Verónica Campbell
NEW YORK – Jamaican Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, Veronica Campbell-Brownand World Championship silver medalist, Maurice Smith, head a list of local and international personalities who will be recognized for their outstanding performances in sports for 2007.
Mrs. Campbell-Brown (Sprints & Relay) and Mr. Smith (Decathlon), will be presented with the International Sports Award (ISA) Outstanding Sportswoman and Sportsman trophies, respectively, by the Island Games Organization (IGO).
They will be honored at a luncheon at Verdi’s of Westbury, Long Island,in New York on Sunday, February 3. Two New York personalities: Dalton Evans, head Track & Field Coach at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn and Athlete Liaison in the USA for the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA), and Lenroy Raffington, Track & Field Girls Coach at Hempstead High School, will also be presented with ISA citations.
The luncheon will also double as the launch of the third annual staging of the Island Games in Track & Field, set for Sunday, June 8, 2008, at the Mitchell Field Athletic Complex, Uniondale, and the annual Millrose Games (Indoors) at Madison Square Gardens, Manhattan, on Friday, February 1.
Founder of the Island Games, Patrick Payne told JIS News that the IGO is hoping to duplicate the success of last year’s awards, which cited a number of local and international personalities and organizations for outstanding achievement in two sporting disciplines (Track & Field and Soccer), including sprinters, Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson of the MVP Track Organization in Jamaica.
“While the IGO spotlights the high achievers, it is also necessary to recognize some of the individuals who are working tirelessly behind the scenes in preparing our athletes to be able to compete at such a high standard wherever and whenever,” Mr. Payne said.
Proceeds from the IGO luncheon will go towards funding the participation of athletes from the Caribbean at this year’s Island Games.
