Saint Lucia’s burgeoning local performance troupe Open Waters Theatre is gearing up to debut its landmark fifth full-length stage production this November, carrying forward the signature creative formula that has earned the company a fast-growing loyal fan base across the island. Helmed by award-winning local playwright and director Tito Adams, the upcoming show titled *A Twisted Christmas* promises to deliver the same beloved, carefully balanced fusion of heartfelt dramatic beats, laugh-out-loud situational comedy, and unflinching, thought-provoking social critique that has defined every one of the company’s prior successful runs. Centered around a seemingly ordinary family holiday gathering that descends into chaos after a cascade of unforeseen, explosive personal revelations upends every festive tradition the group planned to uphold, the narrative dives deep into nuanced, universally relatable themes: the quiet complexities of modern fatherhood, the often-fraught unspoken bonds between parents and their adult children, and the devastating ripple effects of romantic infidelity on extended family units. In a recent exclusive interview with the *St Lucia Times*, Adams dropped a tantalizing teaser for ticket holders, revealing the production will feature a carefully crafted supernatural character designed to keep audiences leaning forward in their seats, guessing at every unexpected plot turn. The show will run for two public performances at the island’s National Cultural Centre: a Sunday matinee and evening slot on November 22, and a full Saturday showcase on November 28, headlined by a tight-knit ensemble of nine performers. The cast includes several fan-favorite recurring talents who have starred in Open Waters Theatre’s past hits, such as seasoned local actors Tevin Auguste and Keri Franklin. Adams explained that the choice to prioritize retaining long-time troupe members is a deliberate, creative strategic decision, not a random one, as he works to build sustainable, long-term momentum for the rapidly expanding local theatre collective. “I made it a priority to keep our core team intact specifically for the sake of organic on-stage chemistry, so every interaction our audience sees on the stage feels fully authentic, not rehearsed or forced,” he shared with local reporters. This production stays fully aligned with the artistic mission Adams first laid out publicly back in 2024, ahead of the debut of the troupe’s third hit show *Family Ties*, when he emphasized that local theatre’s greatest power lies in its ability to draw public attention to pressing, underdiscussed social issues while delivering deeply entertaining experiences that keep the island’s live playmaking tradition alive and thriving. Looking far beyond the upcoming two-show run, Adams shared his long-term vision for Open Waters Theatre: he aims to grow the collective into a fully established, permanent cultural institution that can offer stable, full-time paid employment for all its cast members, backstage crew and creative staff. “My ultimate goal is to cultivate a robust, thriving local theatre culture right here in Saint Lucia, where local audiences get just as excited and anticipatory for our new homegrown productions as Broadway crowds get for opening nights in New York. Most of all, I want to give our island’s talented creative professionals a fair, consistent opportunity to showcase their craft and earn proper, livable compensation for the work they pour their lives into.” The troupe’s two most recent prior productions, 2024’s *Family Ties* and 2025’s fan favorite *The Chillout*, earned rave audience reviews and sold-out runs, cementing Open Waters Theatre’s reputation as one of Saint Lucia’s most promising emerging local arts collectives, with growing community support that continues to expand with every new show.
标签： Saint Lucia
圣卢西亚
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Innocent upskills anti-doping with Concacaf
A high-level two-day regional anti-doping collaborative gathering concluded this Thursday at the headquarters of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) in Miami, Florida, with Saint Lucia securing a key representative seat at the landmark event. Dr. Natasha Gemma Innocent, the designated medical lead for the Saint Lucia Football Association (SLFA), stood among dozens of sports medicine and anti-doping practitioners drawn from across the Americas to take part in the historic workshop, which formally rolled out the first-ever CONCACAF Anti-Doping Educator Programme.
The continental football governing body organized the summit with the core goal of building a standardized, interconnected network of medical leads across all its member national associations, uniting professionals tasked with critical responsibilities ranging from doping test oversight, regulatory adherence, to targeted athlete anti-doping education. The timing of the event was strategically aligned to prepare national stakeholders for the upcoming 2027 World Anti-Doping Code and accompanying International Standards, which are set to carry full legal force starting January 1, 2027.
The packed working agenda for the forum covered key priority areas including revised governance frameworks, localized domestic anti-doping education infrastructure, and clear accountability benchmarks for all member associations. Expert-led presentations and hands-on practical training modules were delivered by leading global specialists in the field: Jeff Cook and Tammy Hanson from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Marsha Boyce from the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation, and Carlos Lopez from FIFA. All interactive sessions were designed to equip national designated leads with the expertise to develop tailored in-house education programs and fully fulfill local anti-doping regulatory obligations within their respective national jurisdictions.
Dr. Innocent’s selection as Saint Lucia’s representative builds on a sustained track record of capacity expansion within the SLFA’s medical department. A certified medical professional who holds an advanced diploma in football medicine from the Clinica Espregueira FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, she currently serves as the team physician for both Saint Lucia’s senior men’s and women’s national football sides, and has previously attended top-tier FIFA sports medicine conferences hosted in London, Madrid, and Boston. Under the new CONCACAF program structure, Dr. Innocent will serve as the official primary liaison between the continental governing body and the SLFA for all anti-doping administrative and coordination matters.
For Saint Lucia and its Caribbean regional neighbors, this new program marks a tangible operational shift in regional anti-doping governance: the initiative will formally certify local anti-doping educators, and place ongoing year-round responsibility for compliance and athlete welfare directly on national football associations. Sector observers note that the ultimate measure of the program’s success will lie in whether these updated standardized protocols can be effectively extended to grassroots levels, reaching district amateur leagues, club medical staff, and youth team coaches across the region.
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Police Commissioner: ‘We are not at war with our citizens’
At a monthly official press gathering hosted by the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF), Commissioner of Police Verne Garde laid out a clear, community-centered vision for local law enforcement, pushing back against any narrative that frames police and residents as opposing sides. Garde emphasized that the foundation of effective public safety in Saint Lucia rests on collaborative partnership rather than adversarial friction, citing the national constitution’s explicit mandate that all police authority derives from the explicit consent of the island’s population. Repeating a long-standing core principle he has championed throughout his tenure, Garde stated unequivocally that the RSLPF operates on no wartime footing against its own citizens, and that every officer under his leadership is bound to deliver impartial, professional public service rather than act as an occupying force against local communities. Garde also shared updated public safety data to contextualize recent progress, noting that 52 homicide cases had been logged in the current calendar year, marking a 10-case reduction compared to the same 12-month window the year prior. He further confirmed that no serving RSLPF officer had been linked to any of the 2026 homicide investigations, reinforcing the force’s commitment to upholding the rule of law without internal misconduct, and reaffirmed that the entire agency’s core mission is to cultivate a society where every resident can access equal, consistent justice. Alongside the policy announcements, senior leadership outlined a major operational upgrade for the force’s specialized canine division, which is set to expand from its current 3-dog roster to a 5-dog team in the coming months. Assistant Commissioner of Police Albert Charlery detailed the multi-phase training roadmap: one currently deployed officer is completing specialized canine handling certification overseas, and will return to Saint Lucia with a new working dog to bring the unit up to 4 teams, while also bringing back advanced local training skills that will be shared with existing RSLPF personnel to build in-house canine expertise. Two additional recruits are meanwhile undergoing parallel intensive training in Guyana, and will each return with a newly trained working canine, earning formal appointment as full police officers upon their arrival to bring the total canine unit strength to 5. Charlery noted that the targeted training investments are part of a broader agency-wide push to upskill personnel and enhance public safety response capabilities across the island.
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World Cup wins for young Piton Boyz
Saint Lucia’s under-15 boys national football squad, affectionately nicknamed the Piton Boyz, capped off their week-long campaign at the FIFA Under-15 Boys World Cup & Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, with two dominant consecutive shutout victories in Tier F, marking their first and only wins of the international youth tournament. The pair of decisive triumphs followed a punishing opening phase of competition that tested the young players’ physical endurance, mental grit, and adaptive capacity to an unprecedented degree.
The squad faced a brutal initiation in the preliminary Group N stage, where they suffered five consecutive defeats against globally established youth football sides including Croatia, Greece, Yemen, Aruba, and Palestine, conceding a total of 24 goals across those opening fixtures. They also dropped two narrow close-contest matches against fellow Concacaf regional neighbors: a 2-1 loss to the Turks and Caicos Islands that saw Jesse Noel net Saint Lucia’s sole goal, followed by a tightly fought 3-2 defeat to Suriname where Ajani Walker and Stewart Emmanuel found the back of the net. Compounding the challenge, the tournament schedule required the teenage schoolboy athletes to compete in nine total matches over just seven days, with fixtures held twice per day for much of the week, in an unfamiliar climate thousands of miles from their home island.
The long-awaited breakthrough arrived on Thursday at Baku’s Hovsan Competition Complex, when the young Caribbean side routed Oceania representative American Samoa 6-0, powered by two goals apiece from Leon Vidal and Jayden Emmanuel, plus additional strikes from Jesse Noel and Leon Griffith. They followed that performance 24 hours later with a second identical 6-0 shutout win over Asian side Bhutan, with Mikel Florent notching a brace and Anaj Polius, Ajani Walker, Leon Vidal, and Randall Monroe each contributing one goal to the final scoreline.
Earl Jean, head coach of the Saint Lucian U-15 squad, emphasized that the entire tournament represented an invaluable, hands-on developmental experience for the young athletes, far beyond the final scorelines. “These boys had to adjust to unfamiliar weather conditions, build up their mental resilience, and gain a real, tangible understanding of the high caliber of elite youth football across the globe,” Jean explained. “They were playing two matches a day for a full week, and they quickly learned how critical off-field preparation is to their on-pitch performance. Many of the opponents they lined up against came from renowned youth academies run by top European clubs including Juventus, Ajax, and Feyenoord.”
Jean noted that the high-intensity tournament structure, which former Arsenal manager and global football development advocate Arsene Wenger has publicly endorsed as a benchmark event, was specifically designed to help national youth programs assess their players’ technical proficiency, decision-making in tight playing spaces, and ability to perform under elevated competitive pressure. Alongside FIFA Talent Identification coach Michael McLaughlin, Jean confirmed that the Baku tournament provided a critical baseline assessment of the current cohort’s skill levels, identifying key areas for targeted improvement – most notably the need for the young Saint Lucian players to develop tighter, more confident ball control in high-pressure scenarios.
With new standardized regional and international age-group competitive pathways set to roll out across Concacaf and global FIFA circuits starting in 2027, the Saint Lucian youth football coaching team now faces a clear roadmap of work ahead. Many of the young players who cut their teeth at the Baku World Cup are expected to represent Saint Lucia at the upcoming Concacaf Under-16 tournament, where they will carry the lessons learned from their rigorous Caspian coast baptism of fire into future regional competition.
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Familiar final four set in schools basketball
The high-stakes quarterfinal clashes of Saint Lucia’s Under-19 Schools Basketball Tournament unfolded last Thursday at Beausejour Gymnasium, narrowing the full field of contenders down to a stacked final four lineup packed with past titleholders and consistent podium finishers. The four advancing squads punched their semifinal tickets with a mix of tight defensive grindouts and lopsided blowout wins, setting the stage for highly anticipated upcoming matchups that lean heavily on recent tournament history.
Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School (LHCSS) kicked off its quarterfinal run in a bruising low-scoring defensive battle against Castries Comprehensive Secondary School (CCSS), eking out a 36-22 final victory. The Hess boys carried a narrow 18-12 lead into the halftime break before exploding for a dominant 13-2 run in the third quarter that completely pulled the game out of CCSS’s reach. Standout forward Sage Lewis put on a masterclass performance for LHCSS, notching a game-high 17 points alongside 12 rebounds, four steals, and three assists, while teammate Mikhail Felix chipped in a solid 16 points to support the win. For the defeated CCSS, David Chandler led all scorers on his side with seven points and eight rebounds, and Jahvante Serrette turned in a strong rebounding performance with 10 boards.
Next up, three-time tournament finalist Soufrière Comprehensive Secondary School (SCSS) delivered one of the most lopsided wins of the round, blowing past Beanefield Comprehensive by a 66-9 final score. SCSS had already built a commanding 32-6 lead by halftime, and kept their foot on the gas in the final frame, holding Beanefield completely scoreless with a 16-0 fourth-quarter shutout. The tournament’s leading overall scorer Curdin Jones was an unstoppable force for SCSS, dropping 26 points to go with 11 rebounds and four steals. His teammates Felix Sanchez and Aloysious William put on a defensive clinic, each racking up nine steals apiece, with Sanchez adding 12 points and William notching eight points. Marlik Neptune was the top scorer for Beanefield with five points, while Stephen Hayle impressed on the defensive end with six steals and two blocks.
St Mary’s College (SMC) overcame a tight opening frame to pull away from Entrepôt Secondary for a 45-19 victory. The two teams were neck and neck after the first quarter, with SMC clinging to a slim 11-10 edge, before the squad exploded for a 20-2 second-quarter run that stretched their lead to 31-12 at the halftime buzzer. Star player Jabarie Archibald led SMC’s charge with a well-rounded stat line of 18 points, nine rebounds, four steals, four assists, and two blocks. Rollins Estwick contributed a versatile stat line of nine points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks, and Rane Gustave added 10 points to the winning total. Cersim Alexander was Entrepôt’s top performer, finishing with eight points.
Reigning two-time defending champions Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC) rounded out the advancing semifinalists with a hard-fought win over Vieux Fort Comprehensive Secondary. Mezan Lewis was the standout for the SALCC squad, putting up 23 points, eight rebounds, and six steals, while Shaynne Edgar backed him up with 12 points, eight rebounds, and four steals. Cyrilon Cyris led Vieux Fort’s effort with 12 points, five rebounds, and three steals, Nicholas Thomas added four points and four steals, and Noah Blenman turned in a standout defensive performance with three blocks.
The newly confirmed semifinal matchups are set to deliver nostalgic drama for long-time tournament fans: SALCC will face off against St Mary’s College in a direct rematch of last year’s hotly contested championship final, while Soufrière Comprehensive will go head-to-head against Leon Hess Comprehensive for the other spot in the title game. Photo credits for event shots go to Terry Finisterre, with imagery capturing ESS facing off against SMC, SCSS star Curdin Jones in action, and player Jabarie Archibald competing for a rebound.
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Homicides decline as burglary, road deaths rise
Newly released official crime and public safety data from the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force reveals a notable 16% year-over-year reduction in homicides across the island for the 10-month window running from January 1 to October 20, 2026, even as other public safety metrics such as residential burglaries and fatal road traffic collisions trended upward. The full dataset was publicly presented by Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr Mashama Sealy during a formal Thursday press briefing hosted by the law enforcement agency to update the public on 2026 public safety performance.
For the measured period, authorities documented 52 total homicide cases, all classified as murder investigations, compared to 62 recorded in the identical January to October 20 window of 2025. The drop in killings is paired with encouraging reductions across multiple high-harm offense categories: robbery incidents fell 2% from 154 to 151, drug-related offenses dipped 3% from 311 to 301, sexual assault and related sexual offence cases declined 7% from 163 to 152, and unlawful firearm offences plummeted a significant 25% from 254 in 2025 to 190 in 2026.
Not all crime categories saw improvement, however. Burglary cases climbed 5% year-over-year, rising from 374 reported incidents in 2025 to 394 in the 2026 reporting window, while petty theft directly from individuals saw a marginal 1% uptick from 268 to 270 reported cases. Across the entire island, law enforcement tallied 13,731 total reported crimes over the 10-month period, with the highest concentration of incidents logged in the Central Division at 5,234 cases, followed closely by the Southern Division with 5,029, and the Northern Division accounting for the remaining 3,468 cases.
Further breakdown of the 52 2026 homicides confirms that firearms were the leading weapon used, accounting for 75% of all killings: 39 fatal incidents involved gun violence, 9 were stabbing deaths, and the remaining 4 resulted from blunt force trauma. In line with the drop in unlawful firearm offences, police reported seizing a total of 52 firearms over the reporting period, 42 of which are classified as lethal weapons including 34 pistols, 2 rifles, 2 shotguns, and 4 revolvers, alongside 10 non-lethal or imitation variants such as air rifles, air pistols, a flare gun, and 3 counterfeit firearms. Officers also recovered 1,609 live rounds of ammunition plus 6 non-functional dummy rounds during enforcement operations.
Large-scale anti-drug operations delivered substantial seizures as well: authorities confiscated 2,184.374 kilograms of cannabis, 622.85 kilograms of cocaine, 45.952 kilograms of cannabis resin, 0.2 kilograms of crack cocaine, and 0.03 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. The operation also eradicated 18,188 mature cannabis plants and 555 young cannabis seedlings across the island.
On road safety, the police dataset recorded a total of 2,417 traffic accidents over the 10-month period, with increases seen across every tracked accident severity category. Fatal road collisions rose 8% from 13 recorded in the 2025 comparison period to 14 in 2026, while accidents resulting in major vehicle or property damage climbed 9% from 228 to 249 incidents, and minor damage crashes jumped 13% from 1,908 to 2,154 reports. ACP Sealy noted that the mixed results reflect both the impact of targeted anti-gun and anti-violence patrols, and emerging public safety gaps that the force will prioritize addressing in the final months of 2026. -
Livestock owners given final warning over stray animals
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Security in Saint Lucia has issued a binding final notice to all local livestock holders, setting a hard cutoff date of November 8 for owners to corral all free-roaming, stray animals under their care before formal enforcement operations launch the following day. The official public notice, released on a recent Thursday, emphasized that the regulatory body will no longer overlook negligent livestock management practices that have created widespread public safety risks across the island. Starting November 9, specially trained authorized officers will launch targeted impoundment patrols, with initial operations already underway in the high-priority Choc area, as documented in recent on-site photography shared via Agriculture Minister Lisa Jawahir’s public Facebook page. Under the existing national Animals Act, all livestock bear full legal responsibility for maintaining constant, adequate control over their animals at all times. Any cattle, horses, goats, sheep, donkeys or other livestock found wandering unaccompanied on public roadways, highway verges, or trespassing on private residential, agricultural or commercial land will be immediately seized and transported to designated impoundment facilities. Non-compliant owners will face a tiered set of penalties that cover all associated impoundment fees, significant administrative fines, potential formal prosecution in local courts, and even custodial sentences for repeat or severe violations, in line with the statute’s provisions. The law also grants authorities explicit permission to rehome or humanely dispose of unclaimed impounded animals after a defined holding period, following all legally mandated procedural safeguards. This enforcement push comes in response to years of persistent, unresolved public safety hazards created by stray livestock across Saint Lucia: unguided wandering cattle in particular have been linked to multiple traffic collisions that put motorists, cyclists and pedestrians at severe risk of injury or death, while other stray species have repeatedly damaged private property, destroyed standing crops on smallholder farms, and created general public nuisance in residential communities. Department officials noted that the Ministry has spent months rolling out proactive outreach initiatives including widespread public education campaigns, community stakeholder consultations, and free livestock identification tagging drives, alongside repeated public appeals to owners to secure their herds, but non-compliance rates have remained stubbornly high. Back in February of this year, the Ministry carried out an emergency targeted relocation of stray cattle concentrated in the Choc neighborhood after a spike in road accident reports prompted urgent intervention. At the time, Agriculture Minister Lisa Jawahir clarified that while providing long-term secure grazing facilities for livestock was not a formal government obligation, the Ministry had stepped in to temporarily house seized cattle in dedicated holding spaces to prevent preventable loss of human life on local roads, while giving farmers a grace period to arrange their own secure fencing and grazing arrangements. As the new November 8 deadline approaches, the Department has laid out clear, actionable steps for livestock owners to achieve full compliance: installing robust perimeter fencing to fully contain all herds, assigning consistent supervision to monitor animal movements, immediately removing any livestock currently lingering on public roads or verges, utilizing designated, approved grazing lands in line with local land use rules, and fully cooperating with ongoing official animal tagging and identification protocols. Any livestock holders seeking additional guidance, support or resources to meet these requirements can reach out directly to the Veterinary and Livestock Services Division via the official hotlines at 468-5621 or 518-2067 for free assistance.
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National tapeball team returns with two trophies in SVG bilateral sweep
Saint Lucia’s national tapeball cricket squad has returned home with an unprecedented dual championship haul after a dominant competitive tour of St Vincent and the Grenadines, where the side competed across two separate high-stakes bilateral series against local top-tier opponents.
The first of the two showdowns pitted the visiting Saint Lucian team against a select squad drawn from the SVG Adventist Premier League (APL). The opening fixture of this series unfolded at Richman Hill Playing Field on Sunday, October 24, where Saint Lucia posted a formidable total powered by top-order dynamo Dane Edward, who anchored the innings with a blazing 40 runs to lay the foundation for a 24-run winning margin. The squad closed out the APL series with a clinical 6-wicket triumph in the second meeting, wrapping up a 2-0 clean sweep of the bilateral contest. Stanley Cherry was awarded Man of the Match for his match-winning contributions in the series decider, while Edward’s consistent run of strong performances earned him the tournament’s overall Most Valuable Player accolade.
Fresh off their APL series victory, the Saint Lucian side turned its attention to a second bilateral campaign against the official St Vincent and the Grenadines national tapeball team, hosted at the London Playing Field. The opening fixture of this series on October 25 delivered one of the tour’s most explosive batting displays, as Jason Simon bludgeoned an unbeaten 92 runs off a mere 27 deliveries to propel his side to a massive total, supporting by another fluent half-century knock of 64 runs from the red-hot Dane Edward. The dominant batting performance paved the way for a resounding 71-run victory for the Saint Lucian visitors. The second fixture of the national team series saw Saint Lucia chase down their target with six wickets in hand, led by a sensational all-round showing from Stanley Cherry, who claimed three key wickets with the ball before smashing 23 runs off just 8 deliveries with the bat to earn his second Man of the Match award of the tour. Additional fireworks came from Orey Changoo, who struck 62 runs off 17 balls, and Edward, who notched a quickfire 38 runs from 18 deliveries. Edward was once again named the series’ Most Valuable Player, marking his second MVP honour across the entire tour. A planned third deciding fixture for the national bilateral series was ultimately abandoned without play due to unsafe, rainy weather conditions.
Alongside the championship-winning national tapeball squad, a Saint Lucian veterans cricket team traveled to St Vincent and the Grenadines to compete in the annual Vincy Independence Hardball competition, finishing their campaign with one win and two losses across three competitive outings.
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Listwa Latè-a gives young filmmakers a new lens on climate issues
Over the weekend of October 17 to 19, six emerging Saint Lucian creative talents gathered at the scenic Balenbouche Estate for a specialized filmmaking residency designed to reframe regional climate conversations through intimate, community-rooted narratives. Dubbed Listwa Latè-a — a Kwéyòl phrase translating directly to “Earth Stories” — the program was organized by local creative collective the Listwa Collective, with financial backing from the Caribbean Culture Fund, and led by award-winning Dominican documentary filmmaker Michael Lees. Unlike mainstream climate discourse that often centers on dense statistical datasets, formal scientific jargon, and impersonal policy reports, the residency was intentionally structured to center the overlooked human experiences, intergenerational histories, and community ties that underpin widespread regional environmental injustice. Listwa Collective Founder and Creative Director Amanie Mathurin explained that the core mission of the program was to push emerging creators past abstract climate data, to dig into the lived realities of Caribbean communities that face unique, disproportionate climate vulnerabilities rarely centered in global environmental conversations. “A persistent gap in most public climate dialogues is that they strip away the human element, severing connections between ecological challenges and the people whose daily lives and ancestral histories are inextricably tied to these landscapes,” Mathurin noted. “Our goal is to reorient these narratives to prioritize community, personal story, and local historical context, rather than relying solely on detached technical language.” During the three-day immersive retreat, the six participants split into small pairs to develop original short film projects focused on local environmental stories, with ongoing mentorship from Lees, who guided them to explore unconventional, creative frameworks for environmental storytelling that go beyond standard documentary formats. All projects are currently in post-production, with plans for a public virtual screening series to be hosted in the coming months. For many of the early-career creatives, the residency marked a pivotal turning point in their professional trajectories: filmmaker Joel Paul shared that he departed Balenbouche with dramatically boosted confidence in his technical and creative skills, and a clearer vision for the community-focused stories he hopes to center in his future work. Fellow participant Elon Sonny noted the program pushed him to adopt a far more intentional, purpose-driven approach to his creative practice, while Jeremie Louis shared that the experience sparked a new, deep-seated passion for long-form documentary production focused on local issues. The impact of the residency extended far beyond the boundaries of the Balenbouche Estate, as the organizing team led a series of public and educational outreach events across the island. Lead facilitator Michael Lees hosted public screenings of his acclaimed documentary *Uncivilised* at the Vieux Fort Arts and Entertainment Centre and the University of the West Indies Global Campus, followed by targeted visits to two local educational institutions: Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, and the A-Level department of Vieux Fort Comprehensive Secondary School. During these school visits, students viewed curated clips from Lees’ work and joined interactive Q&A sessions to discuss the power of storytelling as a tool for environmental advocacy. The full slate of programming positions local creative practitioners as key stakeholders in advancing accessible, culturally rooted climate action across the Caribbean region.
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La Force-Benton returns to coaching with St John’s
A seasoned trailblazer with deep roots in Caribbean and North American basketball circles, Daynia Benton has made a high-profile return to the St. John’s University Red Storm women’s basketball program, stepping into an assistant coaching role where she will collaborate closely with long-time head coach Joe Tartamella. The appointment marks a full-circle homecoming for the Saint Lucian coaching veteran, who has built a decades-long, award-winning career spanning collegiate, professional, and community sports spaces.
Born Daynia La Force, Benton grew up in Castries, Saint Lucia, before relocating to the United States to pursue higher education and launch her athletic journey. A standout four-year letterwinner on the Georgetown University Hoyas women’s basketball roster, she was a core contributor to the program’s 1993 Big East conference championship run, and later helped lead the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 elite stage in 1995.
Her first tenure with the Red Storm stretches back to 2002, when she joined the program as its inaugural assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator. Across a three-year term, she played a pivotal role in elevating the team’s competitive standing, securing back-to-back berths in the Big East tournament and guiding the squad to a spot in the 2005 National Invitational Tournament.
Before her initial St. John’s appointment, Benton cut her coaching teeth over a seven-year stint as an assistant at Long Island University. That foundational experience paved the way for her first top leadership role as head coach at the University of New Haven, where she steered the Chargers to an impressive 24-7 season record and earned Conference Coach of the Year honors for her transformative work.
Benton’s subsequent head coaching tenures further cemented her reputation as a turnaround specialist. She spent eight seasons leading the Northeastern Huskies from 2006 to 2014, then took the helm at Rhode Island from 2014 to 2019, where she orchestrated the largest single-season competitive improvement in the program’s recorded history. Her resume also extends to the top tier of women’s professional basketball: in 2019, she worked as an advanced scout and volunteer coach for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, before joining the Atlanta Dream as a full assistant coach in 2021.
Beyond the sidelines, Benton has carved out a robust portfolio of community-focused sports initiatives. She serves as executive director and CEO of the Terance Mann Complete Player Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting youth athletic and personal development, and is a co-founder of two sports-focused enterprises: BentForce Basketball, a player development program, and Courtside Moms Media, a platform elevating the voices of women in basketball spaces. Her family is deeply embedded in the global basketball ecosystem as well: her husband Eddie Benton currently works as associate head coach for the Robert Morris University women’s basketball team, and her eldest son Terance Mann, a guard for the Brooklyn Nets, has recently kicked off his eighth season in the NBA.