WHO CARES Donates $12,000 To The TCI Athlete Development Fund

A 37-year community tradition becomes a generational investment in the islands’ athletes.

The Turks and Caicos Islands Athlete Development Fund (ADF) has received a donation of $12,000 from the Who Cares Fishing Tournament, a contribution that is as meaningful in its story as it is in its sum.

Established in 1989, the Who Cares Fishing Tournament is one of the islands’ longest-established sporting traditions. For more than three decades, it has brought residents and visiting anglers together each year on the waters off Providenciales, not for corporate spectacle, but for the simple act of doing something together, and doing something good.

This year, that tradition translated into $12,000 for the next generation of TCI athletes.

The story behind the cheque is what makes it remarkable.

The children who once stood beside their parents on the decks of those early tournaments are now adults helping to keep the tradition alive. They organize it. They fish it. They bring their own children along. For nearly four decades, the tournament has been a place where memories are made on the water, a tradition carried quietly from one generation to the next. Now, that same generation has chosen to pass what it built outward, to the country’s young athletes.

“Since 1989 the Who Cares Fishing Tournament has been bringing the community of all ages together and giving back to this great community we live in. The tournament, reenergized by founders and the next generations of these members, raises funds for the youth of the Turks and Caicos Islands, our future is in the hands of our youth, and we need to inspire and invest in them!,” says Betty Stubbs, Committee Member of Who Cares Fishing Club.

In choosing the ADF as this year’s beneficiary, the tournament’s organizers have pointed to two things: their belief in the work of the Sports Commission, and their commitment to bolstering positive activities for the Islands’ youth. That endorsement is not taken lightly.

The ADF exists for exactly this kind of moment. Community and institution meeting around a shared purpose. Its mandate is to increase opportunities for Turks and Caicos Islanders to participate in quality sport, to build the capacity of our national system to achieve world-class results, and to advance our Islands’ interests, values, and ethics in sport at home and abroad. Every dollar contributed becomes a line in an athlete’s story, whether that story ends in a medal, a regional championship, or simply the chance to train at a level that was not previously possible.

“This contribution from the Who Cares Fishing Tournament Committee is a powerful example of community investment in youth development. The Athlete Development Fund continues to open doors for our athletes, and support like this directly translates into opportunities, whether that’s access to training, exposure to competition, or the ability to pursue excellence at higher levels.

We are extremely grateful for the committee’s commitment and generosity, and for the role they continue to play in strengthening sport and empowering young people across the Turks and Caicos Islands” noted Mr. Jarrett Forbes, Director of Sports.

There is a lesson in what the Who Cares Fishing Tournament has built, and it is one worth naming.

Sport development in the Turks and Caicos will not be funded by a single entity. It will be funded the way this tournament has been sustained for 37 years. By people. By families. By a community choosing, year after year, to show up for something larger than itself. Corporate partnerships matter. Government support matters. But so, fundamentally, do tournaments like this one, where the fundraising is measured not in marketing budgets but in the shared effort of a community.

We extend our sincere thanks to the organizers, captains, crews, and participants of the Who Cares Fishing Tournament. Their $12,000 gift is a vote of confidence in our athletes, and an example for others to follow.

To the leagues, the clubs, the regattas, the golf days, and the community events already quietly doing work across our islands, your contribution belongs in this story too. The ADF is open. The pathway exists. And every gift, at every scale, widens it.

The future, as the ADF has long reminded us, is now. With this contribution, the Who Cares Fishing Tournament has brought it meaningfully closer.

To learn more about the Athlete Development Fund or to contribute, visit www.tciathletedevelopmentfund.com.