World champion Phillips for Douglas Forrest meet
Written by Blade 3NTY Friday, 06 January 2012 15:02
FOUR-TIME IAAF World Athletics Championships long jump gold medallist, American Dwight Phillips, will be the special guest at next weekend's Douglas Forrest Invitational track and field meet at the National Stadium.
Phillips is the latest in a line of world-class athletes who have been invited to the meet. It is the policy of the meet's organisers to invite top overseas-based track and field stars to provide motivational talks to young local athletes.
Among those who have been invited to past meets are Americans Shawn Crawford, the 2004 Olympic 200 metres champion; 2003 World 100m champion Torri Edwards; 1968 Olympic 200 metres bronze medallist John Carlos; world 400 metres hurdles record holder and 1992 Olympic gold medallist Kevin Young; Lee Evans, the 1968 Olympic 400 metres gold medallist and Mel Pender, 1968 Olympic 100 metres finalist along with Trinidad & Tobago's Ato Boldon, the 1997 World 200 metres champion.
Exciting meet
Phillips, who also captured the gold medal in the long jump at the 2004 Olympics Games in Athens, Greece, is expected to arrive in the island next Wednesday.
Brian Smith, head of the organising committee, said he is looking forward to a very exciting meet.
"We want to put on a very good meet and the hope is that everyone will stay injury-free, because this is an Olympic and World Junior Championship year," said Smith. Entries for the meet will close tomorrow.
Lauri-Ann Ainsworth, marketing and communication manager of Jamaica Money Market Brokers, one of the title sponsors for the event, said her company is committed to the development of Jamaica's athletes.
"We believe in the development of our country and we are very passionate about sports," said Ainsworth.
She added that there is a need for more sports development and for a greater number of companies to come forward to provide sponsorship for events like the Douglas Forrest meet.
Three new events have been added to this year's staging of the event - the javelin, discus and pole vault.
Other events to be contested at this year's staging of the popular one-day meet are 200m, 800m, 3,000m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 400m hurdles, 4x400m relay and sprint medley relays, shot put and all jumps. In addition, there will also be a separate 200m event for Special Olympic athletes.
Each team will be allowed to enter three athletes per event. More than 3,000 athletes from 76 teams took part in last year's meet, and Smith said he is expecting more participants this year. One overseas team, Columbia University from the United States, has already been confirmed for the meet.
The Gleaner
Arnett start 2012 on positive note
Written by Blade 3NTY Friday, 06 January 2012 14:54
Arnett Gardens have started the new year on a positive note.
On Wednesday night they found the back of the net with regularity to comprehensively defeat Harbour View 3-1 at the Harbour View Mini-Stadium.
It was a welcome turnaround for the former champions who went into the festive season in a downcast mood as they lost at home 1-0 to the then relegation-threatened Highgate United. The South St Andrew-based team owed their victory to strikes from Rohan Reid (27th), Jason Moore (38th) and Fabian Reid in the 56th minute. Former national representative Fabian Taylor gave Harbour View some consolation with a 90th-minute strike.
In the late kick-off at Compound, the visitors rode their early luck, thanks to two misses by Harbour View's Zane Goulbourne, before making their mark. The win pushed them up to seventh position overall.
"It is a very good return after losing our last game. We played a good game and won 2-0 away to Waterhouse and then came home and lost 1-0, which was bad for us," coach Paul "Tegat" Davis explained.
"From the Christmas break we came back and trained well and we ran off the sorrel that the guys had had, and tonight you saw a lot of energy from the guys and we got three goals and it is good to see that," Davis added.
Davis, who had reason, earlier in the season, to criticise the attitude of some players and was forced to ring the changes as a result, was happy with his new unit.
"When you watch the training session, you see that the team is selected based on the work they do. Rohan Reid was out, but he did well in training and the guy who was playing before didn't come to training for three days and lost his place. The squad is selected on merit, not on name or anything else and, in a situation like this, it cannot be any different because it is like my job is on the line as well," explained the former national striker.
Wasted opportunities
Harbour View's Donovan Hayles could not help but curse his luck as he felt that, had his team capitalised on their opportunities, then the result would have been different.
"It is a funny old game and I think on three occasions we had three clear-cut breaks and did not score, and Arnett scored on those three breaks.
"That was the nightmare of the whole game, but we have to give credit to Arnett who countered well, and I must say it is a very disappointing result to get but that is a part of the game," said Hayles a former national goalkeeper.
What Hayles said was different about this game is that normally his team would have struggled to score but would have been sound defensively. This time around, their defensive solidity deserted them, he said.
"It is the first that we have given up more than one goal in a game (this season) and normally we have been good in defence. Where we have been having problems is up front ... but we have to put that quickly behind us and rebound. A lot of teams have suffered heavy defeats and have rebounded. Arnett Gardens is one of them," explained Hayles whose team slipped two places to sixth in the points table.
The Gleaner
Parkes double ends Tivoli drought
Written by Blade 3NTY Thursday, 05 January 2012 21:59
| Sporting Central | 0 | Tivoli Gardens | 1 |
| Humble Lion | 1 | Montego Bay United | 3 |
| Village United | 0 | Boys' Town | 1 |
| Highgate United | 1 | Reno | 0 |
| Portmore United | 1 | Waterhouse | 0 |
| Harbour View | 1 | Arnett Gardens | 3 |
Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer
Former Highgate United player Romeo Parkes, had a dream debut with Tivoli Gardens, scoring two second-half goals in their Red Stripe Premier League game at Brancourt to defeat Sporting Central Academy 2-0.
More important, the win, which moved them just ahead of Sporting to 26 points, stopped a four-game slump that had seen the defending champions experience an unaccustomed flounder in the lower half of the league.
There was considerable relief after the game for manager Brian Rose.
"To tell you the truth, I was worried as I had never experienced losing for so long," he said.
He later revealed to The Gleaner the club was forced to bring in sports psychologist Patsy Thomas for a session on Monday. So thrilled were the players that they requested another session the following day.
Coach Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey was also feeling the heat of the terrible sequence, but remained adamant it was not his coaching acumen that was in question.
"We, the coaching staff, did a lot of serious examination and found the problem was not a physical or a coaching one. It was mental. That's why we had to draw for a motivator," Bailey admitted.
Sporting's coach, Vassell 'Tutu' Reynolds, was not overly disappointed.
"It's a credit that we kept Tivoli at bay for 80 minutes. We were playing without five or six regular starters and the hope was that the fringe players would step up and earn even a point," said Reynolds, whose team remained on 25 points. "But we lapsed."
He could have expected more had Owen Gordon not muffed the easiest opportunity of the game, doing his worst to hit the ball wide of the target, even when he had beaten the goalkeeper Deron Duncan.
Large portions of the game itself were boring and represented the efforts of two teams aiming to get into their stride after the two-week Christmas break. Tivoli showed more intent, but had to wait long for goals, although they came at a point when they had secured the most sustained period of dominance.
Parkes had looked unlikely to score in the game after failing to distinguish himself with two early opportunities. However, the forced substitution of Navion Boyd because of injury in the 78th minute seemed to prolong his stay rather fortuitously.
His first strike at the 81st minute was one of wonder, as he raised his tall slender frame
from the grounder to accommodate the high bounce of a Mitchily Waul through pass and ended the leap with a spectacular volley from 20 yards.
Lucky second goal
His second goal, in injury time (90+3) came like the final dagger to the hearts of the spectators who, moments later, learnt through the game announcer that parishmates Humble Lion had lost 3-1 to Montego Bay United at Effortville Community Centre. Okene Ford opened the scoring for Humble Lion, which remained on 30 points, but MoBay United hit back with a double from Mauracio Gordon (41st, 56) and Adrian Robinson's 78th minute goal.
MoBay United improved their points tally to 24, three more than Highgate United, who topped Reno 1-0 at Lynch Park. Luke Soares scored the game's only goal, at the 77th minute. Reno remained on 20 points.
Boys' Town also emerged 1-0 winners, profiting from Michael Campbell's 65th-minute penalty to beat Village United at Trelawny Stadium. The Red Brigade moved up to 28 points, while Village stayed at the bottom on 14.
The Gleaner
Evering to rejoin Jamaica team Monday
Written by Blade 3NTY Thursday, 05 January 2012 21:51
After more than seven months out because of knee surgery, national representative Kasey Evering is set to make a return to the Sunshine Girls' team on Monday.
The 29-year-old Evering, who underwent surgery in New Zealand last June to repair her injured left knee, told The Gleaner in an interview that she is looking forward to resume training with her national teammates.
"I am going to do some light work with the national team on Monday and also try to help out the younger players in every way that I can," said Evering.
The tall defender reaggravated her knee while representing Canterbury Tactix in the ANZ Championships - which is played in Australia and New Zealand - during a collision with her former national teammate, Carla Borrego, who plays for the Adelaide Thunderbirds, on April 3 last year.
She added that her recovery has been going well and says she cannot wait to start playing competitively.
"My recovery has been going well because I have been going to the gym five days a week and I have also been doing a lot of running on my own," said Evering, who was a member of the Sunshine Girls team which finished fourth at the last Commonwealth Games, held in India, in 2010.
"I would like to start playing competitively for my club (Tivoli Gardens) in March when the Super League begins," Evering said.
"However, I plan to take it one day at a time because I want makesure that my knee is perfectly healed whenever I start playing competitively again," said the lanky player, who is regarded as one of the nation's best defenders.
"I love playing netball for my country and I'm so anxious to start playing again. I also plan to get back into the ANZ championships again, because I love playing over there against some of the best players in the world," Evering said.
The Tivoli Gardens player represented Jamaica at two World Netball Championships (WNC), the 2006 Common-wealth Games and also at the World Youth Netball Championships in 2000. She last repre-sented Jamaica in January against the defending world champions, Australia. That series ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Gleaner
Collins keen to 'test' Powell
Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 12:23 Written by Blade 3NTY Wednesday, 04 January 2012 12:10
Kim Collins said he was looking forward to a showdown with former World 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell at an indoor meet next month.
The evergreen St Kitts & Nevis sprint star said he will look to take advantage of the big Jamaican's unfamiliarity with indoor competition to test himself in a year when he again hopes to defy age and win an Olympic gold medal in London this summer.
"I can't wait to race Asafa and to test him out over 60 metres," said the former 100 World champion in an article appearing on the website of the IAAF, the sport's world governing body.
"Asafa doesn't often race indoors, so it will be interesting to see what sort of form he brings to Birmingham."
The 35-year-old Collins hailed Powell, fellow Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt, as well as American Tyson Gay, as the runners with star power in men's sprinting.
"To get the chance to run against any of those guys so early in the year ahead of an Olympic Games is a great opportunity," he said.
"I'm sure Asafa's going to start favourite for the race, but I've competed in Birmingham plenty of times before. I'm comfortable racing indoors and I know the track inside out, so it's going to go down to the wire.
"A win over Asafa, even if it is indoors, will really give me a good start to the year and a lot of confidence when I line up in London, so I can't wait."
Collins said he planned to launch his season representing a Commonwealth select side at the International Match competition on January 28 at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall.
He is also expected to test his Olympic credentials at a Grand Prix meet on February 18 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.
Collins has enjoyed a resurgence in form and last year stunned the world with two bronze medals at Worlds. He finished behind Blake and Walter Dix of the United States in the 100 at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, and helped his homeland to an astonishing third-place finish in the 4x100 relay.
"2011 was a good year for me, I had some strong races, and to get a world-leading time was something I knew I had in me - that was a great moment," he said.
"The World Championships was a good meet and I was happy to come away with two bronze medals. Now I want to try to repeat that effort in London. I've never won an Olympic medal, and that's still the dream for me."
The Gleaner
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