Reports of events

St Lucia Challenge - CSSC in St Lucia, 3-18 October 2008

Roy Alder presents the overall trophy to Ashley Robinson on behalf of the London team

(Updated: 09:00 20 October - home safe and sound!)

• Summary report
• Photos and reports (by event)
• Our thanks to...

A party of about a hundred CSSC London competitors, organisers and families have been in St Lucia to compete against local teams, particularly those from public service.

We've had a very busy few days and all the competitive events have been completed together with prize givings etc. We've added all the event results and reports and will add remaining event photos plus those from social events, prize givings etc, as quickly as we can. The weather has been "interesting" (monsoon rain on Saturday in particular) and internet connections aren't 100% reliable under the conditions...

Overall, congratulations are due to London, who took the trophy by 147.5 points to 47.5 points - but the detailed event reports will show how closely played most of the events were!

Summary report

3-4 October

Our outbound flight was delayed when bad weather meant we had to divert to Martinique airport to refuel - a variety of technical and other issues (the crew was out of hours) meant we ended up with an overnight stay in a variety of local hotels. After the tedious wait at Martinique's airport, everyone felt a lot better after a night's sleep, a good breakfast and a stroll on the beach. We finally arrived in St Lucia, and via a minibus transfer, our hotels, a day late. There was a welcoming drinks party in the evening, with short speeches, and local music.

5 October

Tennis, badminton, golf, netball, petanque, volleyball were all played during the daytime, with quizzes and pool at the St Lucia Civil Service Association's building in Castries in the evening.

6 October

The day started with a 5km run starting at 06:00... followed by golf, cricket, mens and ladies football, and the absorbing spectacle of touch rugby.

7 October

The prize-giving party, kindly sponsored and hosted by Virgin Atlantic, was held at the Bay Gardens Beach Resort.

8-11 October

Free time before the week one departures on Friday 11th; many of us took a catamaran cruise down the west coast to Soufriere including visits to a waterfall, the Caribbean's only drive-in volcano, and a cocoa plantation.

Event photos and reports

You'll find photos and reports for each event listed below.

(Update @ 09:00 20/10: all event pictures now done - pictures from the prize giving plus some others from trips etc will follow shortly. So do check again soon!)

• Arrivals, welcome party
• Badminton
• Tennis
• Golf
• Netball
• Volleyball
• Petanque
• Pop Quiz; Sports Quiz; General Knowledge Quiz
• Pool
• 5km Run
• Cricket
• Mens football
• Ladies football
• Mixed touch rugby
• (Rounders - due to the bad weather, it wasn't possible to play the rounders event.)

(Note: all reports and results produced on the basis of the information provided by event organisers and are subject to confirmation and checking. Contact webmaster@cssc-london.co.uk if you have any queries.)

Our thanks to:

First, the following event organisers/assistants (all CSSC London unless otherwise stated) - with many thanks for their help and enthusiasm:

Second, CSSC London thanks the following for their help and support:

Travel Concepts Incorporated	Civil Service Insurance Society		Team Travel Caribbean
Virgin Atlantic		St Lucia Tourist Board