Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), operators of Caymanas Park, is in mourning at the passing of industry stalwart Christopher Armond. The iconic former commentator turned administrator died on Wednesday after a short illness at the age of 67.
SVREL Chairman Solomon Sharpe was naturally saddened by the passing of the man whom he considered a dear friend.
“I have many fond memories of working with Chris from the early days and was always impressed by his vast knowledge,” Sharpe said.
“He has done so much for Caymanas Park and the horseracing industry in general. I offer my condolences to his family and friends. He will be greatly missed.”
Armond, who was the Director of Racing at Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) enjoyed an illustrious career spanning more than 40 years and was held as the standard for horse race commentary throughout the region.
In 1984, he was awarded the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) Golden Microphone Award for his commentary. Armond also commentated in Detroit, Michigan and served as an administrator in Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados.
“For many Jamaicans, Armond is the voice of horseracing,” SVREL said in a statement Wednesday.
“From 1975 to 1985, Chris Armond established a new level of excitement and accuracy in race commentary with his distinguished vocal delivery. He provided colourful commentary in his distinctive voice, bringing horseracing into homes across the island.
“Even today, he remains the gold standard of commentating in the industry, not just locally but also for fans overseas.”
In addition to Armond’s iconic commentary, he also served as an administrator in the industry for many years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Thoroughbred Racing in June 2017 under the category of “Other Racing Personalities”.
It was seemingly natural for Christopher Joseph Armond to have a professional life as part of the racing industry. His father, Joseph, a Hall of Fame inductee, was co-managing director of Caymanas Park Limited, and his grandfather Altamont was the founder of the promoting company, Jamaica Turf Club. Armond carried on this family legacy and served as Director of Racing until his retirement on Sunday, December 27, 2020.
“Armond has left an indelible legacy in the sport of horseracing. His accomplishments are insurmountable and his contribution to the sport will never be diminished,” SVREL’s statement said.
“Our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time.”
Jimmy Adams, Director of Cricket at Cricket West Indies does not believe regional players are taking advantage of the governing body to secure T20 contracts in the more lucrative T20 leagues around the world.
During a press conference on Monday with Lead Selector Desmond Haynes, Adams, who was also present, was asked whether this was the case in the wake of the recent development wherein Shimron Hetmyer took time off from the IPL to attend the birth of his child in Guyana, promising to return to complete the season, but using the same reason, has declared himself unavailable for the West Indies white-ball tours of The Netherlands and Pakistan that start later this month.
There have also been instances in the past where players have declined invitations to represent the West Indies choosing instead to play franchise cricket.
“You will have players who will opt not to take contracts because they want the freedom to go and play whenever and wherever. While I respect that, by the same token I think we kind of understand where those players’ priorities lie. There could be a few others like that around. We live with them and we move on if we have to,” Adams said.
“I don’t think that is a majority, I don’t think it impacts us in a negative sense, per se. We have had many players in the last few years who have played, who are not contracted players - your Chris Gayles, your Andre Russells.
“Yes, it needs managing for sure at both the international and the levels within the regions around the world. I think given where we are now in world cricket, and I believe where we are now in West Indies cricket, that we are doing a pretty good job of it.”
That said, Adams does concede that in regions like the West Indies where player contracts pale in comparison to those offered by the wealthy owners of IPL franchises, there is little that can be done.
“T20 cricket and the leagues are here to stay. I don’t necessarily think that they are a bad thing. At the end of the day what players have nowadays that they did not have in my time and Sir Desmond’s time was choice and I don’t think choice is a bad thing.
“We try to ensure we don’t have any overlaps with either IPL or CPL, so all our contracted players know that there is a minimum of two windows where they will not have any competing international cricket. As it stands now it is not something that sees us losing control.”
Noted racing administrator and commentator Chris Armond has died after an extended battle with illness.
Armond, who was 67, was one of regional horse racing’s premier executives and served the sport in various capacities for some 40 years before retiring in 2020.
Armond, who followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a racing administrator, first shot to prominence as a commentator in the late 1970s. Rated as one of the best in the business he was awarded the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) Golden Microphone award in 1984.
Armond went on to have a commentary stint in Detroit, Michigan before heading into administration. During his time as an administrator, Armond served as Director of Racing at Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), in his home country Jamaica, Executive Officer of the Arima Race Club in Trinidad, and a chief executive at the Barbados Turf club for eight years. Armond was celebrated for longstanding service at a ceremony, at Jamaica’s Caymanas Park in December 2020.
The Jamaica Football Federation and the Basque Football Federation (BFF) have jointly decided to postpone the International friendly game between the teams which was scheduled for May 27, 2022, in Spain.
Jamaican Olympian Christania Williams is making a comeback from some tough times with the hopes of getting back to her best in the near future.
The 27-year-old former Edwin Allen High School star last showed up last weekend, May 7, 2022, at the JAAA/SDF Jubilee Series meet at the National Stadium in Kingston where she produced times of 11.62 to finish third in her preliminary round heat and then ran a season-best 11.55 in the final for a sixth-place finish behind winner Shericka Jackson (11.00).
She revealed afterwards that after enduring a rough period, she is hoping to improve with each race she runs this season.
“I have been through a lot. I am happy to be here. The main focus right now is just me against me and improving in each race,” said Williams afterwards while also revealing that she is no longer a member of the Tumbleweed training group in Jacksonville, but was training elsewhere in Florida.
She declined to reveal where or with whom.
“I am not training on my own but for now I am not sharing that information,” she said.
The talented sprinter won silver medals for Jamaica in the 100m and 4x100m relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast and also won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay squad.
She ran a lifetime best of 10.96 in the 100m semi-finals in Brazil and finished eighth in the final won by Elaine Thompson-Herah. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was third.
At the time she was a member of the MVP Track Club in Kingston but she eventually left for the Rana-Reider led Tumbleweed Training Group in Jacksonville, Florida in early 2020, just before the world shut down in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Like most of the world’s athletes, Williams did not compete in 2020. In 2021, she ventured into a few indoor meets and had a season-best 7.14 in Fayetteville in February. Another four races followed outdoors, the last of them occurring on May 31 when she ran 11.38 at the Duvall County Challenge in Jacksonville.
April 23, 2022, almost a year later was the next time she raced; at the Tru Fit Athletic Sprint Series in Miami, Florida where she ran 11.54 for a fourth-place finish in her heat and then 11.79 for seventh in the final.
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Board has accepted the recommendation of the JFF Technical and Development Committee to retain the Technical Staff of the Senior Women’s National Team including Head Coach Vin Blaine.
In its report, subsequent to an initial investigation into concerns expressed by team members, the committee cited there was insufficient evidence to warrant any such change in personnel at this time.
According to the report, it’s in the best interest of the JFF to continue on its present course, with the current coaching staff, where the progress will be closely monitored and evaluated periodically.
Further, based on the results so far and with less than two months before the Concacaf Women’s qualifying tournament gets underway in Mexico, it is felt that introducing changes at this time would not be prudent.
Towards this end, the JFF has the full confidence in the Coaching Staff and the team members but recognizes the need to share in and support the process with some critical Core Values of the organisation, including professionalism, teamwork and respect.
The JFF pledges, as the body responsible for football in Jamaica, to put everything in place, within its powers, to ensure the team is comfortable and can perform at their optimum to achieve Jamaica’s second consecutive qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Reggae Girlz will compete in Group A of the final round of the Concacaf Women’s Championship alongside the USA, Mexico and Haiti beginning in June 4.
Cricket West Indies lead selector Desmond Haynes and Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams have blasted players for not being able to meet minimum fitness standards that would qualify them for selection to the senior men's squad.
“I’m pretty disappointed as well,” Haynes said speaking in a press conference on Monday.
“When you look at the amount of cricket that is being played around the world, I think there is a certain level of fitness that is required and I think there is a standard that you should set as a professional cricketer,” added Haynes before going on to mention how picking players while being unsure of whether or not they can finish tours is a concern.
“I do get concerned when you have to be selecting the side and not sure if these guys are going to be fit enough to finish the tour,” he said.
"For contracted players who are unavailable for fitness, there are consequences that are outlined in the contracts," Adams said.
One player who missed out on selection for the tour of the Netherlands in June because of failure to meet minimum fitness requirements is Trinidadian left-handed opener, Evin Lewis.
"We have players who, in our eyes are good enough to be considered for selection who are unavailable because of not even coming in on minimum fitness standards. That is very disappointing. For players who are contracted, that is doubly disappointing,” the former West Indies middle-order batsman added.
On a more positive note, Haynes commented on the inclusion of new faces in the team like St. Maarten’s Keacy Carty.
“As the new group of selectors, we have made it very clear that we will give opportunities to people and try to broaden the pool and start thinking with 2023 in mind,” he said.
Toyko Olympics triple gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah said her 22.75 200m run at the JAAA/SDF Jubilee meet on Saturday was about shaking the rust off as she continues on her quest to win her first gold medal at the World Championships in Oregon this summer.
Now that he has finally been able to train consistently after two years of disruption caused by the global pandemic, Traves Smikle produced his best throw in three years to achieve the qualifying mark for this summer’s World Athletics Championships at the second JAAA/SDF Jubilee Series meet at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Smikle, the 2018 NACAC silver medallist, threw a season-best 66.60m for the victory, his best throw since he threw 67.57m in January 2019. It was the perfect birthday present for Smikle, who revealed afterwards that it was a welcome reprieve from a tough past couple of years.
“The last two years have been crazy with the pandemic and everything. It was very difficult to get into a training flow and now that things are better, not perfect but better, my coach and I got some consistent work in,” said Smikle, who won JMD$90,000 for the win.
“For the season I have been averaging 64/65m. We have been knocking at the door and we finally got it (the qualifying mark) today on my birthday and I am happy about that.”
Noticeably bigger than he has been in previous years, Smikle revealed that his increase in size is also part of his coach Julian Robinson’s plan for him to throw farther this year.
“One of the things my coach wanted me to do is put on a little more weight and we are doing some explosive work, trying to keep consistent with training and today we saw the fruits of our labour,” he said.
Smikle’s throw makes him Jamaica’s best thrower this year ahead of his training partner and friend, Fedrick Dacres, the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion and 2019 World Championships silver medallist and, at least for now, gives him bragging rights in the Reckless Control training group.
Dacres, he said, is sure to use it as motivation to throw beyond the 65.98m he threw at the same venue just over a week ago, the next time he competes.
“Fedrick is a phenomenal athlete and we have been training hard, he has been working hard and we are on track. It is only a matter of time before he hits a big throw,” Smikle said of Dacres.
“Both of us have been averaging over 65m and we just want to work hard and respect each other. I am pretty sure he has seen this mark and it is going fire him up to get something big so the next time we compete, it’s going to be a good one.”
Danielle Williams, the 2015 100m hurdles world champion, was in fine form on Saturday, winning the 100m dash and 100m hurdles double at the Tennessee Challenge at the Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium in Knoxville.
The 2019 world championships bronze medallist won the 100m in 11.57 ahead of the USA’s Eboni Coby (11.66) and Cote d’Ivoire’s Karel Ziteh (11.68) before returning to win the hurdles in 12.95, comfortably ahead of the only other competitor in the race, Lindsay Cooper of East Tennessee State who ran (14.27).
Williams ran a season’s best 12.61 at the South Carolina Open on April 23rd, a time that currently puts her seventh on the world rankings for 2022.
Former STETHS sprinter Dashinelle Dyer, now competing for Clemson, was second in the Men’s 100m in 10.37 behind the USA’s Mario Heslop (10.33). Another Jamaican, Noxroy Wright, ran 10.70 for third.
Three newcomers – fast bowlers Jayden Seales and Shermon Lewis as well as specialist batter Keacy Carty – have been named in the West Indies ODI squad for the upcoming tours of the Netherlands and Pakistan starting later this month.
Meanwhile, Jason Holder is being rested to manage his workload whilst Shimron Hetmyer is also unavailable for selection following the birth of his first child. Evin Lewis was not considered for selection after failing to meet CWI’s fitness criteria.
The West Indies will visit the Netherlands for three ODIs on May 31, June 2 and 4, followed by another three ODIs on June 8, 10 and 12 in Pakistan.
Both Seales and Lewis have played at the Test level while Carty is the first player from St. Maarten to be selected for the West Indies Senior Men’s team as the era of Nicholas Pooran’s captaincy begins.
“We were impressed with Carty and the way he goes about his innings, we saw several glimpses of his ability the way he played against England earlier this year for the CWI President’s XI,” said Lead Selector Dr Desmond Haynes.
“We hope that by giving him this opportunity he will recognize the importance of representing the West Indies. We think he is a young batsman with great promise, and this is the kind of tour he can show he fits in.”
Dr Haynes also expressed confidence in the fast bowlers selected for the white-ball tours.
“We also have a very good group of young fast bowlers who have demonstrated their ability and we want to use these two tours to give them opportunities in the 50-over format,” he said.
“We have a week in The Netherlands and another week in Pakistan and this should provide them with quality opposition to bowl against as we build towards the Cricket World Cup in 2023. Phillip has been around for some time, and we know what he can offer, Seales has been very good in Test cricket and Lewis is making a return to the West Indies set-up following some good performances.”
The tour of the Netherlands will be the first-ever ODI Series between the two teams and will be played at the VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen.
The matches in Pakistan will be played at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi. Both series form part of the ICC ODI Super League, where teams will have the opportunity to earn points to secure one of the top seven places, excluding hosts India, to gain automatic qualification for the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
The West Indies squad: Nicholas Pooran (Captain), Shai Hope (Vice Captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Shermon Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Rovman Powell, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd and Hayden Walsh Jr.
Match schedule:
West Indies tour of Netherlands
May 31: 1st ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen
June 2: 2nd ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen
June 4: 3rd ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen
West Indies tour of Pakistan
June 8: 1st ODI at Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi
June 10: 2nd ODI at Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi
June 12: 3rd ODI at Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi
Los Angeles Galaxy made up important early ground in the Western Conference, securing a 1-0 win away to Austin FC on Sunday.
Marco Delgado's strike in the sixth minute was enough to separate the two sides as the Galaxy moved to third on 19 points, a point behind Austin and four points from rivals Los Angeles FC atop the conference.
In what was a sluggish opening, Delgado intercepted the ball high up the pitch and struck home from just outside the penalty area to put the Galaxy in front, with the ball deflecting in off the post and past Andrew Tarbell in the Austin goal.
For all their possession in the second half, Austin's best chance came via a dead ball from Sebastian Driussi, who hit the post in the 89th minute.
In contrast, Galaxy were not able to capitalise from a number of opportunities in transition, but they were still able to emerge with a vital three points.
Earlier on Sunday, the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated Toronto FC 1-0 in the all-Canadian matchup, but remain bottom of the Western Conference.
After Thomas Hasal saved Alejandro Pozuelo's penalty in the 34th minute, substitutes Lucas Cavallini and Tosaint Ricketts combined for the Caps, with Ricketts scoring the winner against his former team in the 90th minute.
In Sunday's other result, Nashville SC defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0. David Romney found the breakthrough in the 63rd minute, before C.J. Sapong sealed it in stoppage time.
Reigning double Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah, executed a comfortable early-season performance with a dominant showing in the women’s half-lap event at the inaugural JAAA/SDF Jubilee Series on Saturday.
Thompson-Herah left the blocks quickly to effortlessly cover the rest of the field by the top of the curve and shut things down to record a 22.75 winning time. MVP Track Club's Stephanie McPherson chased her to the line late on and was second in 23.16. Natasha Morrison was third in 23.52.
In the men’s equivalent, Racer’s Track Club’s Zharnel Hughes finished with the fastest time of the day, after recording 20.56 to win heat 4.
Olympic 100m bronze medalist Shericka Jackson proved a cut above the rest of the field and powered away midway through the race to claim the women’s 100m in 11 seconds flat. Her MVP Track Club teammate Anthonique Strachan was second in 11.40 and Sprint Tech’s Remona Burchell third in 11.43.
In the men’s equivalent, Oblique Seville took top spot with a time of 10.00. The Racer’s Track Club athlete finished comfortably ahead of MVP’s Kishane Thompson, who was second in 10.21, and Kadrian Goldson who was third in 10.24.
Los Angeles FC and Philadelphia Union remain top of the Western and Eastern Conferences respectively despite playing out a 2-2 draw on Saturday.
Franco Escobar's goal in the 82nd minute salvaged a point for LAFC, who went down twice at home to eventually restore parity in the top-of-the-table clash.
Daniel Gazdag was on hand at the back post to score in transition in only the ninth minute for the Union, who looked to absorb pressure from there.
Kwadwo Opoku equalised in the 56th minute, but Julian Carranza restored Philadelphia's lead nine minutes later with a lovely curling finish, only off a step after stopping the ball dead with his first touch.
Escobar was the unlikely source of an equaliser despite LAFC's 66.5 per cent possession for the match, slotting home the rebound after a Jose Cifuentes header from a corner.
Philadelphia remain top in the East on 19 points, a point ahead of New York RB, who could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Portland Timbers.
CF Montreal took the three points and third spot from Orlando City in a 4-1 thumping, with Joao Moutinho's goal in the 72nd minute failing to stop a two-goal surge in the final 10 minutes. Atlanta United won with the same scoreline against Chicago Fire, who are now bottom of the conference.
With only nine points separating the 14 places in the East, Inter Miami also remain on 10 points after their 1-0 loss to Charlotte. New York City and Sporting KC played out a goalless draw.
New England Revolution and Columbus Crew finished with a 2-2 draw after substitute Erik Hurtado grabbed an 89th-minute equaliser for the Crew, while DC United defeated Houston Dynamo 2-0.
Cincinnati moved to fifth in East with a 1-0 win over Minnesota United via Brandon Vazquez's stoppage-time winner in the 93rd minute.
Meanwhile in the West, FC Dallas moved to third and returned the Seattle Sounders back to Earth after their CONCACAF Champions League triumph during the week, claiming a 2-0 victory.
In the other all-Western matchup, Nathan's goal in the 63rd minute was sufficient for the San Jose Earthquakes against the Colorado Rapids, taking a 1-0 win.
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