Sports in Turks and Caicos is approached seriously. This is a good thing, because for many of us sports is love that borders on being an obsession. While we all love taking a holiday in the wonderfully warm Caribbean, none of us can bear to break contact with our favorite sports teams.
Luckily the island of Providenciales offers a variety of opportunities to keep track of our favorite teams. There are several sports bars just a short distance away from the Sands resort. There are other opportunities to participate in sports if you want to.
Sports Bars
There are several sports bars in Providenciales. There is one, however, that towers above the rest.
Danny Buoy’s Irish Pub
Danny Buoy’s bills itself as “Provo’s premier live music and sports destination.” This laid-back sports bar serves pub-style lunch and dinner daily from 11:00am.
Danny Buoy’s is smoke free and air-conditioned, and offers up some of the best burgers and nachos in the Caribbean.
Sharkbite Bar & Grill
Located in Turtle Cove, west of downtown Providenciales, the Sharkbite Bar & Grill is a great place to catch a game. If you get bored you can always enjoy a nice view of the marina.
Best of all, there is the promise of seeing of actual sharks swimming in the cove right in front of your eyes.
Jimmy’s Dive Bar
Jimmy’s Dive Bar is another popular sports pub. It’s the best place to grab a burger and watch a game on the big screen TV. The bar is open for lunch and dinner, with $5 mugs of beer. If there’s no game playing there’s an open-air patio. You can talk sports scores with the locals.
Turks and Caicos for Sports Lovers
But what sports do locals in the Turks and Caicos actually play?
Providenciales is just forty minutes by air from Miami. Still, it’s like another world. The British protectorate’s sports culture resembles that of other Commonwealth countries.
A Commonwealth vibe…
Football (soccer) and cricket are both popular in Turks and Caicos. Field hockey, another sport popular in Commonwealth countries around the world.
Turks and Caicos participated in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The success of that event has increased awareness and interest in amateur sport in Turks and Caicos.
Sporting life in Turks and Caicos is centered around the Graceway Sports Center. This is a large and shiny new sports complex located behind the popular Graceway IGA supermarket.
Team Sports in Turks and Caicos
Hockey
While you might think the strong “Canadian connection” to Turks and Caicos the word “hockey” would involve skating rinks, but this is not the case at all. Instead, the hockey league in Turks and Caicos involves turf, short sticks and an incredibly hard ball.
The sport is called “field hockey” and it’s a common game played in Commonwealth countries all over the world.
The Canadians didn’t give up, though. They started their own indoor hockey league in Providenciales. Instead of ice skates players strap on roller blades and glide over a smooth rink. They still have to don all the heavy gear and protection that ice hockey players must wear. It gets pretty hot, which shows how much they love their sport.
Football (aka “soccer)
The Turks and Caicos Islands national football team is the national team of the islands. The men’s team qualified for the 2002 World Cup, and is a member of FIFA, the international football assocation.
The team went without a victory in an official game from 2008 until June 2014, when they beat the British Virgin Islands during the 2014 Caribbean Cup qualification.
While the population of the Caribbean territory is just 17,000, the Turks and Caicos often gets expert help with its sports programs. This past summer Coventry United Football Club traveled from Britain to help foster an interest in football among the youth of Providenciales.
.@CoventryUniFC are in Turks and Caicos for the Beyond Football Benefits programme: http://t.co/CWr3iuOsnp ?? pic.twitter.com/3TVsqXYAJD
— Coventry University (@covcampus) June 10, 2015
Athletics
The Gym Scene: Improving Personal Performance on Providenciales
Turks and Caicos is home to a small but vibrant gym scene. Like anywhere else, locals are into Crossfit and the “bulletproof” lifestyle. As you might expect, the Graceway Sports Centre has an impressive gym, and equally impressive regulars who are trying to do their very best to stay in shape.
Dec. Midnight Monday madness #situps #pushups #deadlift #dips #competition #gsc #sportscentre #turksandcaicos #fitness #gym @r.gardiner A photo posted by Sports Centre (@gracewaysportscentre) on
Wrightfully Fit
The undisputed king of the local gym scene is former professional American football player John Wright.
After high school, John went on to play football at a junior college in Chicago before he was drafted to play the game professionally in Amsterdam. A neck and back injury cut his football career short, but health and fitness remained an integral part of John’s life.
After studying to become a sports trainer, John moved to Providenciales to start up his own gym, Wrightfully Fit, where he has been ever since. In fact, Wright operates two gyms in Providenciales – one in Turtle Cove and the other in Salt Mills.
Starting this Sunday, Oct. 4th, we are back to our normal schedule at both locations (Turtle Cove & Salt Mills Plaza) pic.twitter.com/k6Hm2KJzeo — Wrightfully Fit (@wrightfullyfit) October 2, 2015
Training the Next Generation of Turks and Caicos Athletes
John Wright is also helping support the next generation of athletes and high-performance individuals in Turks and Caicos.
He has been a supporter of the Miss Teen TCI Lifestyle and Fitness competition.
WRIGHTFULLY FIT’S MISS TEEN TURKS AND CAICOS LIFESTYLE AND FITNESS COMPETITION 2014: Malique Ferrette (@maliqueferrette), Miss Teen West Caicos soars during Challenge 1 #MissTeenTCI #TurksandCaicos #TCI #Flawless #Lifestyle #Fitness #Beauty #Pageant #Teen #Ladies #Girls #WrightfullyFit #Exercise #Beach #Follow #Instalike #Instalove #Work A photo posted by Miss Teen Turks & Caicos (@missteentci) on
