Nevis / Sport

Cricket

Cricket is the most popular sport with the Nevisians and the season runs from January until mid-July, with on-island and inter-island matches. Regular fixtures are held on Thursday evenings at the Grove Park ground in Charlestown. The island boasts many Test alumni like Elquemedo Willett, Deryck Parry, Keith Arthurton and Stuart Williams and is fortunate in having former West Indies cricket manager Ricky Skerritt as a driving force as Minister for Sports and Tourism and latterly in an executive role with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and Caribbean Tourism Organisation.

Cycling

There is quite a lot of interest in cycling on Nevis at the moment, largely due to Winston Crooke of Windsurf'N'Mountainbike Nevis. The island has hosted a number of regional mountain bike races and there is a successful road racing team.

Mountain Bikes are available for rent from Windsurf'N'Mountainbike Nevis, but Winston also takes out mountain biking tours. There are three main rides (though if you want to go out more than that in a week others will be found for you) and they tend to climb on road to start with and then have an off-road section and descent. One ride follows the Upper Round Road, which has some excellent single track through dry and then damper forest. There are also ½ day and island tours. See details of the tours.

In June the Nevis Cycle & Triathlon Club holds the 50-mile King of the Road cycle race and in September they hold the 60-mile Independence Road Race.

Golf

Please see our Special Interest – Golf section.

Hiking

Please see our Special Interest – Hiking section.

Horse Racing

Horse racing is another popular sport with the Nevisians and the Nevis Turf and Jockey Club stages meets at the racetrack at Indian Castle in the southwest of the island throughout the year. Race meets tend to be during public holidays. One of the leading lights of Nevis racing is Richard Lupinacci of Hermitage Plantation Inn. They keep their own horses, which are available for rides.

Karate

Nevisians have long had an interest in martial arts. For many years the only cinema showed mainly Kung Fu movies - Karate Kid and Bruce Lee films – but then in the 1990s a professional trainer, Nevis-born Vincent Maynard, returned from the United States and set up the Mabson-do Goju Kan Karate Association on Nevis. The group started small but has gained popularity over the years. Participants range from young children to mature adults, including tourists sometimes. Visiting instructors also come to demonstrate other techniques.

Kitsurfing/Windsurfing

Please see our Special Interest - Kitesurfing/Windsurfing section.

Running

A 10 kilometre fun run is held each year by the Nevis Cycle & Triathlon Club, at the end of May. See below for details of the Nevis Triathlon. A 32km Round-the-Island race (for teams and individuals) is held in April. Contact Windsurf'N'Mountainbike Nevis above.

Scuba Diving

Please see our Special Interest - Scuba section.

Swimming

In March, the Nevis Cycle & Triathlon Club holds a ‘cross-channel’ swim (Bente Weber Memorial Swim) across the straits between Nevis and St Kitts.

Tennis

Tennis is available through a number of hotels. Hotels with courts include The Hermitage, Nisbet Plantation and the Four Seasons. Hill Rise House is a villa with a private tennis court. Stephen Webbe gives private tennis lessons.

Triathlon

The Nevis Triathlon is staged early each year by the Nevis Cycle & Triathlon Club, usually in March. There are different distances (Olympic distance, Sprint and a ‘Try a Tri’), but they all transit in Charlestown in the TDC car park on the waterfront. In the Olympic distance the swim begins at Gallows Bay, heads into town, the cycle section takes the new road up to the airport runway and back and then the run is to the Four Seasons and back.

Below Sara Macefield interviews John Hanley and Alastair Yearwood about the growing scale and importance of the Triathlon at the 2011 World Travel Market.

Windsurf'N'Mountainbike Nevis stages training camps in the run up to the Triathlons and mountain bike races.

Nevis Cycle & Triathlon Club, Oualie Beach, contact Winston Crooke, t 469 9682 | windsurf@caribsurf.com | www.neviscycleclub.com

Watersports

Please see our Beach Life - Watersport section.