(PRESS RELEASE) — In the third quarter of 2019, Saint Lucia is expected to play host to the fourth edition of the prestigious Caribbean Awards For Sports Icons (CASI).

It is anticipated that CASI 4 will complement Saint Lucia’s 40th Independence anniversary celebrations, “All In – Our Journey, Our Future”.

According to Founder and CEO, Al Hamilton MBE: “CASI will land on Saint Lucia because of the strenuous efforts by High Commissioner His Excellency Mr. Guy Mayers, who continues working tirelessly to ensure that the nation hosts this glamorous regional ceremony. Without his vision and energy, we could not have attained Cabinet approval, and he remains deeply entrenched in the planning process, as we seek the sponsorship to make it all happen”

Hamilton, a former Jamaican sports journalist, staged the Commonwealth Sports Awards in Saint Lucia in 2001, presenting special awards to young West Indies youth cricketer Daren Sammy and CARIFTA high jump champion, Levern Spencer. Sammy would go on to captain the West Indies men’s team to two World T20 titles. Spencer would go on to win Commonwealth and Pan Am gold medals, and set a CARICOM record.

Final preparations are taking place for the CASI team to visit Saint Lucia for meetings with the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, the Ministry of Tourism, both of whom have been engaged on a preliminary basis, and other stakeholders. Regional broadcasters SportsMax, who will carry the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, are also on track to provide full coverage of CASI 4.

Past recipients of the illustrious awards include Jamaican world and Olympic champion sprinter, Veronica Campbell-Brown, the consensus greatest allrounder in the history of international cricket, Barbados’ Sir Garfield Sobers, former football administrator Autin Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago, Olympic gold medallist in sailing, Sir Duward Knowles of the Bahamas, St Kitts & Nevis world champion Kim Collins, and cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards of Antigua and Barbuda.