St. Croix native Tim Duncan will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame during induction festivities set for May 13-15, 2021.
The Virgin Islands Sports Commission announced during a Youth, Sports, Parks and Recreation Senate hearing Wednesday that the organization has voted on and passed its first six mandates — including three mandates that will allow for the formation of a Virgin Islands Sports Hall of Fame, and how sports members will be elected to receive this honor.
The announcement was made during the hearing by Leon Hunt, chairperson of the V.I. Sports Commission.
The goal of the Hall of Fame is to “recognize Virgin Islanders who have excelled in sports, either locally or abroad, by bestowing honorary awards.”
The first mandate discussed by Mr. Hunt includes the establishment and maintenance of the Hall of Fame. The first step will be establishing a committee composed of the following individuals:
- A Hall of Fame director
- A Sports Commission member
- Two St. Croix community members
- Two St. Thomas community members
- One St. John community member
This committee will manage the day-to-day operations of the Hall of Fame, explained Mr. Hunt.
The next mandate explained in Mr. Hunt’s testimony established who would be voting to select the inductees of the V.I. Sports Hall of Fame and eligibility needed to be inducted. There will be one representative from each of the twenty-four sports federations, five members of sports media, ten veteran athletes (minimum age of 50) and eight assorted knowledgeable individuals and groups that do not fall into any of the previously defined groups.
There will be three Ex-Officio members: the Department of Sports Parks and Recreation commissioner, the Olympic Committee president, and the Virgin Islands Sports Commission chairperson.
To be considered, an individual must have performed at an extremely high level, must be of high moral character, must have performed for a long period of time (at least 10 years), must have been retired for at least five years, and must have ties to the VI.
Hall of Fame voting will be done every two years and individuals will remain on the ballot for a total of five cycles, according to Mr. Hunt. There will be a maximum of ten nominees per cycle.
To be inducted into the Hall of Fame, a candidate would need to receive 75 percent of the vote. Nominees with less than 25 percent of the vote will be removed from the ballot.
The following groups will be considered for the Hall of Fame:
- Athletes
- Coaches
- Game officials
- Sports administrators
- Sports contributors
- Sports media
No location has been finalized but the commission is looking into three possible spaces: The old fire station across from Emancipation Garden, Enid Baa Library on Main Street and the old Boy Scouts building on the waterfront — all St. Thomas locations.
Other mandates that have already been passed by the commission dealt with developing and enforcing all laws and policies that govern sports and recreation in the Virgin Islands, establishing policies and guidelines for training and selecting Virgin Islands elite and potential elite athletes in collaboration with the Virgin Islands Olympic Committee and national sports organizations, and establishing a sports tourism policy in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, The Virgin Islands Olympic Committee, and Virgin Islands national sports organizations.
