CAUSES@ANTIGUANICE.COM

Two young Antiguan sailors are currently raising money to be able to compete in the International Byte CII Championship and Youth Olympic Games Qualifier for North America and the Caribbean, which is the gateway to having Antigua participate in the Youth Olympic Games in China this summer.

The qualifier will be held in Jensen Beach, Florida from Feb 27 - March 2. As Jules Mitchell, one of the sailors, explains, “It is going to cost around US$8,000 per sailor to get there (there are two of us, Rhone Kirby, another 15 year old, and myself). This covers coach expenses, flights, accommodation, registration, boat rental, coach boat rental, taxi fares, etc., and we only have about two-and-a-half weeks to raise the money. We have raised about     US$3,000 each so far.”

Fund raising was left very late because the team was told in October that Antigua could not send sailors to the Youth Olympics. Since then they have discovered that if they qualify in Jensen Beach, Antigua can be represented. There are four spots left and only eight countries that have not qualified yet—and these are only open to sailors born in 1998 and 1999. So Jules and Rhone have a very good chance at representing Antigua in China at the Youth Olympics.

To raise the funds they have organized a crowd-funding effort on Gofundme.com. To contribute any amount, go here.

For more information, contact Susan Athill Mitchell (Jules’ mom) at (268) 724-0222.