Celebrating the outstanding achievements and enduring legacy of one of Jamaica's greatest athletes, Dr. The Honorable Mrs. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce OJ, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and a five-time 100m world champion, is set to receive The University of the West Indies (UWI) Alumni Exemplar Sports Award for 2023 on Friday night.

 This prestigious accolade is a testament to Fraser-Pryce's unparalleled athletic prowess, unwavering discipline, dedication, tenacity, and sportsmanship.

The award will be presented at the UWI Gala, marking the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the institution. The recognition underscores Fraser-Pryce's remarkable journey, from her days as an Honorary Graduate of the University of the West Indies, where she showcased brilliance both on and off the track.

In 2016, Fraser-Pryce received the Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, a testament to her exceptional contributions to the world of athletics and beyond. The University of Technology also conferred upon her an Honorary Doctor of Laws, further solidifying her impact on the academic and athletic spheres. In 2012, she graduated from the University of Technology with a Bachelor's Degree in Child and Adolescent Development with honours.

Fraser-Pryce's illustrious career has been adorned with numerous awards and accolades, reflecting her excellence on the global stage. She clinched the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association's Golden Cleats Award for Female Athlete of the Year four times (2009, 2012, 2013, and 2015).

Additionally, she secured the RJR National Sportswoman of the Year award in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2022.

 Her international recognition includes nominations for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2022. She finally won the prestigious award in 2023.

One of the defining moments of Fraser-Pryce's career came in 2013 when she achieved an unprecedented feat in track and field. She became the first woman in history to win the Triple World Sprint Championship, securing gold in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m at the Championship in Moscow. This remarkable achievement earned her the title of IAAF Athlete of the Year.

Beyond her athletic prowess, Fraser-Pryce has been recognized for her contributions to society. In 2008, she was conferred with the Order of Distinction, Officer Class, by the Government of Jamaica. The same year, she received the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for excellence in Sports. In 2010, she was named the 1st UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Jamaica and the Grace Goodwill Ambassador for Peace. In September 2014, the Prime Minister of Jamaica bestowed upon her the title of Ambassador at Large for Jamaica.

As Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce accepts the UWI Alumni Exemplar Sports Award, the celebration not only honors her extraordinary athletic journey but also recognizes her indelible mark on the global stage as a symbol of Jamaican pride and excellence.

Camperdown Giants, Purple Power Basketball, Hoops Factory Blues and the Caribbean Basketball Academy will contest the semi-finals of the 2023 Jamaica Basketball Showcase at UTECH on Saturday.

In an unfortunate turn of events for the defending champions, Phase 1 Academy, they entered day two thinking they had two wins in the bank but, after it was found that they used an ineligible player in both those games on Thursday, those results were overturned to wins for Purple Power Basketball and Hoop Factory Blues, respectively.

The day’s play began with the Caribbean Basketball Academy attempting to rebound from a pair of day one defeats.

Last year’s beaten finalists did just that with a comprehensive 56-41 victory over Hoop Factory Blues.

CBA enjoyed an 11-point lead at the half before an avalanche in the third quarter saw them stretch it to 24 to lead 50-26 heading into the final quarter.

Jahidi Campbell had 16 points and nine rebounds while Jaiden Brown had 15 points, nine assists and four steals for CBA. Joel Ricketts also provided support with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Nathan Ricketts led the Blues with 12 points and five assists.

The second game of the day saw Purple Power Basketball get their second win of the showcase with a 31-29 win over Blue Mahoe Basketball.

Jacqwaine Freeman led Purple Power with 18 points and five rebounds while Yahvarr Fearon had 12 points for Blue Mahoe.

Next up was a clash between Phase 1 Academy and the Camperdown Giants.

In an exciting contest, Phase 1 came out 48-45 winners for their first official victory.

Derjean Royal had 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals for Phase 1 while Micah Swaine led the Giants with a game-high 24 points.

After the break, Hoop Factory Blues bounced back from their loss earlier to book their spot in the semis with a 36-30 win over Purple Power Basketball for their third win.

Nathan Ricketts, once again, led the Blues with 13 points and a pair of steals while Jordan James had seven points and 10 rebounds. Tyreke Tummings had nine points for Purple Power.

Camperdown Giants were next to book a spot in the last four after rebounding from their defeat to Phase 1 Academy earlier in the day with a 51-45 overtime win over Blue Mahoe Basketball.

Micah Swaine led the way for the giants with 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Hubert Rodney had 14 points and nine rebounds for Blue Mahoe Basketball.

The day’s final game saw the Caribbean Basketball Academy pull out a hard-fought 43-41 win over Phase 1 Academy to book their spot in the semis. Both teams entered the contest knowing a win would see them advance to the last four.

CBA played an excellent first three quarters to go into the fourth and final period with a 36-28 lead before a ferocious Phase 1 fightback meant the teams were separated by just two points in the end.

Jaiden Brown had 21 points, five rebounds and three steals while Joel Ricketts had 13 points and 13 rebounds for CBA.

Romareo Mills had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the outgoing champions.

“We took the hardest route to get here,” said CBA coach Ludlow Barker after the game.

“Last night, we were really frank with each other. We had some heart to heart conversations and we came out today and did everything we needed to do,” he added

“One good thing about this tournament is you never know who is going to win,” Phase 1 Academy coach, Onecia Smellie, said after the game.

“Every single game, the boys came out and they played hard, win, lose or draw,” she added

The semis will see Camperdown Giants facing Purple Power while Hoops Factory Blues will oppose the Caribbean Basketball Academy before the two winners square off later on Saturday in the final.

Phase 1 Academy and Camperdown Giants were the only two teams to go unbeaten as the 2023 Jamaica Basketball Showcase got underway at the Alfred Sangster Auditorium at the University of Technology (UTECH) in Kingston on Thursday.

Defending champions, Phase 1 Academy, entered their first game with just five players but that didn’t seem to matter as they secured a comfortable 41-27 victory over Purple Power.

Derjean Royal led the way for Phase 1 with 20 points and five rebounds while Mordecai Clarke had 10 points and six rebounds for Purple Power.

Phase 1 Academy coach, Onecia Smellie, praised her team’s effort despite their lack of numbers.

“As you can see, we don’t really have numbers so the strategy was just to conserve on defense and push on offense. We have to play smarter because we don’t have numbers,” Smellie said before going into what they needed to address to be better in the coming games.

“We definitely have to brush up on defense. We gave away a lot of backdoor cuts. As we can see, my guys have been playing for a while but sometimes when the excitement of the game comes in, adrenaline kicks in and they just go. We definitely gave away some easy layups and we weren’t boxing out sometimes. If we work on those areas I think we should be fine,” she added.

Coach Orville Bennett from Purple Power was critical of his team’s ability to play together but says more experience will do them well.

“More games will solve that. It’s a mix of my younger players and my more senior Under-19s so they need to learn to play as a team and not individuals.”

“I guess it’s because of the bright lights of the tournament, everybody wants to show what they have so with more games under their belt, that will go away.”

“Our opponents will be bigger, stronger and more seasoned then my young team so we’ll go back to the drawing board and come better.”

The day’s second game was an absolute treat as the Hoop Factory Blues pull out a dramatic 44-41 win over Blue Mahoe Basketball.

Blue Mahoe played a solid first half to go into the halftime interval with a 14-12 lead before Hoop Factory turned the game on its head to lead 26-20 after the third quarter.

Blue Mahoe retook a 38-37 lead with 1:27 left in the game before, with the teams tied at 41 with 10 seconds left, Dakari Nicolson hit a game-winning three-point shot with two seconds left to secure the win for Hoop Factory.

Kymani Phillips had a solid all-round game for the Blues with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists and was supported well by Nathan Ricketts with 12 points, five steals and three assists. Hubert Rodney had 13 points and seven rebounds for Blue Mahoe.

Hoop Factory coach, Lennox Lindo, was happy with the win despite his team almost blowing a 10-point lead with very little time left in the contest.

“I was nervous a bit but also a bit disappointed too. We had a 10-point lead with about three minutes to go then we changed up our defense and it almost cost us the game but we got a really good shot in the last couple of seconds.”

Blue Mahoe coach, Lynford Brown, was proud of his team despite the defeat and pointed to an inability to hold on to the ball as his team’s downfall.

“To be honest, I’m really proud of my boys. They’re a fairly inexperienced and young team. There were some key moments for us where we committed some unforced turnovers which led to us losing. Nonetheless, I’m very proud.

The third game of the day saw the Camperdown Giants score an impressive 54-35 win over last year’s finalists, the Caribbean Basketball Academy (CBA).

The Giants produced an excellent defensive display to lead 30-15 at the start of the fourth quarter, including a third quarter where they held CBA to just four points.

Micah Swaine had 15 points, three steals and two assists and Mark McGowan had nine points and eight rebounds for the giants while Jaiden Brown had 12 points for CBA.

CBA coach Ludlow Barker, thought the Giants deserved to win.

“First I’d have to congratulate the Giants on getting their first win of the competition. It’s the first time they’re in it,” he said.

“I thought we played a very indiscipline game and fell behind and then we struggled throughout. I thought we were too relaxed before the game and they came out and wanted it more so they deserved to win,” he added.

Giants coach, Nylon Hurd, was happy with the win.

 “Any coach would be happy with a win. Both defensively and offensively, it worked out well for us,” he said.

“Based on the start, we got ahead of them and stuck to it. We only got a bit indiscipline in the third quarter and that’s when they made a little run but then we got back disciplined and that was the game,” he added.

After a break, play returned with Phase 1 Academy facing Hoop Factory Blues, with each team searching for their second win of the day.

Phase 1, with six players this time, were able to come out 51-40 winners.

Derjean Royal had his second great game of day one with 26 points and eight rebounds for Phase 1 while Nathan Ricketts had 14 points for the Blues.

The day’s fifth game saw Blue Mahoe hand Caribbean Basketball Academy their second loss of the day by a score of 45-44.

Akeem Pusey and Hubert Rodney both had 14 points for Blue Mahoe while pulling down seven and eleven rebounds, respectively. Joel Ricketts had 13 points and five rebounds for CBA.

The day’s final game proved to be another nail-biter as Camperdown Giants beat Purple Power 34-29 for their second win of the day.

The Giants led 8-5 after a cagey first quarter before Power turned things around slightly to lead 18-16 at the half. It was a one-point game in favor of the Giants entering the final quarter where they held their nerve to pull out the win after the two teams exchanged the lead multiple times.

Micah Swaine scored 13 points while Mark McGowan had six points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Giants. Jacqwaine Freeman had 11 points for Purple Power.

Wallball is a sport being played globally in over 100 countries and Founder and President of the Jamaica Wallball Association, Oneil Cummings, is optimistic about where the sport can go in the country.

Wallball is an indirect style of a ball game where the player hits a small rubber ball with their hand against a wall. The goal of the game is to score more points than the opponent. If the opponent fails to return the ball, the player scores a point. The game begins when one player serves the ball by hitting the ball towards the wall. The ball must bounce one time on the ground before it reaches the wall. The receiving player must let the ball hit the wall and bounce once before returning it.

“We are launching off at a very small level but we can only grow. We are hopeful that the sport will take off in Jamaica. I am hopeful that we will get the support that will foster the growth of the sport here,” he said at the JWA’s press launch and demo of Wallball at the University of Technology (UTECH) on Saturday.

“There are several emerging and exciting sporting activities that have been helping to foster greater social cohesion across the world and the game of Wallball represents one of those,” added Cummings before going into ways the association plans to integrate the sport locally.

“We at the Jamaica Wallball Association intend to host an annual International Invitational Pro Tournament so the future should be very bright for prospective players.”

Getting the sport into schools is also a goal down the line for Cummings, who reiterated that this is just phase one of their plans as the association, formed in 2018, is just picking up where they left off after taking a break due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

“This is just phase one. We are now creating a brand so marketing will be very important after this phase. The association was formed just before Covid so now we are just picking up back where we left off before the break.”

He did mention one partnership that is already in motion with the hosts of the event, UTECH.

Donna-Marie Wynter-Adams, head of the Caribbean School of Sports Sciences at the university, spoke about the essence of their partnership with the JWA.

“We are always open to doing the certification for small federations and we have a sport elective. We feel that our graduates must know not only their field of study, but they must also develop the sportsmanship and community spirit that comes from sport. We have electives that you can do from another module and we have the sports elective so you can do Basketball, Golf and learn to swim and we can add Wallball to that collection that we can offer to persons who are getting their degree.”

“We think it is a good partnership because you are introducing another sport. If you realize now, we are expanding. Our athletes want to do field events and novel sports. With 2.9 million persons, not all of them want to do the 100 metres. It is good when we bring in small sports because we have a great capacity for sport,” she added before going into some benefits of playing Wallball.

“You can burn a lot of calories with it. It is not related to your age, just your ability to move. Even if you are not able to move and you’re wheelchair bound, you can still play it.”

Phase one of the associations efforts to grow Wallball in Jamaica will involve a series of training and demonstration clinics in the Kingston & St Andrew and Portmore areas from November 11-20. The training series will be hosted by the Wallball International Federation.

“We are very excited to be here to introduce a new sport to Jamaica. It is very easy to play,” said Colombian WIF President Alberto Viteri.

International players Tony Roberts, Paul Yagual and Stephanie Vega will be the coaches at the clinics while Cummings also noted that Jamaica College, Papine High, Bridgeport High, Kingston College and Donald Quarrie High will all be involved.

Phase 1 and The Caribbean Basketball Academy booked their spots in Saturday’s final as the Jamaica Basketball Showcase continued at the University of Technology on Friday.

In game one on Friday’s penultimate day, CBA beat the Central Warriors 39-36 with CBA’s Lushane Wilson being named player of the game.

Phase 1 beat Lignum Vitae 49-43 in game two. Romar Parkes of Lignum Vitae was named player of the match despite his team losing.

Game three saw Blue Mahoe scoring a 44-40 victory over Hummingbirds. Blue Mahoe’s Alex Levy was player of the match.

Lignum Vitae rebounded from their earlier loss to beat Central Warriors 47-44. Parkes was player of the match, this time in a winning effort.

Game five saw Phase 1 beat Hummingbirds 49-41 thanks to a player of the match performance from Nicolai Brown.

Game six was the highest scoring on the day with CBA outscoring Blue Mahoe 80-75 with CBA’s Matthew McGowan and Blue Mahoe’s Alex Levy sharing player of the game honours.

Phase 1 and CBA booked their spots in the final thanks to preliminary round records of 4-0 and 3-1, respectively.

Xavier Clarke was player of the match as Lignum Vitae got a 44-35 win over Blue Mahoe to kick off the 2022 Jamaica Basketball Showcase at the University of Technology on Thursday.

In total, there were six matches played on Thursday’s day one.

In the second, Phase 1 beat Central Warriors 51-35 thanks to player of the match David Gordon.

Matthew McGowan starred as the Caribbean Basketball Academy secured a 55-37 victory over Hummingbirds in game three.

Game four saw Central Warriors hand Blue Mahoe their second loss of the day with a 54-44 win thanks to player of the game, Alex Levy.

Phase 1 then made it two from two as they secured a 42-34 win over Caribbean Basketball Academy in game five thanks to player of the game, Anthony White.

In the final game, Hummingbirds got one in the win column, beating Lignum Vitae 52-49 with Jadeja McCormack being voted player of the game.

The Jamaica Basketball Showcase scheduled for July 28-30 at the University of Technology in Kingston will see the game back on Jamaican courts for the first time in two years.

Six teams, comprising the best of the island’s network with invitees from the USA and the Bahamas will battle for the trophy and cash prizes. The teams taking part are Caribbean Basketball Academy, Phase 1, Chesta Warriors, Hummingbird, Lignum Vitae and Blue Mahoe.

The showcase will be hosted by the Sports Innovators Group (SIG) whose CEO Paul Campbell said at the media launch at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday that “this is an exciting time for us and we are elated to be among the first to have basketball back on court since the pandemic.”

“The Jamaica Basketball Showcase focuses on our talent. Helping to identify, project and create the footage that is so important for our youngsters so when the scouts and coaches overseas require footage, we can easily provide it to them,” Campbell added.

President of the Jamaica Basketball Association Paulton Gordon said “we want to have these activities right across the island in a setting that is looking good and can be captured on camera and showcased. Steps are being taken. Let’s all, as a family, come together and improve basketball in this country.”

Some of the players taking part in the showcase are national representative and Pennwood High School stand-out Anthony Whyte, Caribbean Basketball Academy student and 2019 MVP from Camperdown, Matthew McGowan and outstanding Ardenne High School player DeAndre Forbes.

“It feels good to be able to get back on the court and hopefully this will ignite basketball in the country,” said Forbes.

The showcase is sponsored by companies including Courts Ready Cash, Express Fitness, KFC, Mailpac Group, Grace Kennedy (Western Union) and A. Peart Advisory Services.

The tournament tips off on Thursday, July 28 at 10:00am.