12 months on and still buzzin’

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 7 August 2017

In August 2016, Rio de Janeiro was the epicentre of the sporting world, as the Brazilian city hosted the Games of the XXI Olympiad. Mega stars like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps dominated the global headlines for exploits on the track and in the pool respectively.

American swimmer Ryan Lochte stole some of the spotlight for late night/early morning shenanigans at a gas station with some of his teammates. Under the radar were the performances of a quintet of athletes representing three tiny islands in the Caribbean Sea.

There was no big hoopla from fans in attendance as Lara Butler finished fifth in her heat of the women’s 100m backstroke. But it triggered something in the mind of an idle journalist watching on in George Town. Butler’s time was the fastest ever swam in the event by a woman from the Cayman Islands – a national record. But there was no media outlet instantaneously bragging of the achievement.

CaymanSportsBuzz.com was not yet ready for public consumption despite weeks of ground work, the journalist thought, but his wife urged him on and said “You need to put the website live. If not now, when?”

So, on Sunday, 7 August 2016, the much-deliberated concept of CaymanSportsBuzz.com became open to the public. There was no big launch (that was planned for later) but shares on social media started happening and we knew we were doing the right thing. Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection, Mark Twain said. That became the mantra.

Almost every day since then, that idle journalist has spent considerable “free” time at sporting venues across the Cayman Islands, and sometimes overseas, covering the exploits of local athletes. After all, we boast as being “The Home of Cayman Sports”.

During that time, there has been a wealth of excellence to showcase – from the weekend warriors to those who compete overseas with “Cayman Islands” emblazoned across their chest or cap.

It has been our honour to be there to witness our athletes achieve great things, whether it’s in local leagues, in competition at home against overseas competition, or halfway around the world winning gold medals at the Island Games.

To the athletes who give us something to write about, we say thank you for the opportunity to have the pleasure of covering your pursuit for greatness. To those who have offered kind words of encouragement along the way, we say thank you to you as well – sometimes those words kept us going when we wondered whether the effort was truly worth it.

12 months on, we’re still buzzin’. With God’s guidance, we plan to be buzzin’ for many more to come.

Ben Meade

Editor, Cayman Sports Buzz

ben@caymansportsbuzz.com