KELLY...I like how volunteering brings people together and keeps us humble.
She is not only a bright prospect in her field, but Barbadian gymnast Olivia “Storm” Kelly, is also honing her skills as a budding philanthropist, as she reignited efforts to assist, and, by extension, ease the financial burdens of students and teachers in need, for the new school year.
Through a Back-to-School drive, Kelly uses her Social Media platforms to seek donations of stationery items and other office supplies for teachers in particular, who often have to dig deep into their pockets to acquire said items.
The American-born Kelly, who earns her Barbadian stripes through her father, Tori, pointed out that her zeal for helping others is spurred by her own appreciation for life’s experiences.
“Honestly, I’m not even sure when I first started volunteering. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been helping collect or giving toys, school supplies, clothes and more to people in need. I like how volunteering brings people together and keeps us humble and that is basically my motivation, just being grateful for where I am at,” Kelly told Sportsmax.tv.
“Whenever I am collecting supplies, toys, food, clothes, or whatever I’m doing, my gym, my mom’s work, and my friends and family are always so supportive. They always donate and ask if I need anything. People always have no problem donating things, especially if they don’t have time to volunteer.
“It’s a good way for everyone to give back. Everyone doesn’t have the same resources, but most people are willing to give back in one way or another. I’m always looking to do a little more and trying to reach more people,” she added.
While the initiative is focused mostly on the United States, the 17-year-old has in the past extended a helping hand to Barbados and revealed that she is hoping to do more at some point.
“I’m always trying to bring my help into Barbados. It’s not cheap to get supplies over there. I have donated leotards to Flip Gym, went in and offered lessons to the gymnasts there and most recently posted and donated to a charity organization called Build up Bim,” she shared.
“I would definitely like to keep doing this, maybe even finding more time to actually go out and volunteer. I can’t talk about it yet, but I do have something in the works with a teammate of mine to help athletes who lack resources,” Kelly revealed.
The soft-spoken gymnast, who has her eyes set on becoming the first gymnast to represent the Eastern Caribbean Island at the Olympic Games, and, if successful, it would propel her career to higher heights.
Achieving such a dream is by no means impossible and Kelly, also known as "Storm," in gymnastics circles, is well positioned herself to make it happen when she takes the World Gymnastics Championships stage in Antwerp, Belgium, next month.
The event serves an Olympic qualifier and, as such, Kelly, despite her voluntary efforts outside of the gym, is focused on ensuring her performance quality and the details of her routine are on point, while staying physically and mentally healthy.
“Fortunately, volunteering never takes away any time or affect my training in any way. I’m able to work around my training and my family is a huge help in making it happen,” she declared.
“I had to take a few weeks off after PanAm for my back. I have Scoliosis and every so often I get to a point where my back needs some rest. I’m in the gym now adding things slowly and listening to my body and I am fortunate to have great doctors and coaches to help me through.
“Being back in the gym is going really well. I definitely feel like I’m in a better mental and physical space this year, and I feel much more confident going into this Worlds. I have much more experience this year as well, which definitely helps, so I’m very excited to compete in Belgium this year and give the 2024 Olympics a shot,” Kelly ended.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Bajan triathletes produce credible showing at World Development Regional Cup
A six-member Barbados team were left basking in their credible performance at the recently competed 2024 World Triathlon Development Regional Cup in Puerto Rico.
The squad comprised of Zahra Gaskin, Isis Gaskin, Luke McIntyre, Alexis Lashley, Ali Banfield and Laila McIntyre, won one event and also had several other podium finishes.
Laila McIntyre placed first in the girls’ 12-13 super sprint, and also finished second overall in the girls’ 12-15 super sprint. Banfield was right behind her, finishing second in the girls’ 12-13 super sprint, while also placing fifth overall in the girls’ 12-15 super sprint.
Meanwhile, Lashley finished third in the girls’ 14-15 super sprint and fourth overall in the girls’ 12-15 super sprint.
Zahra Gaskin was also impressive, as she registered a third-place finish in the sprint elite females, and second in the female 20+ category, while Isis Gaskin was fourth overall in the sprint elite females, and second in the female 18 to 19 category.
Luke McIntyre, the team's lone male representative, competed in his first Junior Men’s Elite Race where he placed a commendable 11th.
Young Bajan Gems outclass rivals to lift Jean Pierre Caribbean Youth Netball Champs title
Barbados maintained their stranglehold of the Jean Pierre Caribbean Youth Netball Championships, as the island's Under-16 netballers secured a third-consecutive hold on the title after bettering Grenada in the finals at the Beausejour Indoor Facility in St Lucia, on Wednesday.
The young Gems, led by goalshooter and tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) Keanna Harte, outclassed their opponents 27-19 to again end the tournament with an unbeaten record intact.
Harte netted 19 of her 21 attempts, as goal-attack Tyesha Trotman scored seven of her 10 attempts, while Tyra Griffith had a solitary goal from three attempts. Grenada's effort was led by Keisha Mathurine who scored 17 goals from 22 attempts and goal-attack Reshonna Francis, who had two goals from three attempts.
Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines and hosts St Lucia were the other participating countries.
To stamp their dominance, the Baby Gems also took home the majority of awards on offer. They won prizes for best uniform, most disciplined team, best spirited team, best goal average and best defending team, and placed second in the shooting competition.
Harte along with Deeya Forde-Haynes, Chelsea Best, Trotman and Griffith were also named in the top 16 players of the tournament.
President of the Barbados Netball Association, Dr Carmeta Douglin was full of praise for the team. She said the impressive showing by the Cameron Greenidge-coached team was as a result of hard work and dedication by the juniors.
“A big congratulations to our Baby Bajan Gems who have done extremely well once again at the Jean Pierre Caribbean Netball tournament. They have dominated this tournament for the last three years winning every game that they played and this year in St Lucia they were victorious in every game in the preliminary round, in the knockout and now they are the champions once again, so congratulations to the entire team," she told Barbados TODAY
“They usually start very slow in the first and second quarters, but they built the momentum and by the third quarter they really outplayed everyone. They also captured a number of different awards, and we would like to congratulate every player,” Douglin added.
CWI President Shallow pleased with region's progress in preparation for T20 World Cup
As the much-anticipated ICC Men’s T20 World Cup draws closer, Cricket West Indies president Dr Kishore Shallow expressed satisfaction with the region’s state of readiness for global showpiece which is jointly hosted by in the Caribbean and United States.
Shallow’s remarks followed a recent visit Kensington Oval in Barbados where he was assured that all was on course for the June 1-29 tournament.
Barbados will host nine matches– five in the group stage, three in the Super Eight second stage, and the final on June 29, which will mark the third such ICC marquee game to be staged at the venue following on from the historic One-Day International World Cup in 2007 and the 2010 T20 World Cup.
Though West Indies will not feature in any group stage games at the Oval, a box office fixture between reigning T20 World champions England and Australia is on the cards for June 8.
Ambassador Noel Lynch, chairman of the National Organising Committee, in a recent media conference said that the major elements of the storied venue would be delivered to tournament authorities next week while the remaining elements would be completed by month end.
“On the eastern concourse where there’s the party stand and the temporary facility, and all of those facilities that are coming in, we are sure that we’ll hand over those on the 30th of April. But we’ll hand over the major parts that you know – the 3Ws, the Greenidge and Haynes, the Media Centre, the field of play, the scoreboards, all of the electronic boards – will be finished within a week and handed over,” Lynch said.
“I think that’s ahead of schedule. I think Barbados has done an exceptional job. It wasn’t my job … when I came back from the US, we were already very far advanced in terms of the progress – the infrastructural progress at Kensington Oval,” he added.
Shallow agreed, as he gave the thumbs up to Barbados and other host venues across the region, who are well advanced in preparation for the tournament.
“Well ahead of schedule. I’m happy with the progress we’ve made so far with the World Cup and it’s definitely going to be a spectacle of an event and something we should all look forward to,” Shallow said.
He later revealed that there was one territory that was lagging behind in their preparations, but was reluctant to name the island.
Along with Barbados, games will also be played in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
“Only one facility in the Caribbean, one country (is) probably a couple weeks behind schedule, but we have their commitment that they are going to accelerate. It might take some day and night application but no doubt, by June 1, every country in the Caribbean is going to be ready,” Shallow shared.
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