Ballaz Academy experienced mixed results on day one of the Springs Holiday Cup in Ft. Lauderdale Florida on Saturday as two of the four teams won both their games played while the other two teams won one but lost the other.
On a cold, wet Saturday morning, the Under-13 team failed to get going and went down 0-2 to Parkland Soccer Club but rebounded to win 2-0 against Boynton United FC later in the afternoon in warmer conditions.
Christopher Reid scored in the first half while Richard Clarke scored with virtually the last kick of the match to help improve their goal difference.
The Under-11 team suffered a similar fate as they too struggled in the cold morning conditions and went down 0-1 to Team Boca but ended their day with a 1-0 win over Parkland Soccer Club courtesy of a goal from Nathan Royal.
But as the day grew warmer, the results got better for Ballaz.
The Under-12 team went two from two with dominant displays against Strikers Miami FC and Springs Soccer Club.
Led by a brace from captain Jude Davis, Ballaz beat Strikers Miami 4-1 in their mid-morning game. Jacob Smith and Orique Gordon got the other goals.
In the second game, they beat the hosts Springs Soccer Club 3-1 with Malik Campbell, Jaden Virtue and Davis getting the goals.
The Under-10 team made a real statement of intent as they also recorded consecutive wins on Saturday.
After waiting until 2:15pm to take the field of play, Cahvanie White scored a brace while Braden Burkett and Makiri D’Aguilar got the other goals in their victory over Strikers Miami FC.
In the late game, the youngest Ballaz team were surprised by Cooper City Optimist Cobras who stung them early in the game to go 1-0 up but they rebounded to draw level through Kirk Holgate before a second brace of the day by White and another from D’Aguilar ensured the win and secured their spot at the top of their group.
Cahvanie White was the top scorer for Ballaz on day one with four goals.
Today (Sunday), the Under-10 team needs a win over Galacticos Soccer Academy in their final group game to clinch a spot in the final while the U-11 and the U-13 teams need big wins against Springs Soccer Club and Prime FC Elite to make it through to their respective finals.
The U-12’s will have to play a semifinal game to make it through to the final. They will know their opponents later Sunday.
A spirited effort by West Indies saw them push England in a keen contest on Saturday night but the visitors secured a victory and with it took an unassailable lead in the five-match rubber.
Frankie Dettori will call time on one of racing's greatest careers next year after the Italian superstar jockey announced his retirement plans.
The 52-year-old is a two-time winner of the Derby and has been British flat racing's Champion Jockey crown three times, also enjoying a record six victories at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris.
He famously won seven out of seven races at Ascot on September 28, 1996, arguably the pinnacle of his career even if it did not contain his biggest victories.
Dettori said he wanted to "stop at the top" and revealed seeing football legend Cristiano Ronaldo fall out of favour with Manchester United and Portugal recently played a part in his thinking.
Speaking on Saturday, Dettori told ITV Racing: "Next year, 2023, will be my final professional year as a jockey. It's something I've been thinking about for a while.
"I'll be riding right through. It will be my last Guineas, last Derby, my last Royal Ascot, so on and so forth, and finish at the end of the season, it could be Champions Day [at Ascot] or Newmarket, and then probably have the final farewell as a professional rider in California at the Breeders' Cup.
"I want to stop at the top. I think I'm still in that bracket of being good, and it was difficult, but I think it's the right time.
"I'm not making comparisons, but look at Ronaldo who was playing one minute and was on the bench the next, and I don't want to end up like that.
"I don't want to end up where I'm struggling to get rides in the big races. At the moment, I still have good horses to ride, and I want to finish like that."
Dettori has won 21 British Classics and has had 14 winners at the Breeders' Cup plus 77 victories at Royal Ascot.
His first UK winner came in 1987, aboard Lizzy Hare at Goodwood, and he has since had over 3,000 winners worldwide.
According to ITV, fellow great AP McCoy compared Dettori to footballing royalty.
"He's racing's Lionel Messi, you can't teach a kid to ride like Frankie Dettori," McCoy said.
Jamaica's Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, announced on Friday that the Ministry is continuing with its monthly payments to the clubs in the National Premier League.
Minister Grange said, “The 14 clubs in the Premier League will receive monthly payments of One-Hundred and Fifty-Thousand Dollars ($150,000) which the Ministry is providing through the Sport Development Foundation (SDF) for the duration of the Premier League season. The scheduled end of the season, which started in November 2022, is April 2023, but the Ministry’s commitment is to whenever the season ends.
“November and December payments were made today (December 16), in one, Three-Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00) to the individual clubs by wire transfer.
“The monthly subvention is to assist the clubs to meet their obligations,” Minister Grange concluded.
Renowned former West Indies wicketkeeper, Deryck Murray, has commended the team’s coach Phil Simmons for stepping down from the post but insists he is far from the only one who should be doing so.
The regional team has endured a particularly wretched run of form across all formats in recent months. A poor showing at the T20 World Cup saw the two-time champions embarrassingly eliminated in the first round of the competition after loses to Scotland and Ireland.
In the aftermath, Simmons, and, then later team captain Nicholas Pooran, resigned their positions. The Test team then traveled to Australia to face the home team in a two-match series where they were badly outplayed. In the second Test, for instance, the team lost by a massive 419 runs after being bowled out for 77.
In light of such performances, Murray believes there needs to be many more changes at the broader management level than just Simmons, if the team is to truly start moving forward.
“I want to commend Phil Simmons he has done the honourable thing.
He was responsible for the team when we did not qualify for the T20 World cup and he did the hourrable thing,” Murray told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“We should not assume for one minute, however, that one man, Philip Simmons, is responsible for the decline, for the losses of West Indies cricket," he added.
“I keep looking to see others follow suite but nothing like that has happened…”
Murray went on to state that he believed the entire government system surrounding the sport in the region needed to change.
Ballaz Academy completed their preparation last night ahead of the start of the Springs Holiday Cup with their final warm-up matches against Parkland Soccer Club who will also be participating in the tournament which begins Friday.
The Under-10 team that drew their first warm-up game earlier this week, were in sparkling form last night running out 3-nil winners. After going ahead through an own goal, Cahvanie White doubled their lead before Braden Burkett completed the scoring with the final kick of the game.
The Under-11 team that won their first warm-up match on Tuesday went down to a lone goal last night.
The Under-12 team that also won on Tuesday were pegged back by Parkland and had to settle for a 1-1 draw after Hayden Virtue had come off the bench to put them ahead with a sublime finish. Parkland, however, found a late equalizer to share the points.
The Under-13 team played out an exciting 2-2 draw with Parkland, coming from a goal down in the first half to take a 2-1 lead in the second half through Malik Garriques and Dejan Ho-Young. Parkland responded to draw level at 2-2 but Ballaz were unfortunate not to come away with the win after hitting the post twice in the final minutes of the match.
The Ballaz teams will begin their quest win the Springs Holiday Cup on Saturday with the Under-13 team leading the way against Parkland at 8:00am.
Clarendon College are All-Island schoolboy football champions for the sixth time after producing a stunning 3-0 win over Jamaica College in the Olivier Shield at Stadium East on Wednesday.
The Chapleton based school, who won their tenth daCosta Cup earlier in December with a 3-0 triumph over Central High at STETHS, took the lead in the 20th minute when Marques Reid capitalized on an error from JC goalkeeper Rassico Rose to slot home his 10th goal of the season.
Centre-back Devonti Hodges made it 2-0 just two minutes later with a thunderous strike from outside the penalty area.
With six minutes left, Keheim Dixon put the final nail in JC’s coffin with his 17th goal of the season to secure the title, their first 2019.
Former Trinidad & Tobago goalkeeper and current ESPN analyst Shaka Hislop believes it will be a long time before CONCACAF elects another Caribbean president after the scandals surrounding former CONCACAF Presidents Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb.
“I don’t anticipate, despite the political strength of the Caribbean nations within CONCACAF, another CONCACAF president from the Caribbean or the CFU for quite some time,” Hislop said during the Caribbean Conference on Corruption, Compliance and Cyber Crime held virtually last week.
“You have two presidents back-to-back, both black men from the Caribbean, both swept up in that scandal and, as a result, I think regionally there was a lack of trust around Caribbean administrators,” he added.
Canadian businessman Victor Montagliani has been CONCACAF president since May 2016.
Trinidad’s Warner served as CONCACAF President from 1990-2011. He was indicted on fraud charges and banned from all football-related activities by FIFA for life in 2015.
US prosecutors allege that from as far back as 1990, he leveraged his influence and exploited his official positions for personal gain.
Among other things, the 79-year-old former football administrator is accused of receiving US$5 million in bribes to vote for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.
In November this year, Warner lost his fight at the Privy Council against extradition to the United States on corruption charges.
Webb, a Caymanian, took the reins as head of CONCACAF from 2012-2015.
In May 2015, Webb was arrested for corruption charges by Swiss police acting at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. That same month he was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee and ,in November 2015, pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit more than US$6.7 million.
“We are living that legacy; We are still hoping that people take notice of the Caribbean. We are not able to advocate for ourselves and, for me, that is a desperate position for us to be in but that is the position that we have found ourselves in because of the legacies of those two people,” Hislop said.
Hislop, who was born in London and represented clubs like Newcastle United and West Ham United throughout his 15-year career, said he hopes some good comes out of the situation.
“Longer term, I hope that what has happened forces change, not just in Caribbean or Concacaf football, but in world football. Recognizing how easily the system can be perverted and how you need to have those checks and balances to better serve the global game.”
West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews bagged a three-for but could not prevent 16 run loss to England who took an overall 2-0 lead in the ongoing T20 series on Wednesday.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, England Women put up an average 141 for 6 in their stint at the crease. The team was led by an enterprising 43 runs from 43 deliveries from opener Sophia Dunkley, who gave England a solid start with partner Danni Wyatt.
Dunkley and Wyatt put 36 on the board before Afy Fletcher broke the partnership, after bowling Wyatt for 20. Following the dismissal of Lauren Winfield-Hill, Heather Knight became the first of Matthew’s wickets. She was caught by Karishma Ramharack on 4.
Matthews then also accounted for Dunkley, who was stumped by Knight. A new-look England line-up then struggled to put together solid partnerships after that managing just 31 off the last five overs.
In pursuit of the target, the West Indies started out at 21 without loss but Lauren Bell and Charlie Dean were then introduced to the attack with great success.
Davies got the breakthrough when she removed Aaliyah Alleyne, who made 16 from 14. Dean then the important wicket of Matthews to leave the team struggling at 23 for 2 after the first 4 over. The Windies never recovered and eventually fell short at 125 for 8. Dean ended with figures of 3 for 22, while Bell claimed 2 for 21.
Police are investigating an incident that saw shots fired at the home of former Reggae Boy Fitzroy Simpson in Swindon, England on Tuesday.
According to reports, the former Jamaica international's house was fired upon by a gunman who reportedly fled the scene before the police were called to the property at 8:15pm.
Upon arrival the police combed the area with a helicopter and a canine unit but the suspect was not located. The search was continued on Wednesday as the area was cordoned off in hopes of finding a weapon or other evidence but none was found.
According to the official Wiltshire police report; “Police were called to an address in Stratton shortly after 8.15pm yesterday evening, following reports of what was believed to be a firearm being discharged in the area.
Firearms officers attended and extensive area searches and house to house enquiries were conducted.
Enquiries remain ongoing. No firearms were located.”
Simpson who represented Manchester city in the Premier League from 1992-1995, also had spells at Bristol and Portsmouth. He represented the Jamaica Reggae Boyz on 43 occasions, including in all matches during the team’s historic appearance at the 1998 World Cup.
Another match, another hundred for St Lucia’s Theo Edward, who also took two wickets as his side defeated St Vincent by 201 runs in the WINLOTT WICB U15 Cricket Tournament on Wednesday.
Following knocks of 198 and 101 against Dominica and Grenada, respectively, the 15-year-old Edward scored a game-high 137 as St Lucia racked up 310-9 from their 50 overs. The young allrounder hit 16 fours and six sixes and featured in partnerships of 102 with Johnathan Daniel, who made 33 and 100 with Leon Alexander who scored an even 50.
Dexter Baynes was the best of the bowlers with 3-44 while Jorden Charles took 2-48.
Staring at a mountain of a score, St Vincent crumbled for 109 in the face of incisive bowling from Alexander, who took 5-17 for another five-wicket haul following up on his five-fer against Grenada. Edward was also among the wickets with 2-17.
Only Damali Phillips with 30 and Charles, who scored 24, offered any real resistance to the St Lucia bowling attack.
St Vincent will have another crack at the unbeaten St Lucia on Friday with the winner taking home all the marbles.
Nicola Guy prevailed in a fiercely fought battle to claim her first national full bore/target rifle shooting title at the recently concluded Jamaica Rifle Association National Championship which was contested at the Jamaica Defence Force Twickenham Park Range, in St Catherine, Jamaica.
On the opening day, Guy earned 145.10 points to finish a breath behind 2019 champion, Denis Lee at 145.11 and ahead of two-time defending champion, Captain Dwayne Ford who had 143.6.
On day two the in-form lady marksman, threw down the gauntlet by shooting 49.5 out of 50 points in the first event which was 10 shots at 500 yards.
Although Major John Nelson was able to replicate that score in the first event, Guy cemented her opener with 47.4 out of 50 at 600 yards in the second event, a score only bested by Karen Anderson who shot 48.3.
However, Guy’s consistency paid off when at 900 yards she shot 61.3 out of 75 points which kept her ahead with an overall tally of 302.22, which enabled her to claim the title.
Anderson shot 65.4 to amass 299.21 points and take second place overall.
Claude Russell shot 68.3 to win the 900-yard bank and finish with 298.18 which earned him the third spot on podium.
Ford was fourth with 298.11, Nelson placed fifth with 297.15, while Lee finished sixth with 296.22, in seventh place was Dr. Derek Mitchell – O Class Champion with 236.5 and eighth was Phillip Scott with 233.8 points to round out the top eight.
22-year-old 6’3” Wycombe Wanderers defender, Chris Forino, has committed his international future to the Saint Lucia Men’s National Team.
He met recently with head coach Stern John and assistant coach Francis Lastic. Saint Lucia return to Concacaf Nations League action in 2023.
Forino was born in London and is of St. Lucian and Italian descent.
He started his youth career in the Brentford Academy from 2010-2016 before spells at Cheshunt and Colchester United.
As a professional, Forino had spells at Wingate & Finchley and Loughborough University before signing with Wycombe Wanderers in 2021. He made 14 appearances for Wycombe in the 2021-22 season and scored one goal as they finished sixth in the EFL League One. They also reached the Championship Playoff final losing 0-2 to Sunderland.
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