CHRISTIANSTED — After a day of grueling but good-spirited competition, the Virgin Islands Police Department triumphed over 16 other teams — and the weather — to capture the 2024 Battle of the Agencies on Saturday at Cramer Park Beach.
The St. Thomas iteration of the contest, held last month, was swept by the University of the Virgin Islands.
Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White said just before the final event that despite a rain scare earlier in the day, the competition had succeeded in its mission to bring representatives from the territory’s myriad government agencies for team building and morale boosting.
Law and Order team members cheer for their colleagues competing in the water balloon challenge during the 2024 Battle of the Agencies on Saturday at Cramer Park Beach. (Photos and story by KIT MACAVOY)
“It’s an opportunity to see who works for the different government agencies,” White said, adding that even he had seen people he knew — and had no idea they were with a particular department.
“Everybody works every day,” he said. “Today is the time to relax, enjoy, meet new friends — camaraderie — and just have a good time.”
The competition started early with a morning relay run, three-legged race, knapsack relay and dizzy bat relay. Across those events, Team Resilient (comprising staff from the Disaster Recovery Office and VITEMA) the Education Warriors, team Law and Order (the Virgin Islands Judiciary and Licensing and Consumer Affairs), and the Port Overseers established themselves as strong contenders for the top prize.
Claudia Parson, right, representing the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority “Big Money Team,” hops into a boat at the start of a kayak relay race during the Battle of the Agencies on Saturday at Cramer Park Beach. (Photo by KIT MACAVOY)
Then things took a watery turn, as the afternoon brought the kayak relay race and the water balloon challenge, during which competitors had to catch volley after volley of water balloons — or suffer a soggy fate.
Only five teams made it to the final challenge: a relay obstacle course spanning the breadth of Cramer Park, which forced competitors to jump, dive, balance and crawl their way to victory. In the end, it came down to the Education Warriors, in first place with 90 points, followed by Law and Order, Team Resilient, Armed and Dangerous and the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s We Got the Power.
Entrants from the top five teams — the Education Warriors, Law and Order, Team Resilient, Armed and Dangerous and We Got the Power — compete in a final obstacle course during the 2024 Battle of the Agencies on Saturday.
A sudden squall delayed the start of the race, heightening anticipation and muddying the course at the same time. But when the final event commenced, the competition was as fierce as the storm, and the lead changed from agency to agency at least four times.
In the end, it was VIPD who unseated the reigning champs from 2023, the V.I. Housing Finance Authority.