Despite claiming the number one seed in the AFC, there has not been much hype around the Tennessee Titans ahead of the start of their playoff campaign.
After they each exploded for five-touchdown performances in the Wild Card Round, most of the attention on the AFC side of the postseason has focused on the rematch between Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Kansas City Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes.
Yet there is a 6ft 3in, 247-pound reason to pay attention to the Titans as they face Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional Round.
Running back Derrick Henry's season appeared to be over when he suffered a Jones fracture in his foot in the Titans' Week 8 clash with the Indianapolis Colts.
But he was activated from injured reserve this week and is in line to make his return for the visit of the Bengals as the Titans look to reach the AFC Championship Game for the second time in three seasons.
A two-time rushing champion, on the surface Henry's value to the Tennessee offense is obvious as an explosive powerhouse back who when healthy this season was threatening Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing yards record.
However, with the Titans continuing to excel on the ground even after Henry's injury, it is fair to ask: how much does his return actually matter?
A slight drop-off
If you looked solely at the raw numbers, it would be easy to answer that question in the affirmative.
Between Weeks 1 and 8, when Henry was on the field, the Titans were fourth in the NFL with 147.6 rushing yards per game.
After he went down injured, that average dropped to 135.9 yards per game, though that was still good enough to put them sixth in the league.
In other words, Henry was worth nearly 12 extra rushing yards - or one explosive run - a game to the Titans.
But in the grand scheme of things, that is a negligible difference and the counting statistics point to Tennessee still possessing an elite rushing attack even without Henry.
And a more granular look at the performance of Henry and the two backs that assumed the bulk of the workload in his absence, D'Onta Foreman and Dontrell Hilliard, also suggests there was not much of a drop-off when he left the lineup.
Henry low on power?
Henry's fearsome reputation as the most overpowering running back in the NFL is one earned off the back of a string of highlight-reel runs comprising brute force and remarkable open-field speed for a man of his size.
More than simply bouncing off defenders, Henry is a back who can run them over at will.
That makes his numbers in terms of after-contact yardage this season extremely surprising.
Henry averaged 1.87 yards after contact per attempt in the regular season, below the league average of 1.95, with Foreman (1.92) outperforming him.
His average of 3.05 yards per rush attempt on carries where then was a run disruption by a defender was on the right side of the ledger. The league average in the regular season was 2.88 yards per carry.
Yet his efforts in that regard were inferior to those of both Foreman and Hilliard. Foreman averaged 3.40 yards per attempt when faced with a run disruption and Hilliard went beyond that with 4.03 yards per carry in those situations.
Their efficiency in that area is in part down to a smaller sample size, Henry carried the ball 219 times this season compared to 133 rush attempts for Foreman and 56 for Hilliard.
Still, Foreman and Hilliard got enough run in his absence to indicate that they were actually superior to Henry when it came to turning potential negative plays into gains for Tennessee.
In fact, Henry's most substantial contribution may not be what he does with the ball in his hands, but the influence the threat of him carrying it has on opposing defenses.
A play-action asset
He might not have been overly effective in gaining yards after contact in the regular season, however, it is obvious defenses still very much respect his ability to do so.
Indeed, Henry was consistently faced by defenses who committed an extra man to the box. Among running backs with at least 100 carries, Henry was fifth in the NFL in percentage of snaps where the opponent had one more man in the defensive box than the offense had in its box.
Per Stats Perform data, Henry encountered a 'bad box' on 58 per cent of his snaps compared to 48.2 per cent for Foreman. Additionally, on bad box plays where Henry was on the field, the Titans gained 6.05 yards per play but only 5.09 yards when he was off the field in those situations.
And the Titans excelled at using their opponents' aggressiveness in committing to stopping Henry against them.
The Titans sold the run to throw a pass on play-action or a quarterback bootleg on 25 per cent of their passing plays in the regular season, the second-highest rate in the NFL and well above the league average of 19 per cent.
Without Henry, they averaged 7.06 yards per play on play-action and bootleg passes, below the league average of 8.1. With Henry on the field, that figure ballooned to a remarkable 9.94 yards per play.
Henry's impact as a runner may be somewhat overstated, but his influence on the Titans' offense is not.
As a player whose reputation precedes him, Henry's mere presence forces defenses to commit more men to the box and helps set up play-action passes on which the Titans averaged almost enough yardage for a first down on every such play when he was healthy in 2021.
It remains to be seen how effective Henry can be after his lengthy spell on the sidelines, yet the numbers leave no doubt his return does matter. However, he is less important to what has been a consistent rushing attack than he is to a passing game that may need to go blow for blow with Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to avoid a swift playoff exit.
Kyrie Irving revealed how some stern words from Brooklyn Nets team-mate James Harden provided the catalyst for his fourth-quarter blitz against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Nets moved into top spot in the Eastern Conference with a hard-fought 117-102 win over the Spurs on Friday.
While Harden put up 37 points with 10 rebounds and 11 assists, Irving had only nine points heading into the final quarter and was scoreless in the third.
He put that right with a 15-point showing down the stretch and then offered an insight into what had inspired his late flurry.
"James kind of yelled at me," Irving said. "It's not a negative yell, but he yelled at me, 'Kai, get the f*****g ball!' in the third quarter after he scored [12 points] in the quarter.
"I kind of took that personal. I just wanted to come out in the fourth quarter in an aggressive mindset and just play within the flow of the offense."
It was a reaction that saw the shackles thrown off for the Nets, who are now 29-16, and Harden never doubted Irving's ability to turn it on.
"For sure, it was a breakthrough," said Harden. "He's capable of doing that at any moment and any point in the game.
"That's one of the reasons why we need him every single game, because he's able to do that, especially with everything that's going on with our team.
"But he's able and more than capable of doing things like that whenever he wants. I think he just tries to get us involved a little bit more, but he's a special talent.
"We have a decent rhythm between one another of just getting out of each other's way but also demanding each other to play at that level.
"When it's us going together and us doing it as a tandem or a duo, it opens up the space for everyone. When we're playing with the unbelievable pace like we were in the fourth quarter, I don't see too many teams that can keep up with that."
Two-time major winner Simona Halep says she is playing the best she has for months after cruising into the 2022 Australian Open fourth round with a straight-forward win over Danka Kovinic.
Halep, who is the 14th seed after an injury-ravaged 2021, eased past the Montenegrin 6-2 6-1 on Saturday. The former world number one has dropped only 14 games on her way to clinching a spot in the second week in Melbourne.
The Romanian, who was the runner-up at the 2018 Australian Open, won the Melbourne Summer Set 1 title and is re-discovering her best form.
"(This is the best I've played in) the last months," Halep said after Saturday's win.
"I feel great physically, first of all. Mentally I'm confident and also strong, I would say.
"Feeling the game. Feeling joy out there. I think that helps me to be positive and to be confident that I have a chance every time I step on the court.
"I feel I'm in a good spot. I really trust that I can play good tennis here."
Halep will play Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in the fourth round on Monday, with the Romanian having won 11 consecutive sets.
Cornet had knocked out third seed Garbine Muguruza in the second round, while sixth seed Anett Kontaveit and US Open winner Emma Raducanu have also bowed out in Halep's quarter of the draw giving her a good shot at a deep run.
"I feel fresh. I feel that the pressure is off," Halep said. "I feel also that I have expectations from myself, but they are good expectations because I have worked a lot in the off-season.
"I have no injuries. That helps me to be in a good spot mentally and also with confidence."
James Harden and Dejounte Murray both had triple-doubles as the Brooklyn Nets got past the San Antonio Spurs 117-102 on Friday.
Harden scored 37 points with 10 rebounds and 11 assists with Kevin Durant out with a sprained left MCL as the Nets rallied from a 51-50 half-time deficit to improve to 29-16.
Kyrie Irving contributed 24 points with three rebounds and four assists for the Nets, who are top of the Eastern Conference.
Harden's triple-double was the 66th of his career, moving him to eighth on the all-time list, while Murray – who had 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists – recorded his ninth triple-double of the season and 13th of his career.
LeBron leads Lakers past Magic
LeBron James led the Los Angeles Lakers' second-half response as they fought back from an eight-point half-time deficit to win 116-105 over the Orlando Magic. James finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists, playing the second half at center, while Russell Westbrook contributed 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
The Milwaukee Bucks edged the Chicago Bulls 94-90 in an important game in the Eastern Conference standings. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points with 12 rebounds and three assists as the Bucks overcame Grayson Allen's ejection.
Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic recorded another triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists but Ja Morant overshadowed him with 38 points as the Memphis Grizzlies won 122-118 over the Denver Nuggets, while Stephen Curry had 22 points including a game-winning buzzer beater in the Golden State Warriors' 105-103 win over the Houston Rockets.
Sixers fluff 24-point lead
The Philadelphia 76ers blew a 24-point lead to lose 102-101 to the Los Angeles Clippers despite Joel Embiid scoring 40 points with 13 rebounds. Reggie Jackson finishing with 19 points and nine assists for the Clippers.
LeBron James has been hailed by Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel as "the most unique player in the history of the game" after his second-half performance at center on Friday.
James finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists after playing exclusively at center in the second half of Friday's 116-105 win over the Orlando Magic.
The four-time MVP was moved into Dwight Howard's role after half-time with the Lakers immediately going on a decisive 20-2 to overcome their 62-54 deficit.
"He's the most unique player in the history of the game," Vogel told reporters about James.
"We won a championship with him playing point guard two years ago, he's been a ball-handling wing throughout his career and he's been playing center for us.
"It's pretty remarkable, and for him to be doing it at this stage of his career, it's even more remarkable."
Vogel also praised Russell Westbrook who was benched in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's 111-104 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Westbrook, who joined the Lakers from the Washington Wizards in the off-season, has been the subject of much criticism this season.
The 33-year-old Lakers point guard had 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists against the Magic.
“He’s all-in on doing whatever is necessary to get the Lakers in position to win a championship, for sure," Vogel said.
Westbrook added: “I was upset about [being benched on Wednesday] and I was more upset that we didn’t win the game.
"I’ve been here doing my job since day one and doing everything asked of me. I want to continue to do that for the betterment of the team."
Vogel also added that there was no firm timeframe on All-Star forward Anthony Davis' return from a knee injury.
James has scored 25 or more points in 16 consecutive games, which have all coincided with Davis' stint on the sidelines.
Diego Simeone has confirmed that Luis Suarez will play for Atletico Madrid against Valencia on Saturday, despite a lack of form and apparent recent falling out between the pair.
The Uruguay international is Los Rojiblancos' top scorer in all competitions this season with nine goals, but has only found the net once in his last 11 club matches.
Suarez made his frustration known when he was substituted during last month's 2-1 defeat at Sevilla, appearing to direct expletives towards his manager.
The 34-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a Premier League reunion with former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa, but Simeone insisted at a news conference ahead of the weekend's clash at the Wanda Metropolitano that he has spoken to Suarez and intends to play him.
Atletico have been on a poor run of late, winning just one of their last six LaLiga games and being eliminated from both the Supercopa de Espana and Copa del Rey in their last two outings.
"Luis Suarez will play," the Argentine coach confirmed. "I have no doubt that these moments make us stronger, because we have been in difficult moments and very good ones during my ten years at the club [as a coach].
"This moment is something we've never experienced before and it is like life itself, we need to defend ourselves continuously. What you did yesterday doesn't count, it counts what you do today and I love it like this because this is what happens in life itself.
"I've already talked to Luis and with the club. With all the people I've needed to, we've talked already. They know what I think, and I'm [currently] thinking about the match against Valencia.”
Suarez has scored 30 goals across all competitions since his arrival at Atletico from Barcelona in September 2020. Karim Benzema (54) and Gerard Moreno (41) are the only players currently based in Spain to have scored more often during that time.
Additionally, only Lionel Messi (231) has more than Suarez's 175 LaLiga goals since the Uruguayan joined Barcelona from Liverpool in July 2014.
Patrick Cantlay secured a one-shot lead on 14-under par ahead of Tom Hoge on the second day of the American Express in California on Friday.
The world number four followed up his impressive round of 62 on the opening day with a four-under 68 to hold the outright lead at the end of day two, with Hoge following up a first day 65 with another respectable round of 66 to sit on 13-under.
The best round of the day came from Will Zalatoris, who shot an 11-under 61 to move up 93 places to joint-third after having hit just 10 greens in his opening round 71.
The 25-year-old American managed 12 birdies, including each of his last seven holes to climb up the leaderboard, and now sits level on 12-under with fellow countrymen Lanto Griffin, Greyson Sigg, Cameron Young and Joseph Bramlett.
His drive on the final hole actually ended in the rough on the adjacent first hole, but he was still able to make birdie.
“I think today I just gave myself chances," Zalatoris said after his round. "I hit a lot close and made a couple 20, 30 footers to keep the round going and obviously... making birdie on nine from the wrong fairway is kind of the icing on the cake."
Sam Ryder, Roger Sloan, Zach Johnson and Paul Barjon ended their second rounds tied for eighth on 11-under.
Meanwhile, Lee Hodges, who held the lead with Cantlay at the start of day two, could only muster an even-round of 72 and now finds himself tied for twelfth with 11 other competitors.
Among them is Sahith Theegala, who shot an eagle and eight birdies as part of a round of 62 to climb 98 places to inexplicably sit alongside the previous day's overnight joint-leader.
World number one Jon Rahm was unable to build on his steady first round of 66 as he hit five birdies and three bogeys during his 70 to sit tied for 32nd on eight-under.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has not ruled out making a signing in the remainder of the January transfer window, but stopped short of making any guarantees.
The Blues have seen their title charge come to a grinding halt in recent games, having not won any of their last four Premier League outings and only claiming victory twice from their last nine.
They now sit 12 points behind leaders Manchester City having played a game more, and a point behind second-placed Liverpool having played two games more.
When asked at a news conference ahead of Sunday's game against Tottenham whether any January additions are likely, Tuchel replied: "I cannot say no to it. Also, I am not convinced it is a clear yes. Let's wait and see."
The game with Spurs at Stamford Bridge will be Chelsea's 16th since the start of December, and Tuchel believes that the hectic schedule coupled with injuries has played a significant part in his team's drop in form.
"The schedule that we had in particular was a bit too much," he said. "At the same time we struggled with injuries, first in midfield then in the second period it was strikers and now it's suddenly all defenders who are out. Yeah, it's a bit awkward.
"We struggled to deal with it and find the same rhythm, find the same consistency in our results... but still the way we played and approached the games was always okay."
Following a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City last weekend and a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Tuesday, the former Borussia Dortmund coach gave his players two days off in preparation for the Spurs game, and confessed that he spent his time at the dentist.
"You really disconnect at the dentist," he said. "It is hard to think about football when you are in the dentist chair.
"We needed [a break]. And I meant all of us. This is a team effort and I felt that the team was mentally tired, which I could understand. I felt them disappointed and frustrated after the result at City and it was harder for us to overcome the obstacles that for us are normal to overcome.
"There are reasons for it. Reasons that we talked about, reasons for which we cannot be blamed.
"I know it is always like this and we don’t want to make excuses, but we want to be adult enough and honest enough to look at the reasons why we feel this kind of fatigue."
The New York Giants on Friday appointed Joe Schoen as general manager at the start of a new era.
Schoen joins the Giants from the Buffalo Bills, where he had been in the role of assistant general manager under Brandon Beane over the last five years.
The 42-year-old succeeds Dave Gettleman, who retired this month without overseeing a single season with a winning record.
Schoen's priority is to appoint a new head coach after Joe Judge was fired on the back of a dismal 4-13 campaign.
He said: "It is an honour to accept the position of general manager of the New York Giants.
"I want to thank John Mara and Steve Tisch [Giants co-owners] and their families for this tremendous opportunity. And obviously I am grateful to Brandon and the Bills for the experience I have had in Buffalo.
"Now, the work begins. My immediate focus is to hire a head coach, with who I will work in lockstep with to create a collaborative environment for our football operations.
"We will cast a wide net, it can be former head coaches, first-time head coaches but, more importantly, it has to be a person who possesses the ability to lead an organisation and the ability to motivate and develop players.
"On the personnel side, we will begin to evaluate our roster and prepare for the draft and free agency. Our goal is to build a roster that will be competitive, have depth, and most importantly, win football games."
Nine candidates were interviewed for the role and Mara says Schoen stood out.
"Steve and I were both impressed with all nine candidates," he said. "We came away from this process feeling like all nine will be a general manager in this league at some point. We just felt like Joe was the right fit at the right time for us."
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stated that Caoimhin Kelleher will start for the Reds in next month's EFL Cup final against Chelsea, fitness permitting.
The Irish goalkeeper is the understudy to Alisson at Anfield, but has played in three of their five EFL Cup games this season, including Thursday's 2-0 semi-final second leg victory at Arsenal.
Kelleher has played 15 times in all competitions for Liverpool, with former Republic of Ireland international Shay Given recently suggesting that the 23-year-old should leave the club to seek regular football.
However, Klopp insisted before the first leg against Arsenal that the EFL Cup was "his competition" and explained that Alisson only played in last week's 0-0 draw at Anfield because the Brazilian needed "rhythm" after a spell out with COVID-19.
Speaking at a news conference ahead of Sunday's trip to Crystal Palace in the Premier League, Klopp was asked whether Kelleher would retain his place for the Wembley final on February 27, to which he replied: "Caoimh will play, if he is fit.
"We consider Caoimh as an outstanding goalkeeper and we want to keep him here, and to keep him here you have to make sure a few things.
"It is all about how you perform, and if he didn't perform the way he did I would maybe see it differently. He shows that he deserves all the trust and faith we have in him.
"I don't see any reason why Caoimh won't play. He deserves it, he brought the team there."
Klopp was also effusive in his praise for Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose two assists for Diogo Jota in the win against the Gunners took his tally for the season to 14 in all competitions.
In the top five leagues in Europe, only Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller (18) has more, with the German having played four more games than Alexander-Arnold.
"I don't know anyone who is like Trent, who is a right-back and is that decisive," Klopp said. "On the bus on the way home the television is on and you hear people talking and they say 'yeah defensively he is not that good'... honestly I thought he played outstandingly well defensively last night.
"[Gabriel] Martinelli, we will talk about this player in the future. If he avoids major injuries he will have a proper career, so he's really good and what he did there against [Alexander-Arnold] and how he kept him busy defensively and where he showed up and all these kinds of things... the [overall] package of Trent is insane.
"It's not that he delivers every day, there are still departments where he can improve and has to improve and we work on that... he still has 15 years or whatever to play, to create and to score and to learn and to improve. The last five years were a good start in the career I would say."
Barcelona are set to lose Ansu Fati for another long stretch of games after details of his latest injury setback were revealed.
The 19-year-old Spain international has had a dismal run of luck with injuries and appeared to be in tears as he was substituted in the Copa del Rey defeat to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
Fati had come off the bench just after the hour mark but had to be replaced early in extra time, with Barcelona stating after the game he had sustained "a femoral biceps injury in his left thigh".
The wording of that diagnosis was adjusted on Friday evening, and it remains to be seen whether Fati plays again this season.
Barcelona said in a statement: "Tests carried out on the first-team player Ansu Fati on Friday confirmed that he has a proximal tendon injury in the hamstring of his left leg. In the coming days the treatment to be carried out will be decided."
On Instagram, the club added: "You’ll be back stronger, warrior."
Barcelona-based newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported the club has recommended that Fati undergoes surgery.
The teenager has featured in just 10 games across all competitions this season, and he had only recently returned from a two-month hamstring injury lay-off.
Fati previously spent 10 months on the sidelines due to a serious knee injury, resuming his Barcelona career in September this season.
Despite his limited action, Fati is Barcelona's second-highest scorer in 2021-22 with five goals. They have come in just 456 minutes of on-pitch action, with Fati out-performing his expected goals (xG) score of 1.92.
Derrick Henry is set to make his long-awaited Tennessee Titans return against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday after he was activated off the injured reserve.
The running back has not played since injuring in his foot in a win over the Indianapolis Colts back in Week 8.
Henry endured a frustrating spell on the sidelines following surgery, but is back for the Divisional Round showdown with the fourth-seeded Bengals at Nissan Stadium.
The 2020 NFL Offensive Player of the Year came through contact training this week and is ready to make a timely comeback.
Henry said: "I felt great. I just wanted to get some pads on. Haven't had them on in a while and got some contact going."
The two-time Pro-Bowler rushed for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns in 219 carries in his eight regular-season games for the top-seeded Titans this season.
Henry was leading the league in rushing when he sustained the injury.
He made 112 yards from 18 carries, scoring one touchdown when the Titans last faced the Bengals in November 2020, a game that was won 31-20 by Cincinnati.
The West Indies Under-19s have failed to advance to the Super League stage of the 2022 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup after suffering a hard-fought three-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka Under-19s at the Conaree Cricket Ground in St. Kitts on Friday.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field first, and despite the continued absence of regular captain Ackeem Auguste, who made 57 in the first match against Australia U-19s, West Indies Under-19s got their highest total of the tournament with 250-9 off their 50 overs.
In the must-win encounter, Kevin Wickham, playing his first game of the World Cup, top-scored with 56.
He was well supported by Jordan Johnson, who got 47, as well as Rivaldo Clarke and Teddy Bishop, who got 45 each.
Sri Lankan captain Dunith Wellalage, who has so far taken two five-wicket hauls in the tournament, was again the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with 3-39 off his 10 overs.
Despite a valiant effort from the West Indies Under-19s bowlers, Sri Lanka were able to get to their target, finishing on 251-9 with 10 balls remaining.
Opener Sadisha Rajapaksa top-scored for the Sri Lankans with 76 and he got support from Anjala Bandara (40) and Shevon Daniel (34).
McKenny Clarke led the West Indies bowlers with 2-38 off his 9.2 overs while Isai Thorne took 2-41 off 10 overs.
Sri Lanka Under-19s and Australia Under-19s will now advance to the Super League stage as the top two finishers in Group D.
The tournament hasn’t ended for the West Indies Under-19s, however, as they will now compete in the plate quarterfinals.
The strength of the brand of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the value of partnering with Jamaica's governing body for Olympic and non-Olympic sports have not escaped stakeholders of the sporting world.
The latest global sport organization to initiate a partnership with the JOA is the International Jump Rope Union (IJRU) established in 1973 as the sole international governing body for the sport of jump rope and now with a membership of sixty-two countries spanning the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceana.
At the recent virtual signing ceremony of a partnership agreement between the two leading organizations in sport, JOA President, Christopher Samuda, remarked that the execution "is more than an understanding and a union for it is a conviction on the part of two recognized sporting bodies that through sport and using sport an inspiring script for brotherhood beyond sport will be written."
With diversity, inclusion, innovation and excellence as its mantra, the IJRU values are in sync with the JOA which has been broadening its sport agenda in both the summer and winter sports. JOA Secretary General and CEO, Ryan Foster, stated that the "partnership between the Jamaica Olympic Association and the International Jump Rope Union is a testimony that the business of sport has expanded beyond what one considers traditional as the status quo for sport is a thing of the past as the JOA embraces this union which is born in the concept of sport for all."
IJRU President, Shaun Hamilton, hailed the historic signing and Jamaica's inclusion as "a tremendous moment" and in lauding the JOA said "Jamaica is a very influential space and place and we, the IJRU, are so happy that they will lead the way for other island nations to join us in this amazing community and family."
The sport of jump rope has seen tremendous growth in the last decade as a competitive and recreational sport among the youth of the global village, an achievement which Samuda acknowledged as giving them "yet another option in a sport that combines, skill, dexterity, flexibility, speed and kinetics with concentration, focus, patience and determination; that marries physical attributes with mental attitudes and aptitudes in such a marvelous way so as to create human symmetry and aesthetics."
As the JOA continues to fulfill its mission to engrain the values of sport in the Jamaican human landscape, Foster stated that "Sport is a way of life that not only transcends once unbreakable borders but impacts not only lives but livelihoods and the JOA is pleased to be a part of a journey which is rooted in the hallway of legacy creation that will form the basis from which many athletes will benefit for years to come."
Under the partnership agreement, both sporting bodies will collaborate in developing the sport in Jamaica with IJRU hosting technical webinars and physical workshops for officials, coaches and judges as well as providing sport-related equipment and requisites. Further the parties will co-operate in developing a Caribbean strategy for the sport utilizing Jamaica as a springboard and hub for developmental initiatives in the region.
"The JOA is determined to transform Jamrock to be a mecca for competition and recreational sport, sport education, sport entertainment and sport tourism," Samuda said.
The hosts of the ceremony were Novelette Harris, Member Relations Manager of the JOA, and Marsha Bonhart, American television, newspaper and radio and award-winning journalist.
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