Former Bermuda Olympic Association president Judy Simons passed away on January 3.

The association made the announcement in a press release, leaving family, friends and colleagues to mourn.

“We are saddened to advise you of the passing of our friend and colleague Mrs. Judy Simons on January 3, 2024,” BOA president Peter Dunne said.

“This sudden and shocking news will be felt around the world.”

The announcement noted her 25 years of service to the Commonwealth Games Federation and to the Olympic movement, which followed a sporting career in field hockey and tennis.

“Her contributions to the BOA and Bermuda’s sporting community have had significant impact on the profile of Bermuda within the international sporting communities and organisations, right up to her passing as the regional vice-president (Americas) of the Commonwealth Games Federation.

“In addition to her tenure as president of the BOA and previously as secretary-general, Judy served on numerous committees.

“Judy’s leadership and reputation in the international sports groups has done much for the advancement of Bermuda and our athletes.

“Her reputation as a strong advocate for our organisation and other small national Olympic committees was well earned and will be missed greatly by all who knew her and benefited from her experience.

“Judy often referred to the 2020 gold medal of Flora Duffy as the pinnacle of her BOA career, but her legacy as a relationship builder will be remembered for years to come, always for the benefit of the BOA.

“Bermuda’s standing in global sport is due in large part to Judy’s dedication to the movement and her ability to develop strong bonds with her colleagues.

“We will continue to benefit from her work and reflect on her service as a model for all to emulate.”

BOA secretary-general Branwen Smith-King described Mrs. Simons as a “good friend, colleague and mentor”

“I’m devastated by this news; she will be sorely missed,” she said. “Judy’s contribution to sport in Bermuda reaches beyond our borders and those of us in the sports world are indebted to her services.

“As past president of the Bermuda Olympic Association, Judy’s leadership, passion for helping others and love for sport was inspirational.

“Judy Simons has left a legacy that truly cannot be duplicated. Rest in peace, my friend.”

BOA first vice-president Brenda Dale added: “Judy was a dear friend and someone I deeply admired and trusted.

“She was a kind, caring and committed person whose heart was rooted in the Bermuda sports community.

“She dedicated a large part of her life fighting for and supporting our Bermuda athletes in every avenue and at every level possible.

“I am ever grateful to have accepted her invitation to join her on the BOA board, as it was truly an honour to serve with her.

“She was an inspiration, and her hard work and immense contributions to sport, both locally and internationally, will be a legacy felt and admired across the globe. She will be deeply missed.”

Ben Smith, the deputy leader of the opposition One Bermuda Alliance and Shadow Minister of Education and Sport, described Mrs. Simons as “the face of sports in Bermuda” whose rich legacy will live on.

Mr. Smith who is also Bermuda’s national swimming coach, said: “Judy was an absolute pleasure to work and travel with. She was a consummate professional, but also very nurturing and a joy to be around.

“Bermuda has lost yet another national treasure and will be sorely missed. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to her family at this difficult time.”

The Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) also reacted to her passing.

“It is with immense sadness and a heavy heart that I extend our most sincere condolences to the immediate family, the Olympic Family and the entire Bermudan sport family, on the passing, earlier today, of our dear friend and colleague, Judy Simons,” CANOC President Keith Joseph said in a statement on Thursday. 

The statement continued: “It was not so long ago that we had the pleasure of Judy's company and observed then, that she was ailing. As usual, in her own style, she seemed to convince us that all was well. 

“Truth sets us free and Judy never really recovered from the death of her husband. Even speaking of his passing a few weeks ago in Singapore, brought great sadness to her and an admission of just how much this continued to impact her. 

“Judy's commitment to sport led her to take on many challenges. She soldiered as she had to cope with the passing of her treasured General Secretary, Phillip Guishard, and was ecstatic with the gold medal winning performance of the country's Triathlon athlete, Flora Duffy, making Bermuda the smallest country in the Olympic Movement to win gold at the Olympics.”

Mrs. Simons was the wife of former Somerset Cup Match captain Campbell Simons, who predeceased her in September 2021.

Luis Mejía Oviedo of the Dominican Republic was re-elected President of Centro Caribe Sports for the period 2023-2027, during the Ordinary General Assembly of the sports organization, held at the Sheraton Hotel in Santiago, Chile on Monday.

Mejía, who was unopposed for the position was given a standing ovation which served as approval for him to continue at the helm of the organization, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024.

Centro Caribe Sports celebrated the 24th Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in San Salvador last June, and made its debut with beach sports, courtesy of the first Central American and Caribbean Beach Games in Santa Marta in November 2022.

Oviedo will be shadowed by Cuba’s Roberto Richards, Jamaica’s Christopher Samuda and María José Soto Gil of Venezuela in the three vice-president slots.

Samuda, said his accepting a vice-president role is aimed at ensuring the regional sporting body, and, by extension, the CAC Games, maintains or even enhances their prominence.
The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) president earned 33 votes to the six earned by his challenger Mario Alphonso Garcia de la Torre, the Secretary General of the Mexican Olympic Committee.

“I accept the second vice-presidency for Centro Caribe Sports not in a personal capacity, but in a representative role as a citizen of Jamaica, a regionalist of the Caribbean and a member of the Centro Caribe Sports family. The CAC Games is our primary asset and must be made to be an equal partner in sport development and excellence.

“For me, it will be business extraordinaire as we at Centro Caribe Sports continue to build the reputational, capital and cultural value and the currency of the apex body which is the owner and host of the oldest multi-sport regional games, the Central American and Caribbean Games,” Samuda, who is currently in Chile for the Pan-American (PanAm) Games, told SportsMax.TV.

“For me, it will be business extraordinaire in repurposing, repositioning the CAC Games as a leading model and a commercial sporting concern. It is about building an ethos that inspires the confidence of coaches and athletes and their support for the games as a calendar event. It will be business extraordinaire in just simply governing right in providing leadership as an example in the sporting fraternity,” he added.

Other sports leaders from the region that make up the new Executive Committee, includes, Colombia’s Ciro Solano Hurtado, Treasurer; Sara Rosario of Puerto Rico, Secretary General; Haiti’s Hans Larsen, First Vocal; Angel Morales of the US Virgin Islands, Second Vocal and Cyril Cameron Burke of Barbados, Third Vocal.

Felipe Vicini of the Dominican Republic will serve as a representative of the Organizing Committee for the 25th Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo in 2026.

The two vacant vocal positions will be elected in a virtual Extraordinary Assembly on a date to be confirmed in accordance with the statutes of Centro Caribe Sports, and as confirmed by the Legal Commission chaired by Samuda.

During the Ordinary General Assembly, the reports of the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 and Santo Domingo 2026, were presented, as well as the presentation and approval for the second edition of the Central American and Caribbean Beach Games to be held in 2025 in Costa Rica.

President Mejía Oviedo confirmed that each member of the Executive Committee will chair a working commission, which were established during the first period of his leadership.

Judy Simons, former President of the Bermuda National Olympic Committee, announced her retirement from the Executive Committee and was recognised by Centro Caribe Sports with a plaque for her sterling contribution to the regional body and sport in the region.