Jacksonville Commands Battle It Out At Spring Sports Challenge

By Kaylee LaRocque, Naval Air Station Jacksonville Public Affairs

May 25, 2010 - JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- The Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jax) Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department (MWR) hosted the 2010 Spring Sports Challenge May 20-21 with more than 300 participants coming out for some "friendly" competition.

The competition kicked off May 20 with a 1,500-meter relay at the base track, followed by the tricycle race, dodge ball, kickball and basketball. Friday events included 3-on-3 beach volleyball, badminton, washers, tug-of-war and the commanding officer's canoe race.

The goal of the sports challenge is for commands to get the most points. Each event has different point values and in the end whoever has the most points wins the competition. Sailors from 11 commands battled it out over the two-day event to see who would take home the NAS Jax Sports Challenge Captain's Trophy.

In the final points tally, Patrol Squadron 10 (VP-10) athletes took first place with 1,400 points, followed by NAS Jax (1,075 points) and the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jax (850 points).

"It feels really great to win this event. The VP-10 'Red Lancers' did an outstanding job putting forth 110 percent like they do every day on the job," said VP-10 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Robert Patrick, Jr.

"They fought hard and played to win," added VP-10 Command Master Chief (CMDCM) Sean Carolan.

"This is a bi-annual event that we hold to promote some friendly competition between the commands here to get them out of their workspaces, try new sports that they may not have played before and get them out for some fun," explained NAS Jax Fitness Director Tim McKinney.

"The biggest part of this is coordinating and marketing the event so we get people to come out and participate. Overall, this sports challenge has gone very well – our schedule ran a bit behind on the first day because we had so many teams but it turned out to be a great day," continued McKinney.

The sports challenge also allows MWR to promote their intramural program. "This offers an opportunity for our military members to have some fun. We offer different events and try to make our people aware of what we have to offer them," added NAS Jax Sports Coordinator Bill Bonser. "It's great to see the camaraderie and esprit de corps. It's awesome to hear them clapping and cheering for their teams. We really enjoy putting this event on for them."