With the 100th season of the United States’ National Football League set to kick off in September, the New England Patriots will look to defend their title. The team secured victory at Super Bowl LIII in February, this their 6th championship. Still in a celebratory mood, members of the organisation were visibly upbeat last Thursday afternoon when they landed at Hewanorra International Airport.
The team’s 34-member cheerleading squad was on-island to shoot a 2019/2020 fitness calendar. This is the ladies’ second visit to Saint Lucia, their first being in 2013, for a previous calendar shoot. As before, they were hosted during their eight-day stay by Coconut Bay Beach Resort.
“We rarely repeat a destination but Saint Lucia is so stunning and amazing, once was not enough,” said the team’s director of cheerleading, Tracy Sormanti. She also had nice words for the people they encountered. “We’ve been to so many destinations but we left the last time with reluctance. When it came to where we wanted to go next, I thought ‘Where did we leave a piece of our heart?’ ”
Sormanti said that they intended to shoot with the Pitons as a backdrop “but we really want to go out into the towns and connect with some of the locals. We also want to visit some of the sites we haven’t seen before.” The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority’s PRO, Geraine Georges, welcomed the cheerleaders to the island. She boasted that the island is an internationally recognized film destination, with production teams choosing to utilize the many stunning backdrops.
Sports Illustrated released its popular annual swimsuit issue in May; one of the magazine’s three covers features an image of American national footballer Alex Morgan, shot in Saint Lucia. Described by the publication as the “perfect Caribbean getaway”, featured locations include the Pitons, Anse Chastanet beach and the Toraille Waterfall.
