People coming together for a common goal

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   West Indies United (WIU)

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Divided by water.......United by Culture !

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Unity in the Community.

Columbus Weekend Soccer Tournament

October 11th and 12th 2008

 Lifetime Achievement Awards Members

Daisy Burkett

Roy Burkett

Jennifer Scotland 

Robert Scotland

David "Jah Dee" Jones

Devon Russell

United Nations International Day of Peace

SOCCER TOURNAMENT SEPTEMBER 20th-21st

Click here for more information.

West Indies United (WIU) has been in existence since the  spring of 1981.  This not-for-profit organization started out with a few West Indian guys,   their wives and friends wanting to play soccer and socialize with each other.     

Most of these guys  were in the military and played for the Oceana soccer team.  They had no place to play soccer so they “hung out”  at Little Creek Naval Base and Lake Taylor High School, after work, with hopes of getting an available soccer field. Transportation to their “new” hangout was very difficult.  Some had to walk  in order to get there while others spent hours begging for a ride; besides, being in a new community did not help any.   At first, they played on the side while they took turns answering all calls at a now removed public phone booth nearby. 

As time went by, they developed ways of encouraging each other to come around and socialize at a field that they did not have and could not call “home.”  Relatives and friends came when they could with hopes of seeing their favorite sport played by their countrymen and at times, women. 

Communication  also posed a problem since some had no telephones at their residence and others stayed on the naval ships on which they were assigned.  On rainy days, you could imagine how difficult it was to get everyone there and on time to play a game.  Not having the luxury of a cell phone did not diminish their desire to get together.  In true West Indian fashion, word got around and more people started coming out to play the game they loved.

       Soon, they were able to form a team and challenge those teams in cities that had other West Indians including Miami, Canada and New York.

Despite the problems of poor communication and lack of transportation, they had an undocumented vision to unite and play as a team.  This is how the foundation for West Indies United was laid and the vision set 27 years ago.

As the  saying goes “the only thing that remains constant is change” and changes there have been.  The old dependable phone booth at Lake Taylor High School is gone; the fields were re-arranged to accommodate the increasing need for the "new" sport.  Members now use mobile phones to contact each other and transportation is no longer an issue.  Membership continues to grow and new faces of fellow West Indians are seen at the monthly meetings which are held the 3^rd (primary) or 4th (5 Saturday months) Saturday of every month.

Today, teams from Canada and New York continue to  make the annual trip to the  Hampton Roads area to do what they have been doing for the past 27 years - play soccer.  The desire to meet other West Indians, play the game and socialize has established “unity in our community”, the watchwords of  WIU.  Through it all, WIU has survived  as the leading West Indian Organizations in Hampton Roads.

Let's look at some of the things this vibrant organization has been doing within the Hampton Roads community for over 26 years:  WIU was the first Caribbean organization to bring carnival to the Hampton Roads area in 1995 & 1996.  WIU established a scholarship fund to help our kids ease the financial burden of their first college experience; to date (Oct 2007), over $4,800.00 has been awarded.  WIU Sponsors the end of the school year pool party and honor roll recognition for our kids.  WIU sponsors an annual kids Christmas party and honor roll recognition for all kids.

There are many other events that WIU has established in Hampton Roads.  A quick check of our calendar of events and photo gallery will give the full picture of our accomplishments.  Call us, talk to us, join us, see our vision of "unity in our community".

  We believe in the preservation of our culture...............What about you?  

  Many nations, One vision.™                   Let us all Unite!!

The Journey continues…………….....................……………….