The Leeward Islands are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In English, the term Leeward Islands refers to the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. The more southerly part of this chain, starting with Dominica, is called the Windward Islands. Dominica was originally considered a part of the Leeward Islands, but was transferred from the British Leeward Islands to the British Windward Islands in 1940.
The British West Indies (BWI) were the British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, British Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago. Other territories include Bermuda, and the former British Honduras. Before the decolonisation period in the later 1950s and 1960s the term was used to include all British colonies in the region as part of the British Empire. Following the independence of most of the territories from the United Kingdom, the term Commonwealth Caribbean is now used.
The Leeward Islands cricket team is a first class cricket team representing the member countries of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association, a regional association which is part of the West Indies Cricket Board. Contrary to the normal English definition of the Leeward Islands, Dominica is not included – for cricketing purposes Dominica is a part of the Windward Islands. As such, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, Montserrat, British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and Sint Maarten are all part of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association. The team does not take part in any international competitions, but rather in inter-regional competitions in the Caribbean, such as the West Indies' Professional Cricket League, and the best players may be selected for the West Indies team, which plays international cricket. The team competes in the Professional Cricket League under the franchise name Leeward Islands Hurricanes. The Leeward Islands has won a total of ten domestic titles – four in first class cricket and six in one-day cricket, but their last title was in 1997–98 when they won the double.
The AO Shirley Recreation Ground is a multi-use stadium in Road Town, British Virgin Islands. It is currently used mostly for football matches and usually hosts the British Virgin Islands national football team's games. The stadium holds 1,500 people.
The British Leeward Islands now refers to the Leeward Islands as an English overseas possession. It was a British colony from 1671 to 1958, except for the years from 1816 to 1833 where it was split into two separate colonies, before being united again in 1833. It was dissolved in 1958 after the separation of the British Virgin Islands, and the remaining islands became parts of the West Indies Federation.
The Leeward Islands Cricket Association, also known as the Leeward Islands Cricket Board, is the ruling body for cricket in the following Caribbean islands: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Nevis, Saint Kitts, Sint Maarten, and the United States Virgin Islands. Dominica is technically a part of the Leeward Islands, but as it was part of the Windward Islands colony from 1940 until independence and its cricket federation remains a part of the Windward Islands although it did participate in the first Leeward Islands tournament and was a founding member of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association in 1913.
The 37th CARIFTA Games was held in the Bird Rock Athletic Stadium in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, on March 21–24, 2008. IAAF president Lamine Diack was visiting the games emphasizing the event's importance and high value. Detailed reports on the results were given.
The 40th CARIFTA Games was held at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on April 23–25, 2011. Initially, the games should be hosted for the second time after 2007 by Saint Kitts and Nevis, but they declared to be unable to stage the games because of financial issues. The games could have been cancelled for the first time in its history, but Jamaica finally agreed to host the games at short notice.
The Leeward Islands Championships in Athletics is an athletics event organized by the Leeward Islands Athletics Association (LIAA) open for athletes from its member associations.
The 2001 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics took place on May 5–6, 2001. The event was held at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
The 2002 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics took place on June 1–2, 2002. The event was held at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. A detailed report was published.
The 2003 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics took place on May 31–June 1, 2003. The event was held at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. A detailed report was published.
The 2005 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics took place on May 28–29, 2005. The event was held at the Yasco Sports Complex in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. A detailed report was published.
The 2006 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics took place on July 1–2, 2006. The event was held in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. A detailed report was published.
The 2008 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics took place on June 28–29, 2008. The event was held in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Reports and photos were published.
The 2012 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics took place on June 9–10, 2012. The event was held at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Detailed reports were published.
The 8th NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics were held at the Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada from August 8–10, 2014. A total of 44 track and field events were contested, divided evenly between the sexes.
The 2015 North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships was a regional track and field competition held at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica from August 7-9, 2015. It was the second edition of a senior track and field championship for the NACAC region, held eight years after the first.
The 9th NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics were held at Jorge "El Magico" Gonzalez National Stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador from July 15–17, 2016.
The 2022 Pan American Cross Country Cup took place on March 27, 2022, in Serra, Brazil.
