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The Virgin Islands Education Department has postponed this weekend’s games in its high school tackle football league — just days after a successful opening weekend in the first games played in the U.S. Virgin Islands in five years.
Ophelia Williams-Jackson, the territorial director of the Education Department’s sports and athletics development division, confirmed the postponements Thursday, but would not elaborate on the reasons for calling off the games.
“I was just notified by my boss that there won’t be travel,” Williams-Jackson said in a telephone interview with The Daily News. “They didn’t tell me why.
“We should be resuming next week. Based on the schedule, I’m going to revise the schedule … and hopefully the coaches will do what is expected of them and we don’t have any more hiccups.”
Williams-Jackson, who took over as the Education Department’s athletics director in June 2023, said that the games will likely be played during the league’s bye week in early November — either Friday, Nov. 8, or Saturday, Nov. 9.
Still, the postponement — which was communicated to the teams Wednesday — caught many of the league’s coaches be surprise, especially after last weekend’s successful opening games, both of which drew substantial crowds.
On Oct. 4, Ivann Eudora Kean High’s Devil Rays routed Charlotte Amalie High’s Hawks 22-0 in their opening games; a day later, Central High’s Caribs won 7-6 over Educational Complex High’s Barracudas.
“Yeah, they cancelled them, they cancelled them,” Central High head coach Kevin Dowdy said in a telephone interview Thursday with The Daily News. “We were looking forward to it. We were going to let [the players] know at practice [Thursday], but I know they’re going to be very disappointed — very disappointed.”
Two games were scheduled for Saturday — Charlotte Amalie High School was to have faced Educational Complex High School at 3 p.m. at the CHS field on St. Croix, and Central High School was to have played Ivanna Eudora Kean High School at 6 p.m. at the IEKHS field on St. Thomas.
While Williams-Jackson did not give a reason for the postponement, several coaches said that it may have to do with the department’s travel regulations.
According to those rules, travel documentation must be submitted at least 45 days in advance, although exceptions have been made in the past. This year’s tackle football schedule wasn’t finalized and released to the teams until Oct. 1 — just three days before the opening games, and 11 days before the first travel games were scheduled.
A teleconference between the league’s coaches and Williams-Jackson has been scheduled for today, according to several coaches.
“I was just sitting here, telling my team that we’re going to get the reason why they cancelled the games and stuff,” Charlotte Amalie High coach Ryan Thomas said. “Other than that, I haven’t learned anything yet.
“We were looking forward to this game, and trying to get a win. We had a tough outing last Friday, and we’re trying to get back on an even keel. … Me being a first-time coach, I’m learning a lot of things through experience — just unorganized, typical island stuff.”
Yet several coaches said that they felt this issue had been decided several months ago, when all of the league’s coaches met with Virgin Islands government and Education Department officials to go over the details for resuming play. One official who wasn’t in attendance was Williams-Jackson, according to the coaches interviewed.
“We sat down with key personnel and put out all of our issues, all of our concerns — everything,” said Educational Complex High coach Winston Marcus. “We sorted out everything before the season even started — everything, everything, everything. We came up with solutions, came up with agreements. Everyone got on the same page and we moved forward.
“Now, the season starts … and everything’s upside down. I can’t understand that.”
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