Reggae Boyz Assistant Coach, John Wall, believes the team has become “more unified” since their training camp in Austria prior to the Concacaf Gold Cup in the USA.
The Reggae Boyz held a pre-tournament training camp in Austria from June 11-20 which included friendly internationals against Qatar and Jordan. The Boyz came up short in both those encounters.
Since then, however, Jamaica has seen massive improvements in their performances.
Wall, in an interview of the JFF’s Instagram page, had this to say about whether or not he’s seen improvements since the Austria camp.
“Yes, especially on the team side on an emotional and team bonding level,” he said.
“I think there are bits and pieces that are falling into place and I think we are becoming even more and more unified in our ways and how we want to win games and how we want to perform overall. That’s generally my impression, so far, being in the bubble as I am,” Wall added.
They currently have a record of 3-1 in the ongoing Gold Cup and, after a 1-0 win over Guatemala in the quarterfinals on Sunday, are all set to tackle powerhouses, Mexico, in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
The Jamaicans will be aiming to reach the Gold Cup final for the first time since 2017.
In 2021, they lost by a goal to nil against eventual champions, USA, at the quarterfinal stage.
Richard Hood is once again the man charged with moving Trinidad and Tobago’s senior women’s football programme forward, as he was recently appointed Head coach for a second time by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
Hood was deemed best fit for the post by a selection panel, which had to sieve through 151 applicants.
The selection panel which comprised TTFA’s technical director, Anton Corneal, Jinelle James, director women’s football, former national player Steve David and Ken Butcher, former minister of sport and youth affairs and sport director at UTT, initially narrowed the list to 30 and then to 14, before Hood and two others were interviewed.
Hood’s duties began with immediate effect, with his backroom staff which will include critical expertise in the area of performance and video analysis, to be named in short order.
“I would like to thank the NC for having faith in me as well as the interviewing committee for recommending me for the position. I am deeply humbled and appreciative,” Hood told TTFA media.
“Of course, it’s always an honour and privilege to represent Trinidad and Tobago, particularly at the senior level. We have a very challenging passage into the 2024 Gold Cup but it’s not one that’s insurmountable. I am keen to start the process as quickly as possible because we have a very short preparation time before the first assignment in September,” he added.
Hood is no stranger to the position as he once guided T&T to the quarter finals of the Pan American Games in 2011 and Concacaf Olympic Qualifiers in 2016. He also served as head coach of the Under-20 team in 2020, at the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, and was assistant coach of the Under-17 team for the 2010 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup when the twin island republic played host.
“My immediate task is to establish the availability of players and I’ve already made several contacts in that regard. So, I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead and will approach same with tremendous enthusiasm and optimism and god’s willing, we will succeed in our task,” Hood noted.
Technical Director Corneal explained the reason behind Hood’s appointment.
“Mr. Richard Hood demonstrated during his interview and application, the necessary areas of expertise for the position. He also possesses the required experience coaching national women teams and understands the women’s competition in our region,” Corneal shared.
Hood’s first assignment in competition will be qualifiers for the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup. The qualifying tournament will take place during the Fifa women’s international match windows in September, October, and November, and will include 35 Concacaf nations divided into three leagues. T&T will play in Group A of League A alongside Mexico and Puerto Rico. They will open away to Mexico on September 26, before contesting the return leg on October 27, after which they will visit Puerto Rico on December 1 and again at home on December 5.
After 90 group stage matches, which include home and away play within each league and group, the top finishers in each of the League A groups (three teams) will qualify for the 2024 Women’s Gold Cup Group Stage. Furthermore, the second-place finishers in each of the League A groups (three teams) and the first-place finishers in each of the League B groups (three teams) will advance to the 2024 Gold Cup Preliminary round.
Sunshine Girls and West Coast Fever star, Jhaniele Fowler, has described winning her fifth Stacey Marinkovich Medal, awarded to the West Coast Fever’s MVP of the season, as an “amazing feeling.”
The dominant goal shooter led the Suncorp Super League in net points with 1516.5 and goals with 872, respectively.
Her 872 goals put her more than 200 goals clear of anybody else, with Donnell Wallam of the Queensland Firebirds coming closest with 669.
Fowler was also selected as the Fever’s Players’ Player of the Year.
“It’s an amazing feeling. I’m more than honored and elated to have been selected for this prestigious medal,” Fowler said.
She noted that having her family there to witness it made it more special.
“It definitely means a lot more to have them to celebrate this momentous accomplishment with,” she said.
With this being her fifth time winning the medal, Fowler was asked if this one felt any different than the others.
“It’s right up there with the other ones,” she said.
“Every year that I win this I try to not take it for granted because there’s a lot of work that goes into this, not only on my behalf but what my teammates have to put in for us to get here and for me to get here is so incredible. Each one means the same,” Fowler added.
Fowler will now turn her attention to the Netball World Cup set to begin on July 28 in South Africa.
“The next couple of weeks looks like me going in with my Jamaican teammates. We’re going into camp for a few weeks and then heading to the World Cup and taking that head on,” Fowler added.
The general belief in Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz camp is that they can progress beyond the group stages on this, their second-consecutive Fifa Women’s World Cup appearance.
In fact, Head coach Lorne Donaldson would readily declare that the possibility of his Reggae Girlz achieving the feat is by no means impossible. Still, he is under no illusion that defeating or merely taking points off the new-look, young and formidable Brazil outfit, as well as the well-organised and experienced France team, will be easy.
While their just-concluded camp in Amsterdam inspires confidence, as it assisted in fine-tuning certain technical and tactical aspects, Donaldson admits that the team is still not yet where he wants them to be with the July 20 to August 20 global showpiece in Australia and New Zealand, now nine days away.
“The camp was good; I wish we had a game which would have been the true test, but it was good, nonetheless. The players worked hard, and they seem very focused, but we're not there yet.
“We still have a few more days to go, so we start working on some of the tactical stuff and I the players are going in with a sense of purpose because they know what's at stake,” Donaldson told Sportsmax.tv shortly after arriving in Australia on Monday.
Since the start of their build up to the World Cup, Donaldson has stressed the importance of holding a tight defensive line, being very well organised and more effective when in possession, if they want to be competitive.
The 43rd-ranked Reggae Girlz will open Group F play on July 23 against the number five-ranked Les Bleues, which is now the centre of their focus.
“I think France is playing a game (against Australia on Friday), so we might get a look at what their starting squad is like and just see exactly how we want to approach the game and how we want to match up against them and just go from there. If we want to be competitive, we will need to defend, and be very well organised and when we have possession, we would like to be more effective,” Donaldson shared.
“So, we still have some tactical stuff to look at and work on. I think our players know that they have to show up and be ready to perform so that makes life a little bit easier sometimes, but yes, we have to hold them accountable for certain things especially tactical mistakes,” he added.
After France, the Girlz will then tackle 52nd-ranked Panama on July 29, before closing against 8th-ranked Brazil on August 2.
However, before all of that, they will engage on final preparation game against Morocco which Donaldson believes will serve them well to lock in their plan towards efficient execution Down Under.
“We will use that game to try some things, we will give as much players as possible some minutes because the aim is to improve the work that we're doing, and we saw some stuff that we need to clean up. So, we will use this game to do that and then look at some tape with the players to see how much more we can brush up on our execution,” the coach noted.
That said, Donaldson, who was an assistant to Hue Menzies when the Girlz were hammered 0-3, 0-5 and 1-4 by Brazil, Italy and Australia on their World Cup debut in France in 2019, said they have no intentions of going out in that manner on this occasion.
“We expect to do well and get something out of the tournament,” he declared.
“We are not going to come here to the World Cup to lay down, we are going to push to get some success. We are planning to get out of the group, whichever way we have to get it done, we intend to get it done. So, it's just a matter of how well we execute when it comes to the big day,” Donaldson ended.
Two appeals concerning the finish of the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh have both been dismissed by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board.
The Group One contest produced a messy conclusion as the George Boughey-trained winner Via Sistina drifted across the track in the final furlong, impeding the placed horses in winning by two lengths under Jamie Spencer.
Ben and Sir Martyn Arbib, who own Hughie Morrison’s second-placed Stay Alert, appealed against the raceday stewards’ decision not to revise the placings, but the IHRB dismissed that claim.
Spencer was given a six-day ban for his ride, with the jockey asking the IHRB appeals panel to reconsider the severity of the suspension.
However, that was also dismissed with Spencer ruled out on July 15, 17-20 and 22.
The suspension means he misses the ride aboard Khaadem in Saturday’s July Cup, with Rob Hornby booked to ride the 80-1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes winner at Newmarket instead.
The opening race on Wolverhampton’s Tuesday card was voided after Dane O’Neill took a fall from Eagle Eyed Tom.
The gelding, who is trained by Charlie Hills, seemed to stumble and clip heels when leaving the stalls for the Sky Sports Racing Sky 415 Handicap and unseated O’Neill in the first few moments of the contest.
The race was stopped abruptly before it could be completed and O’Neill was attended to on the track before reportedly being taken off on a stretcher.
Milton Harris is hatching an audacious plan to get Scriptwriter rated highly enough for a tilt at the Melbourne Cup.
The two-mile ‘race that stops a nation’, which will be run at Flemington on November 7, is the richest handicap run anywhere in the world and was worth over £2.5million to connections of Gold Trip, who won it last year.
There there is always fierce competition for a place in the line-up which has a maximum of 24 runners.
But Warminster handler Harris is hopeful the former Aidan O’Brien-trained gelding will show his ability throughout the summer on the Flat, starting with Saturday’s Group Three John Smith’s Silver Cup Stakes at York.
“He’s a Group horse, we’ve always thought that,” said Harris. “I’m going to tempt fate. He’s going to run on Saturday at York, I think. The main target has always been the Ebor at York.”
The Ebor victor will be given an automatic entry for the Melbourne Cup, with the York contest the only international win-and-you-are-in race.
Scriptwriter proved himself among the top young hurdlers last season, winning the Grade Two Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham in November.
He also landed a decent all-weather handicap on the Flat at Wolverhampton before being touched off in the Finesse Hurdle back at Cheltenham.
Scriptwriter was seventh to runaway winner Vauban in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot on his return to action last month and while his official Flat rating is 103, he will need to improve if he is to have a chance of going to Australia.
Harris added: “I thought he ran well at Ascot from a bad draw, but just couldn’t win.
“So we are going to York on Saturday and then hopefully the Ebor. If those two races go well, we might have a go at the Melbourne Cup – if you don’t dream, you’ll never have one come to fruition, will you?”
Royal Ascot scorer Porta Fortuna could be tasked with taking on the colts following her impressive triumph at the summer showpiece last month.
The daughter of Caravaggio provided Frankie Dettori with his 80th winner at the Royal meeting when storming to Albany Stakes success and the form of that victory was given an immediate boost when the runner-up Matrika won the Group Two Airlie Stud Stakes only eight days later.
Having now struck twice at Group Three level in her three appearances to date, trainer Donnacha O’Brien is keen to keep his unbeaten filly at six furlongs for the time being and she could get the chance to showcase her talent in Group One company if lining up in the Curragh’s Keeneland Phoenix Stakes on August 12.
O’Brien said: “She’s very good and has come out of the race well. We gave her an easy week after the race to freshen her up and she’s back in full work now and everything is going well.
“She’s very straightforward and I suppose she’s a dream filly to ride as she has plenty of pace, travels well, has a turn of foot and also keeps going at the end as well. She’s just a very smart filly.
“We’re thinking of going for the Phoenix at the minute, the Group One at the Curragh. We’ll have to take on colts, but we’d like to give her another run at six. We’ll put her in the Lowther (York, August 24) as well as a back-up, that’s about a week or two afterwards.”
Connections then hope all roads will lead to the Breeders’ Cup, where Porta Fortuna’s American owners will have the opportunity to cheer on their filly in their own backyard.
“I suppose later on in the year the targets will be races like the Cheveley Park (Newmarket, September 30) and the Breeders’ Cup,” added O’Brien.
“We’ve got a few more runs to go before we get there so I’m sure we’ll learn a bit more about her by the time, but the obvious one would be the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf (Santa Anita, November 3) unless for some reason we thought we would go back in trip to the (Juvenile Turf) Sprint.
“The Breeders’ Cup was always the main aim for her at the end of the year, but she’s got a few races to go first and we’ll take each one at a time.”
Porta Fortuna is not the only filly at O’Brien’s Tipperary base with the potential to become a high-ranking two-year-old and the handler also has lofty ambitions for the Niarchos family-owned Mysteries who opened her account in good style at Cork.
“She’s a lovely filly and one we’ve always thought plenty of,” continued the Group One-winning trainer.
“The plan at the minute is to go for the Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown (July 27) and then for a seven-furlong filly there’s a very obvious programme, so it will be there, the Debutante (August 19) and the Moyglare (September 10), all being well.”
Meanwhile, one-time Derby hope Alder is on the comeback trail from the setback which ruled him out of Classic action and could return at Dundalk in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Diamond Stakes on September 29 before getting his passport stamped at the back-end of the year.
“He’s good and we gave him a bit of a break but he’s back in work now,” said O’Brien.
“I’m provisionally aiming him at a Listed race in Dundalk in September and then all being well, we could potentially go travelling with him after that.”
Oaks winner Soul Sister has been supplemented for Friday’s Grand Prix de Paris by John and Thady Gosden, with Kieran Shoemark deputising for the suspended Frankie Dettori.
Shoemark partnered the Lady Bamford-owned filly in a recent piece of work on Newmarket’s July course, although Dettori has ridden the daughter of Frankel in all three of her starts this season, with Robert Havlin in the saddle when she won her sole outing as a juvenile.
She gave Dettori a seventh Oaks and his 23rd British Classic success when beating Savethelastdance by a length and three-quarters at Epsom.
However, with the 52-year-old Italian having picked up a whip ban at Royal Ascot, Shoemark comes in for the ride on the filly, who is the sole British-trained runner in a field of eight for the Group One prize at ParisLongchamp.
Soul Sister bounced back from defeat on soft ground in the Fred Darling on her three-year-old debut at Newbury to land the Group Three Musidora at York.
She is the only Group One winner in the line-up, with connections happy to pay the €15,000 supplementary fee.
Thady Gosden said: “Obviously it is the last mile-and-a-half three-year-old race in Europe and unlike the Irish Oaks, it gives you time to come back for the Nassau at Goodwood.
“The Irish Oaks is a little too close to Goodwood if you wanted to take in both races, and we are looking forward to running her at Longchamp.
“Kieran partnered her on the Rowley Mile last week and was happy with her and she has done some routine work subsequently.”
Adelaide River and Peking Opera, respectively runner-up and fourth to Aidan O’Brien stablemate Auguste Rodin in the Irish Derby, remain in contention, while Andre Fabre, who has won the Grand Prix de Paris a record 13 times, relies on First Minister, who landed the Group Three Prix Hocquart at the same track last time.
Ackera Nugent, the NCAA 100m hurdles champion, has made a significant decision in her athletic career. Despite still pursuing her degree, Nugent has chosen to go professional and embark on a new chapter in her journey as a track and field athlete.
Balancing her athletic aspirations with her commitment to education, Nugent remains determined to excel both on the track and in the classroom.
"I'm staying in school because I feel like getting my degree is very important. But I felt like me going back to college was not needed anymore because I've accomplished everything that I wanted to accomplish," Nugent said after confirming her four-year deal with the German sports apparel manufacturer.
"So the decision between me and my coaches was to take the next step to fulfill my purpose in sports. So we made the decision of going professional."
While completing her degree in Advanced Communication, Nugent will also dedicate herself to professional athletics. She recognizes the significance of continuing her education while pursuing her dreams on the track.
Nugent's decision to go professional signifies a new and exciting phase in her career. Guided by her trusted coach, Chris Johnson, Nugent has honed her skills and experienced remarkable growth as an athlete. Johnson's expertise and support have been instrumental in Nugent's development, allowing her to reach new heights in her discipline.
"I have had a huge growth, not only as an athlete but also as a person, and I think that played a major factor in making the transition from Baylor University to Arkansas, where Coach (Chris) Johnson has a lot of experience in getting athletes to where they need to go and knowing how to fix the little things," Nugent shared.
Her journey under Coach Johnson's guidance has been fulfilling, despite the challenges that come with pushing one's limits.
Following the collegiate indoor season, Coach Johnson revealed that Nugent also possesses great potential as a 100m sprinter but as she embraces the professional realm, she maintains a clear focus on the 100m hurdles.
While her versatility allows her to excel in other events, Nugent and Coach Johnson agree that channeling her energy into the hurdles will yield the best results.
“Coach Johnson wants me to trust my speed between the hurdles and I haven’t really reached my maximum potential with that yet,” explaining that running the flat race helps her with her speed.
“He’s trying to make me get comfortable with my flat speed and stuff like that. And, he’s like when you finally hit 10 (seconds) you’ll understand what it feels like to be faster between the hurdles, but it’s a learning experience. I am going into the professional world and I am a rookie.”
The 21-year-old made her first Jamaican senior team to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August after finishing second in a time of 12.67 behind Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper, who crossed the finish line in 12.64.
Danielle Williams, the 2015 World Champion qualified for her sixth World Championships appearance when she finished third in 12.82.
Dominant goal shooter, Jhaniele Fowler, was named as the West Coast Fever’s Stacey Marinkovich Medal recipient for the fifth time after another dominant season in the Suncorp Super Netball League.
The medal, named after former Australian player Stacey Marinkovich, is awarded to the team’s Most Valuable Player for the season.
Fowler, who has also been named MVP of the league for the last five seasons, led the league in net points with 1516.5 and goals with 872, respectively.
Her 872 goals put her more than 200 goals clear of anybody else, with Donnell Wallam of the Queensland Firebirds coming closest with 669.
Fowler was also selected as the Fever’s Players’ Player of the Year.
Coach Travis Geopfert of the University of Arkansas had every reason to be elated as his star jumpers, Wayne Pinnock and Carey McLeod, delivered outstanding performances at Jamaica's national championships on Saturday. Pinnock secured a remarkable victory with a leap of 8.32m, while McLeod claimed the third spot on the podium with a commendable mark of 8.20m. Both athletes showcased their exceptional talent and skills before their home crowd.
In a post-competition interview, Coach Geopfert expressed his satisfaction with the overall performance of his athletes. He acknowledged the challenging conditions caused by swirling winds but commended McLeod's ability to adapt and make adjustments to his approach, resulting in a solid jump.
"I was happy the way Carey worked on the transition of his approach and got a decent jump in at the end because it was a little all over the place," Geopfert shared.
"Turning his attention to Pinnock, Coach Geopfert couldn't contain his pride and admiration for the athlete's consistent excellence.
"I've been coaching for a long time, and I've never seen a 27-foot jump (8.23m) into a minus-two wind. I'm telling you, he's a special kid and really coachable," Geopfert remarked, highlighting Pinnock's exceptional abilities.
As both Pinnock and McLeod continue to impress with their performances, Coach Geopfert emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance between training and competition as they approach the World Championships in Budapest in August.
"If there's a good opportunity (to compete) half-way in between, we'll do something, you know? If there's not, I'm not going to force it. We'll try to mimic stuff in practice. I think we do a really good job of that," Geopfert explained.
Looking beyond the national championships, Coach Geopfert shared his aspirations for Pinnock and McLeod as they prepare for the upcoming World Championships. He emphasized that their participation in the national championships was merely a stepping stone towards their ultimate goal of winning medals on the global stage.
White Birch is set for a mid-season break following his below-par showing in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.
Trained by John Murphy, the colt had acquitted himself with real credit in the first half of the season, following up a win on reappearance in the Ballysax Stakes with podium finishes in both the Dante and then the Derby at Epsom.
He was sent off 6-1 at the Curragh but was ultimately way below his best as he trailed home in a well-held eighth of nine and connections are keen to put a line through the performance as they now freshen their charge up ahead of a return in the autumn.
“He’s come home perfectly sound and all is well,” said George Murphy, assistant trainer to his father.
“He just ran a little bit flat and ran in to a fair bit of trouble, so he is going to get a little break now and aim for a couple of targets at the back-end of the year.
“He’s had a tough early season so he’s more than entitled to a rest now.”
It is still to be decided what those targets may be, but Murphy admitted another crack at Classic honours in the St Leger is a possibility with the colt as short as 10-1 for a trip to Doncaster on September 16.
He also suggested that although a drop in class could come into the reckoning, he believes the son of Ulysses has earned the right to continue campaigning at the highest level.
“Potentially it is one of the races we are looking at,” continued Murphy, when asked if the Town Moor Classic could be on the agenda.
“We’re just discussing with the owners at the moment and haven’t made any final plans yet.
“It’s unfair to say he is not up to it (running in Group One company) after one run, although we’ll keep lesser races in mind also. But I think he is more than entitled to compete at that level.”
In a jaw-dropping turn of events last Friday night at the National Senior and Junior Championships held at Jamaica's National Stadium, Rohan Watson, a rising star from MVP Track Club, emerged as the surprise victor in the highly anticipated men's 100m race.
Watson, a relative unknown in the sprinting world, delivered an exceptional performance, crossing the finish line with a new personal best time of 9.91 seconds.
The shocking upset saw Watson triumph over Ryiem Forde, who secured second place with a personal best time of 9.96 seconds, and the renowned Oblique Seville, a fourth-place finisher at last year's World Athletics Championships, who finished in third place with a time of 10.00 seconds.
The unexpected triumph of Watson sent shockwaves through the athletics community, capturing the attention of fans and experts alike. However, the discovery of this "diamond in the rough" was no accident. Coach Stephen Francis, renowned for his ability to identify and nurture talent, was instrumental in Watson's development and guided him to this remarkable victory.
While speaking exclusively to Sportsmax.TV about Watson's journey, Francis revealed the challenges they faced in finding promising sprinters who were willing to join MVP Track Club.
"None of the so-called brand name sprinters in high school wanted to come to us," Francis explained candidly.
“They said the training is too hard, if your girl up there we can’t do what we want, we can’t buy big cars, we can’t go out at night. They shy away from us.”
Faced with those challenges, Francis said he instructed his team to find him a sprinter who could run 10.5 or 10.4.
“We’ll work with them because a lot of people who have done well with us that’s what times they run. We don’t get people who run 10.1, 10.2 or 10.3.”
It was during a race at Jamaica College (JC) last year that Francis first spotted Watson, who demonstrated promising speed and determination.
Watson, who had completed his high school education at York Castle, displayed enthusiasm when approached by Francis and eagerly joined the MVP Track Club. Despite initially appearing smaller in stature than his counterparts, Watson's dedication and positive attitude set him apart.
“He was very interested and he came but even when I saw him in September for the first time on the training field I thought he was very small. We have had very good success with small sprinters but he looked small.”
However, Francis emphasized the importance of attitude and commitment over raw talent. "It is all about what you do, how you learn, and your willingness to sacrifice," he explained.
Watson exemplified these qualities, showcasing steady progress throughout the year. Observing his discipline and dedication, Francis became increasingly confident in Watson's abilities, foreseeing the potential for a sub-10-second performance.
Watson's victory at the national championships affirmed Francis' belief in his athlete's capabilities. As they approach the World Championships in Budapest, scheduled for August, Francis envisions Watson as a genuine medal contender.
The coach noted that the track conditions during the national championships were not particularly fast, indicating that Watson's time could improve further in more favorable circumstances.
Assessing the global sprinting landscape, Francis acknowledged that the field is wide open, with a few key contenders such as British champion, Zharnel Hughes and potentially Fred Kerley, the reigning world champion. However, he expressed confidence in Watson's prospects, given his impressive performance in a championship setting and his ability to maintain his form over multiple rounds.
“I don’t know what Fred Kerley is looking like and Zharnel is looking looks very, very good but apart (from those two), I think he has as good a shot as everybody else.”
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