e have a population of 30,000
but that went down to 20,000
after the hurricane,” says British
Virgin Islands FA president Andy
Bickerton, whose own home was
one of the many destroyed by
Hurricane Irma in 2017. And while some of those who
left in the aftermath have returned, the impact of the
disaster still reverberates.
“The hurricane caused lots of players to relocate
to a lot of countries,” says the nation’s most-capped
player, Troy Caesar. “It caused a lot of problems
in the BVI. We had just started on a new
stadium and that was damaged. Even some
of the youngsters that I used to coach were
gone and people’s addresses were lost.”
With the pitch at the $5million stadium in
Tortola ruined, the national team had to play
games in neighbouring Anguilla.
Like many Caribbean islands, the BVI
have had to look abroad for players – such as Kristian
Javier, who was born in the USA. The 22-year-old
midfielder, whose mother is from the BVI, says:
“You must constantly remind yourself why you play
the game. You have to realise you are carrying the
hope of your country with you into each match.”
But recruiting swathes of players from abroad is
not a long-term strategy.
“We are doing it to keep the scores reasonable
until we can bring kids through,” says Bickerton,
who played for the BVI in his youth and has been
president three times since 1991. “Bringing in too
many overseas players can be dangerous as we are
trying to make the sport popular. If you are good in
the BVI, you will get a chance to play.”
Bickerton grew up on the English south coast and
on a trip back there he met Dan Neville, who was onthe coaching staff at Bournemouth. The pair stayed in
touch and after Neville left the Premier League club
he ran a training camp in the BVI and was offered a
job as assistant to national coach John Reilly.
Neville is also focused on youth and he arranged
for a young side to visit Dorset in March last year,
during which time they played against Southern
League Premier Division South side Weymouth.
An inexperienced BVI team lost 6-1 but midfielder
Caesar saw signs of improvement. “In the past, the
ranking didn’t reflect the amount of talent in the BVI.
The preparation was very poor and that would causeus to lose badly,” he says. “But since Mr Bickerton
hired Coach Dan there has been a turnaround.
There is potential there now.
“When I was younger we were losing 17-0 [to the
Dominican Republic] but we were 0-0 for 70 minutes
against Martinique.”
Although they eventually lost 4-0 to Martinique in
a qualifier for the new CONCACAF Nations League, a
host of teenagers were involved, including 16-year-
olds Charles Medway and Bailey Rowe, 17-year-old
Liam Bok and 18-year-old Tshame Gallimore.
A qualifier against Bonaire in Anguilla in November
was cancelled when the opposition failed to show up
after their flight was cancelled. That fixture is being
rescheduled, and along with the final Nations League
fixture, against Turks & Caicos, it offers a winnable
game as the BVI’s revolution gathers pace.Life after Irma
Caribbean island rebuilds after devastating hurricane
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Thursday January 24
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EGYPT: Ismaily are expelled from
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crowd trouble resulted in last week’s
home game against Tunisia’s Club
Africain being abandoned.
ENGLAND: Chelsea beat Tottenham
Hotspur on penalties and will meet
Manchester City in the League Cup
Final on February 24.
FRANCE: After 104 days and 20
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HOLLAND: Feyenoord announce
coach Giovanni Van Bronckhorst
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SPAIN: Real Madrid top the latest
WORLD SERVICE“Debut...Jermain Defoe of RangersW
Denied...Kik Pierie heads
home Heerenveen’s equaliser
in the 4-4 draw with AjaxYouthful...the BVI team that drew 0-0
British Virgin Islands in a friendly with Saint Martin in JulySTEVE MENARY“Since Mr Bickerton hired Coach
Dan there has been a turnaround.
There is potential there now”
BVI’s most-capped player, Troy Caesar