TRINIDAD and Tobago has been selected to host the first leg of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (COZOVA) men’s beach qualifying tournament for next year’s Olympic Games in Brazil.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from May 7-11, a week after the women’s opening leg is completed in Jamaica.

Fourteen countries are expected to participate and the top four male and female pairs will advance to the second stage, which will take place a few months later at venues to be determined.

The Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation staged five tournaments over three consecutive weekends recently to select the two male and two female pairs to fly the red, white and black flag in the opening qualifying legs.

Fabian Whitfield and Daniel Williams was the outstanding tandem as they won all five tournaments without dropping a set.

Finishing a distant second to secure the other spot were youngsters Abraham Eccles and Tevin Joseph.

It will be the first time for Eccles in national colours, but Joseph and Tarandath Deonath competed in the first three legs of last year’s NORCECA (North, Central America and the Caribbean) Beach Tour and went on to participate in the World Under-23 Championships in Poland in June.

The women’s qualifying series was very competitive as the photo-finish camera was needed to determine the winners and the third-place team of Elki Philip and Shenelle Gordon did not finish too far back.

The Ayana Dyette/Nancy Joseph and Apphia Glasgow/La Teisha Joseph combinations each won two tournaments to earn the right to compete in the first leg of the Olympic qualifier.

But youngsters Glasgow and Joseph were declared winners of the series as they had the better overall ratio—winning 31 sets and losing 14—than the veterans, who won 28 sets and lost 13.

After winning all nine tournaments they contested at home last season, Joseph and Dyette were not at their best, but they would have still won the series had they not been defaulted in their first match of the second tournament when the latter had a work commitment.

It cost last year’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games quarterfinalists tickets to the first tournament of this year’s NORCECA Tour as Glasgow and Joseph will compete alongside Williams and Whitfield from April 24-26 in Cayman Islands.

Whitfield and Williams secured this country’s only NORCECA medal when they picked up bronze in the home leg of the 2012 circuit.

There will be three rounds of Olympic qualifying in this region and just one male and female pair from COZOVA will be in Rio de Janeiro in August next year.

Shanntol Ince splashes into action this morning at the CanAm Para Swimming Championships, in Toronto, Canada.

The Trinidad and Tobago swimmer will compete in the qualifying round of the women’s 400 metres freestyle and 100m butterfly events. She is also expected to swim in the 50 free and 100 free.

Ince’s coach, Franz Huggins did not travel to the meet. However, his assistant coach at the Areios Aquatechs swim club, Daniel Tardieu accompanied the 19-year-old swimmer to Toronto, together with manager/physio June Durham.

Huggins told the Express the CanAm Para meet is a warm-up for a major August assignment.

“The meet is being used to familiarise herself with the pool for the upcoming Parapan American Games. Some of the best para swimmers in the US and Canada will be competing at the (CanAm Para) meet.”

In 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico, Ince created history by becoming the first T&T representative at a Parapan American Games.

Just 16 at the time, she performed with distinction, bagging bronze medals in the women’s 100m backstroke S9 and 100 free S9 events.

Ince was one of the star performers at the 2013 Youth Parapan American Games, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, capturing four gold medals.

She won the women’s 400 free in five minutes, 30.41 seconds, and also emerged victorious in the 100 back (1:23.12), 100 fly (1:21.89) and 100 free (1:12.86).

Ince and visually impaired shot put and discus thrower Carlos Greene competed at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association yesterday hosted 30 participants at its head offices at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for the start of the CONCACAF ”D” License Coaching Course.

The objective of the course is to introduce coaches to the basics of coaching young players in a player-centred environment. The course will run for four days with the target group being coaches of players aged to 6-12 years old. Persons in this group include coaches, parents and teachers.
Among the topics of the course are the role of the coach educator; principles of coaching; principles of the game; age appropriate training; session training; physical training; small-sided games; goalkeeping; health and safety and community club development.
The course will be conduced by CONCACAF instructors Lenny Lake and Andre Waugh, while CONCACAF Development manager Jonathan Martinez will also be present.
The TTFA accepted application from members of the public before the final selection process was completed on Wednesday.
Among those participating are national women’s team players  Maylee Attin-Johnson, Dernelle Mascal, Ayana Russell, Jinelle Nedd  and Ahkeela Mollon, ex-national men’s team players Hector Sam, Marvin Oliver, Kerry Baptiste,  Justin Latapy and Nicholas Griffith, coach of FIFA award recipient club Crown Trace.

The Dwight Yorke Stadium could be ready to host the British Airways Legends Football Tournament in June.

Chief Secretary Orville London, Secretary of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport (DEYAS), Huey Cadette and Assistant Secretary in that Division Jomo Pitt all met with Minister of Sport Brent Sancho last  Friday at the Administrative Complex in Calder Hall to discuss the status of the stadium which has been closed since November 2012, as the  Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago has not conducted  critical repairs necessary for  Occupational Safety and Health Authority  (OSHA) approval.
According to Cadette, DEYAS will continue to discuss the issue with OSHA to determine which works can be completed in time for the tournament.
Cadette said during the meeting, it was agreed that an overall refurbishment of the stadium is necessary but that it cannot be completed in time for the Legends tournament. He is, however, comfortable with the decisions taken at the one-hour meeting.
These include facilitating the immediate use of the warm-up track and practise field outside the stadium.
Sancho said work has already started to rectify the problems identified by OSHA.
The Minister has also promised to have most of the problems with the track and main stand at the Dwight Yorke Stadium rectified by May.

The greater participation of women and girls in sports can help lift their involvement in society, fight gender stereotypes and accelerate progress towards gender parity, the head of the United Nations entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment declared today.

“Gender equality and women’s empowerment has been a marathon,” UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told a gathering at UN Headquarters. “But I hope we’re in sight of the finish line so everybody has to be a sprinter now.”

The event – entitled ‘Looking ahead: the place of sport for women’s empowerment post-2015’ and held on the margins of the ongoing 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) – underscored sports’ multidimensional role in enhancing women’s broader community engagement.

Sports programmes, the UN Women chief noted, can both fill gaps in basic nutrition and health care, bring together those who would otherwise be isolated, and tackle head-on the ever-present scourge of gender-based violence by dismantling the stereotypes of women as less capable than men.

Panellist and Olympic ice skating champion Michelle Kwan agreed, telling those in attendance that the inclusion of women in athletic activities was “not about giving a girl a ball with which to play, but about giving a girl a chance to dream.”

“When women and girls are fully able to participate in a society, all women and girls have the equal opportunity,” Ms. Kwan said.

At the same time, speaking on the merits of sports education for young girls, Werner Obermeyer, Deputy Executive Director of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), explained that team sports offered a host of physical and mental benefits for female children as it helped them build social networks and learn the “whole ethos of working together as a team.”

Beyond that, he added, athletic activities helped keep obesity levels in women down, reducing the overall costs to the health sector and the economy which otherwise would be “astronomical.”

“Through engaging in sport and living its values, women and girls can develop leadership skills, overcome bias, improve their health and become empowered,” Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka continued. “We insist that sports must feature in the post-2015 development agenda that Heads of State and Government will adopt this coming September.”

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THIS WEEKEND is set to be full of talent, strength and competition as Special Olympics of Trinidad and Tobago hosts their 33rd annual National Games.

The event will see athletes from over 18 special-needs organisations from across the twin-island republic, including Happy Haven of Tobago and the Tobago Technical Vocational School, compete in aquatics, athletics, basketball, bocce, equestrian, football, powerlifting and volleyball at various venues throughout Port of Spain.

On Saturday, after supporting and cheering on the athletes at their various disciplines, families and supporters can also enjoy live entertainment at the Gala Concert, hosted at the Jean Pierre Complex in Mucurapo, featuring performances by Destra Garcia, Sekon Sta, Ancil Valley and Neisha Guy (the respective 2013 and 2014 Digicel Rising Star winners), along with the Servol Special School drumming team and the Lady Hochoy Penal Tassa Group.

Those wanting to support the Games can come down to the Jean Pierre Complex from 9am. Entry to all disciplines at all venues is free.

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