX app where you can get news updates every 5 p.m..

I'm Leslie.

Commission for all of us here at WTMJ at Channel 12.

Have a great Sunday.