Vempers Sports Athletic Dramatic Club
A Club’s Legacy
VSADC is one of the oldest clubs in Saint Lucia, the club enjoys a rich history and a proud tradition of producing national sports men in football, basketball, boxing and tennis. VSADC was started in 1951 by the late James Belgrave and the late Sir Vincent Flossaic. While the club started as a boys’ choir and a drama group Mr. Flossaic and Mr. Belgrave soon realized that many of the boys were athletically gifted so the club’s activities were extended into sports.
From those times to the current period VSADC has been a permanent fixture of the local sports landscape. VSADC has won numerous national Premiere League football titles including back to back championships on three occasions; no other football club in Saint Lucia has won consecutive Premiere League titles. VSADC has also won the veterans football tournament on several occasions, the women’s football leagues and the national basketball league on several occasions.
The nucleus of the National team during the dominant period in the 1980’s came from VSADC with the club having the following players forming the squad ( Austin Prospere, Michael Raymond, Victorin Weekes, Martin Alexander, Garvin Sifflet, Trevor Anderson , Irvin Hippolyte , Abraham Mentor and Michael Finbar Jn. Baptiste) all being on the first team at the same time. The goal keeping duties were shared between Austin and Abraham. Alvin Lewis, Titus Jn. Baptiste and Christopher Lamontagne all members of VSADC were on the substitute bench. They were followed by the likes of Gilroy Mitchell, Nerie Gilbert, Martin Sifflet, Sean Kirton, Barnett Bledman, Greg Mathurin and Davidson Belizaire who went on to represent St. Lucia at the Senior and Youth level.
VSADC has won the most Veterans competitions.
Fifteen years ago the club started a youth academy as a way to engage young persons living in the inner city communities such as Faux-A-Chaud, Barnard Hill, Conway, CDC and La Pansee / Georgeville. These communities were the traditional recruiting base of the club but there was waning interest in sports from the young persons living in those communities. The VSADC Youth Academy was established with the intention to provide these young persons with an opportunity to engage in football and to be exposed to personal development and social programs.
Our impact on the development of grassroots football has been so great that VSADC has been awarded the title of Club of the Year on several occasions at the national sports awards. Additionally, our Youth Academy has produced two recipients of the Junior Footballer of The Year award and several selectees to national youth teams.
The VSADC Youth Academy operates mostly on the financial sacrifices made by the coaches and occasional assistance from willing corporate donors. While there is nominal monthly fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) we have long recognized that most of the members come from homes where providing the daily necessities is a struggle so no child is prevented from participating in our activities because their parents are unable to afford the monthly membership fee. In fact, our theme is Beyond Football; we use the attraction to sport as the vehicle to impart life skills and to instill values into the members.
