Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce speaking to some young fans at Saturday's opening day of the Pocket Rocket Foundation 6-a-side tournament in Waterhouse.
Citizens of the Waterhouse community were treated to an exciting day of football as the SFP Pocket Rocket Foundation Community 6-a-side tournament made its return to after a three-year absence on Saturday at the Fesco Football Field.
Five-time World 100m Champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who grew up in Waterhouse, is putting on the event through her Pocket Rocket Foundation.
“I’m overjoyed because we’ve been absent for three years and to be able to come back this time around to a clean field and new sponsors is such a blessing. I’m grateful for the outpour of support that we’ve had for the competition and we’re looking forward to more support,” Fraser-Pryce told SportsMax.tv.
“We know how many persons in the community have missed the competition so to be able to be back and see the joy from everybody is really wonderful,” she added.
In relation to the turnout on Saturday, Fraser-Pryce couldn’t have been more pleased.
“I feel so good. As you can see, there are so many persons here. I’m grateful to GraceKennedy for bringing the hot-dogs and vita malt because you can’t have a crowd and not have food!”
“I’ve been blessed to have seen the growth of this competition and seen the faces of the kids when they come and watch the football. Otherwise, they’d probably be pre-occupied with other things but I’m glad that I’m able to add another exciting thing to their lives,” added the three-time Olympic champion.
Fraser-Pryce also noted that this year’s competition is extra special due to 2023 being the tenth anniversary of her Pocket Rocket Foundation.
“It’s amazing! Ten years. A decade of difference. I’ve been able to do so much and invest in lives and communities across Jamaica in such a major way. We’ve been able to implement a breakfast program, we’ve given 73 student-athlete scholarships, we’ve seen these student-athletes transition from high school to college and from college to being pilots,” she said.
“It’s incredible for me to see the growth of the foundation and we’re looking forward to continue to fuel more student athletes toward their dreams. We look forward to hosting out gala on November 4 at the AC Hotel and persons who are interested in purchasing tickets can go to our website,” she added.
Petroleum giants Fesco are the title sponsors of this year’s event and they were also able to give out free cooking gas to some members of the community.
“We have established a presence here in Waterhouse and, as again we’re a proudly Jamaican company. Who can you be more proud of in Jamaica than Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and the Pocket Rocket Foundation,” said Fesco Managing Director, Jeremy Barnes.
“I think it’s a marriage made in heaven. Again, we’re a part of this community and we want to reach out to the residents and business community in this area. They have supported us and helped us along our journey as a company and, as such, we have decided to give back to the community,” he added.
As for the action on the field, the first game saw defending champions Legacy being beaten 1-0 by Legend while Trendsetter and Miles United played out a tense 0-0 draw in the second game.
Sunday’s matches saw Medley Mixers defeat Black Strikers 1-0 while Real City beat St. Aubyn 1-0 in the day’s second game.
Monday's games saw Ashoka beat Ballspot 2-1 while Eurotrend vs Dupont Stikers and Moscow vs Lion Den both ended in draws.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record
Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record after scoring twice in Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, though he knows he needs "to get a move on".
Kane scored in both halves on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, also reaching the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.
The striker scored 280 of those goals for Tottenham, holding the honour of being the club's all-time leading scorer, while he is also the most prolific player in England history with 62 goals for the Three Lions.
With 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, Kane now has his eyes set on another piece of history.
Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign, netting 41 times in 2020-21.
Asked about the possibility of breaking that record with just three games remaining in Bayern's league campaign, Kane said: "It's possible, but obviously I have to get a move on!
"I've got to maybe score a few goals next week. It's there, it's in touching distance.
"It depends on the last few games of course, but it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team."
Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face Stuttgart on Saturday.
Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win
Mauricio Pochettino claimed VAR is "damaging" English football after Chelsea saw a potential winning goal chalked off at the end of their 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
Despite a bright performance, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on Saturday with Marc Cucurella putting through his own net before Morgan Rogers added Villa's second.
Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher dragged Chelsea level as they penned Villa back after the break, but the Blues were enraged in stoppage time when Axel Disasi saw a potential winner ruled out.
Disasi headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations among the visiting Chelsea fans, only for referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal following a pitchside VAR review, ruling Benoit Badiashile pushed Diego Carlos in the build-up.
With that incident coming just one week after Chelsea were denied a penalty in their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City despite Jack Grealish appearing to handle Cole Palmer's free-kick, Pochettino has had enough.
"Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed. The referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal after going to the VAR to confirm," he told TNT Sports.
"The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things. In the semi-final it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee didn't check it.
"It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.
"They said it was a foul and if you see the challenge… if we go into every single challenge like this and it is going to be a foul, we wouldn't finish the game with 11 players.
"We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game."
Pochettino had no complaints about Chelsea's performance, though, as they avoided defeat for just the fourth time in 51 Premier League games when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.
The Blues previously achieved that feat in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham in 2016 and another 3-3 draw with West Brom in 2020.
Chelsea racked up 21 shots to Villa's nine and put up 1.57 expected goals (xG) to the hosts' 1.1, with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer spurning glorious chances in either half.
"The performance was very good," Pochettino said. "We played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded too easily.
"To play Villa, who are fighting for the top four, I am pleased with the team. Now, we have to move on and the headlines will be about the disallowed goal."
New England Revolution 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi at the double as Herons run riot
Lionel Messi scored twice and laid on a goal for Luis Suarez as Inter Miami retained their three-point lead at the Eastern Conference summit with a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution.
A franchise-record crowd of 65,612 people witnessed a flying start from the Revs as they took the lead within just 37 seconds at Gillette Stadium. Carles Gil pounced on some sloppy play from Miami to tee up Tomas Chancalay, who lobbed Drake Callender for the opener.
However, Miami roared back with Messi leading from the front. They had a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark, Messi slotting home after latching onto Robert Taylor's throughball.
Messi had his second after 67 minutes, producing another composed finish after former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets split the New England backline.
Messi was involved in another two goals as Miami added some gloss to the scoreline late on; his first-time shot was saved by Henrich Ravas but Benjamin Cremaschi was on hand to score on the rebound after 83 minutes, then the Argentine teed up Suarez for a curled finish five minutes later.
Miami stay three points clear of Supporters' Shield holders FC Cincinnati at the top of the East, with the Orange and Blue keeping pace by beating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Messi rolls back the years
Ahead of Saturday's game, some feared Miami boss Gerardo Martino would opt to rest Messi after speaking of the risks of fielding the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner on New England's artificial pitch.
However, Messi came through 90 minutes with another mesmerising performance. He has now recorded a goal involvement in 10 straight club matches for the seventh time in his glittering career, last doing so for Barcelona between September and December in 2018.
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