This country’s men and women’s beach volleyball teams will begin their historic quest to be the first national teams to qualify for the Olympic Games when they compete in their respective first round of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) 2016 Rio Olympics Beach Volleyball Qualifiers.

The T&T Volleyball Federation will play host to the 28-team (two pairs of two per country) men’s qualifiers at the National Development Centre, Saith Park, Chaguanas from May 8-10 at the end of which the top four teams will advance to the second round of qualifiers which will involve the top four teams from the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association first round qualifiers as well.

This was stated by Mushtaque Mohammed, president of CAZOVA at the official launch of the T&T Volleyball Federation’s hosting of the first round of men’s qualifiers at the T&T Olympic Committee Office, Abercombry Street, yesterday.

Mushtaque Mohammed, president of CAZOVA and the appointed tournament director for the tournament at Saith Park, said that being a national of T&T he was happy to state that FIVB, NORCEA and the regional body was happy to provide all the necessary support of the T&TVF to put on a tremendous tournament.

Mohammed noted T&T has managed to qualified beach volleyball teams to the Central American and Caribbean Games in the past, the upcoming Pan American Games in Canada and also at the World Championship youth level for, and the lone missing tournament and most prestigious was the Olympic Games.

He added, “I believe the beach volleyballers can be the first team sport to qualify for the Olympic Games from T&T, however, it’s not going to be easy, because the road gets much more difficult as you progress to the other rounds.

“So as a national of T&T, you will have my support and that of the international body, but no favours will be guaranteed,” Mohammed stressed.

Daymian Stewart, president T&TVF explained the reason for hosting the event was to create a greater awareness of the fastest growing sport in the world, in addition to giving the local teams a good boost and in keeping with the Government’s objectives to develop sport tourism, promote our unique culture, empower our human resources and support the positive talents of the youth.

With regards to qualification for the fourth and final stage of the qualifiers which will involve the top teams in the entire NORCEA Confederation, Daymian Stewart, president T&TVF said the local teams possess six of the seven key elements to get the job done.

However, Stewart noted what was now needed was the support for the athletes which needed to be address urgently.

In another T&TOC President, Brian Lewis applauded the T&TV for the direction it has taken in developing the sport and its effort to generate revenue.

Lewis said, “We need to be creative and market sport in T&T in different ways, and the T&TVF has to be commended for their efforts because qualifying for an Olympic Games is absolutely important if you are serious about elite sport, whether your are a top  athlete, manager or official.”

With respect to the hosting of the event, Lewis urged the local federation to do all in its power to make home advantage be of benefit to the T&T team.

“When your are hosting its a very serious thing and its done to make a difference to your team and this is something we need to change else it makes no sense if we are not 150 per cent about it”

In this regard, Lewis urged volleyball followers and locals to come out in full support for the team.

The round one women’s qualifying takes place first in Ocho Rios Bay Beach, Jamaica, April 30 to May 5 with the 28-teams (two pairs of two per country) competing for four spots to the next round of qualifiers.

Participating countries and teams to date

Aruba: Elmerlindo Robles De Medina, Dwayne Angela, Fransua Angela, Michaello Martilia

Barbados: Daran Gill, Sheldon Roach, Winston Gittens, Elwyn Oxley.

Bahamas: Renaldo Knowles, Mullet Petit, Princtanique Wilson, Byron Ferguson

Bonaire: Not yet submitted

Cayman Islands:  Kirk Shervin Rankin, Richard Campbell, Olney Thompson, Phillippe Des Landes

Curacao: Derwin Colina, Quinten Anthony, Norandy Bonafasia, Kiran Ersilia

Guadeloupe: Arnouts Baptiste, Lavoye Cedric, Guillaume Coudevylle, Loic Couchy

Haiti: Senel Volvick Dupuy, Alexis Marco, Fritz-Emmanuel Mabou, Kempes Vilmot

Jamaica: Mark Lewis, Donovan Larry Richards, Ryck Mc Kenzie-Webb, Christopher Walters

Martinique: Lopes Jefferson, Lowinsky Edouard, Africa Freddy, Lienafa Derek

Suriname: Not Yet submitted

T&T: Fabien Whitfield, Daneil Williams, Tevin Joseph, Josiah Eccles

T&T women team:

La Teisha Joseph, Apphia Glasgow, Elki Phillip, Shenelle Gordon

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WHEN TRINIDAD and Tobago stage the first round of Olympic Games qualifying for Men’s Beach Volleyball in early May, officials will expect nothing less than victory from the national teams. The May 8-10 tournament, to be played at Saith Park in Chaguanas among 12 countries including hosts TT, is the first of four qualification stages on the road to Rio 2016.

The TT women will start a similar journey, one week earlier, in Jamaica. Introducing both the national Men’s and Women’s teams at Olympic House yesterday, Daymian Stewart, head of the TT Volleyball Federation (TTVF) expressed satisfaction with the planning and preparation for the event.

“We believe the work that has been done over the last few years in Beach Volleyball has created a real opportunity for us to be the first local team sport to qualify for the Olympic Games,” Stewart said. “From where I sit, I think I’m in a position to guarantee, and put some pressure on our national athletes, that we will definitely be in the fourth round of the Olympic qualifications.”

In simplifying the progression, Stewart explained that following the first round, the second stage will involve teams from the Eastern Caribbean, after which TT would come up against the Central American nations, until finally they would have to face the top playing countries in the Western Hemisphere in the fourth and final phase. He noted, however, that should TT get to the final round, they would avoid at least one of the sport’s giants, as the United States would have qualified through the World Beach Volleyball Tour.

Stating the TTVF had learned much from previous experiences, Stewart said it had now put together a combination of good athletes, technical capabilities, facilities, technology and administrative support.

“We can now say that we went through this before,” he told reporters at Olympic House. “We had a world-class indoor team trying to qualify for the World Championships, and we know where we went wrong, and the things that we need to correct. So this time around, we need to get it right.”

Vice president of the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA), Mushtaque Mohammed confirmed the tournament will receive assistance from both the regional and world governing bodies. “The IVF, the Caribbean VF and NORCECA will be supporting these events from a financial perspective,” said the former TTVF head. “We will be giving all the equipment that is necessary for the event.”

Mohammed will also be heading the tournament’s control committee.

TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis, in calling on the public to come out in their numbers and make the event a success, added that the tournament presents “an opportunity for the Volleyball Federation to leverage a format of the game that is suited to Trinidad and Tobago.” He noted that following the Beijing Games in 2008, experts found that Beach Volleyball was the most watched event after Track and Field’s 100 metres.

The women’s first round will be run off between April 30 and May 4 in Jamaica. La Teisha Joseph and Apphia Glasgow will make up one team, while the other will consist of Elki Phillip and Shenelle Gordon. Playing for the TT men at Saith Park will be Fabian Whitfield and Daniel Williams; and Tevin Joseph and Josiah Eccles.

The other participating national teams are Aruba, Barbados, the Bahamas, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique and Suriname. A number of activities have been included for the fans, including a nightly skills segment for cash prizes. Additionally, competition on each night will be preceded at 6 pm by a women’s exhibition match.

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Rio 2016 have received 1.2 million ticket applications from Brazilian residents since sales began on March 31, it is claimed.

The most popular sports in terms of ticket requests have been volleyball, football and basketball, with artistic gymnastics, swimming, athletics, tennis, beach volleyball, judo and handball completing the top 10 most sought-after.

“We have received requests for all the sports in the programme and fans from throughout Brazil are buying tickets,” said Donovan Ferreti, Rio 2016’s ticketing director.

“This shows that these are not just Rio’s Games, but all of Brazil’s.”

The majority of applications have come from Rio de Janeiro, followed by the states that will co-host the Olympic football tournament - São Paulo, the Federal District, Minas Gerais, Amazonas and Bahia.

Approximately 7.5 million tickets will be put on sale for Rio 2016, with more half being priced at BRL R$70 (£15/$22/€20) or less.

Brazilian residents have until April 30 to request tickets in the first draw, the results of which will be announced in June.

Only those who entered the first draw will be able to apply in the second draw, which is due to open in July ahead of the results being announced in August.

The cheapest tickets will be BRL R$40 (£9/$12/€11.50), while the most expensive ticket for a sports event will be BRL R$1,200 (£251/$373/€347), and the most expensive Opening Ceremony ticket will be BRL R$4,600 (£962/$1,428/€1,331).

Complete information on how to apply for tickets can be found in English by clicking here.

Non-residents of Brazil are able to establish the identity of the Authorised Ticket Reseller in their respective country by clicking here.

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T&T’s Open Water swimmer Christian Marsden lived-up to his pre-race hype when he took gold in the 15-17 boys Open Water swim at Carlisle Bay, the final day of the 30th Carifta Swimming Championship in Barbados, yesterday.

It was the lone Open Water medal for the T&T contingent to place fifth with 15 points. The other T&T Open Water participants were Shania David who was eighth in the 15-17 girls age-group while the the trio of Gabriel Bynoe (seventh), Graham Chatoor (eighth) and Sabrina David (eight) had low placings in their respective 13-14 races.

On Tuesday night at the National Aquatic Centre in Wildey, T&T failed to add to its gold medal haul of 12 but picked up four silver and two bronze to end with 38 medals overall (12 gold, 13 silver, 13 bronze) and third spot with 494.5 points.

Bahamas kept hold of its title with 756 points and 54 medals (29 gold, 17 silver, 8 bronze) while host Barbados was second with 642.5 points and 52 medals, its most in history (30 gold, 12 silver, 10 bronze).

Leading the way for T&T on the fourth and final night of swimming was boys 13-14 Age-Group High Point second placed finisher Jeron Thompson, who picked up silver medals in the 50-metre freestyle (25.19 seconds) and 100m backstroke (1:10.40 minutes).

The other silver winners on the night for the T&T contingent under the guidance of first year head coach Chabeth Haynes were Amira Pilgrim (115-15 girls 50m freestyle in 27.31); Jahmia Harley, the 11-12 girls High Point bronze finisher, in the 200m backstroke in 2:38.64, and the 15-17 boys 4x50m freestyle relay combination of Justin Samlalsingh, Jabari Baptiste, Osaze Riley and Canada-based Adrian Goin in 1:36.49.

Harley also added a bronze in the 400m freestyle (4:53.22) and Baptiste did likewise, in the 15-17 boys 50m freestyle in 24.26.

USA-based Tyla Martin, who won three individual gold medals for T&T, also got third spot in the 15-17 girls Age-Group High Point competition.

Meanwhile, US and Olympic coach Todd Schmitz, the personal coach of American multi-Olympic and World gold medallist Missy Franklin will begin a three-day clinic today at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence Swimming Pool, Macoya as well as St Joseph’s College, St Joseph.

Speaking on the team’s arrival at the Piarco International Airport yesterday, head coach Haynes, said, “We were glad to improve on our fifth place finish last year.

“It was a tough meet and our team featured quite a few newcomers however, the experienced and seasoned swimmers were able to pull out big points in crucial events for us to secure third spot.”

Looking ahead Haynes said she was sure the younger swimmers gained a lot from the experience as well as from the more senior local and foreign based swimmers over this tour.

Final results

Final medal table

Team G S B Tot

Barbados 30 12 10 52

Bahamas 29 17 8 54

T&T 12 13 13 38

Aruba 10 13 12 35

Guadeloupe 8 11 6 25

Suriname 6 8 7 21

Cayman Islands 5 4 5 14

Bermuda 4 8 10 22

Grenada 3 1 6 10

Jamaica 2 9 14 25

Final points table

Team Points

1 Bahamas 756

2 Barbados 642.5

3 T&T 494.5

4 Guadeloupe 478

5 Jamaica 466

6 Aruba 348.5

7 Cayman Islands 289

8 Surinam 271

9 Bermuda 259

10 Martinique 229

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Ephraim Serrette, president of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) says his executive plans to overhaul the development systems for athletes across four disciplines in track and field, namely hurdles, sprint, medium and long jump, in a deliberate effort to bolster this country’s medal hunt internationally.

He was speaking to the T&T Guardian at Piarco International Airport, on Tuesday, where he was part of the welcoming party which applauded the T&T 2015 Carifta Games team on its return from the 44th Carifta Games in St Kitts and Nevis with six gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals for third place.

Serrette, a former national athlete himself, said he believed that the move to overhaul various aspects of the sports had become critical, as the developmental regime across these disciplines was too adhoc.

With no clear guidelines in place, Serrette said, coaches had free reign regarding what benchmarks were used to nurture the nation’s athletes.

In order for this country to benefit from its investment in athletes, he said, a national quality control system was needed to match the jumps and throws events, which was already paying dividends.

“The time has come where we need to put our foot down where the national hurdles programme, sprint and medium and long needs to be introduced. The coaches need to mature and understand what we are doing and not just keep their athletes to themselves. We have to work together as a unit to produce our athletes to represent us on the big stage, he said.

Serrette lamented, however, that local performances at this year’s championships did not surpass the medal haul from the previous year.

“It was below our expectations. We knew we had a fairly–I wouldn’t say weak team–(but) it was a challenge for us this year…A number of issues. We only had four development meets, Carifta being early; the loss of use of the (Hasely Crawford) Stadium, which is allowing us to make decisions and plan even better for next year. Carnival is very early next year, so our developmental meets next year would start in November, to give the athletes more opportunities for competition. This year only allowed about four developmental meets and I think that is insufficient to guide us where the selections are concerned,” he said.

Stand out moments from this country’s athletes during competition at the Silver Jubliee Athletic Stadium, over the Easter weeknd, did not escape Serrette’s attention, however.

“Yes. Our under-18 athletes. We have a very interesting group of U-18 athletes. Some of the analysis that we are working on is our national programme–the jumps and throws–and we have seen results,” he said.

The NAAA head recalled the Tyriq Horseford record breaking throw in the boys U-18 javelin event and the champion performance by Akanni Hislop in the boys U-18 200m. Both athletes were from Tobago.

Serrette disclosed that before leaving local shores Hislop stated his intent to win the event and break the record in the process.

The Carifta record was 20.84. Hislop’s time was 20.91.

“I think that’s commendable. He also has another year competition in U-18 competition. I think he is someone we need to invest in because I think that out future,” Serrette said.

...22 medals at Carifta Games

Akanni Hislop and Kayelle Clarke both won gold medals in the final session at the 44th Carifta Games to bring T&T's overall tally to 22 medals at the end of the meet at the Kim Collins Stadium in Basseterre, St Kitts, on Monday night.

T&T finished with six gold, eight silver and eight bronze to end third in the medal standings behind Jamaica (85) and Bahamas (31).

Entering the last session with 15 medals, T&T added two gold, four bronze and one silver including three 4x400metre medals.

Hislop, who entered the boys 200metre Under-18 final with the fastest time of 21.25 seconds, went under 21 seconds to win gold in 20.91.

It was a close battle for silver, but Javan Martin of the Bahamas prevailed in 21.16 ahead of Jamaican Xavior Angus in 21.17.

Clarke, who finished fourth in the girls 100m U-20 final, grabbed gold in the girls 200m U-20 in 23.12. Jamaican Saqukine Cameron claimed silver in 23.32, while Bahamian Keianna Albury won bronze in 23.49.

Snatching bronze in the boys long jump U-18 was Clement Campbell. Campbell saved his best for last disturbing the sand at the 6.86m mark in his last (sixth) jump. Jamaicans Pakito Dudley (7.03m) and Shammawi Wellington (7.02m) won gold and silver respectively.

After the T&T 4x100 teams picked up three medals on Sunday night, the 4x400 teams earned one silver and two bronze. Both the girls and boys U-20 4x400m teams won bronze, while the boys 4x400m U-18 quartet grabbed silver. The girls 4x400m U-18 team finished a disappointing fifth. On Sunday the girls 4x100m U-20 unit finished third, but was unfortunately disqualified for a baton exchange outside the zone.

The team returned home yesterday and both T&TOC president Brian Lewis and Sportt’s executive manager Anthony Creed were at the airport to greet them.

Results

​Boys 200m Under-18 Finals

1 Hislop, Akanni - T&T - 20.91

2 Martin, Javan - Bahamas - 21.16

3 Angus, Xavior - Jamaica - 21.17

Girls 200m U-20 Finals

1 Clarke, Kayelle - T&T - 23.12

2 Cameron, Saqukine - Jca - 23.32

3 Albury, Keianna - Bahamas - 23.49

Boys Long Jump U-18 Finals

1 Dudley, Pakito - Jamaica - 7.03m

2 Wellington, Shammawi - Jca - 7.02m

3 Campbell, Clement - T&T - 6.86m

Girls 100 M Hurdles U-20 Finals

1 Thompson, Yanique - Jca - 13.21

2 Williams, Jeanine – Jca - 13.40

3 Parris, Jeminise – T&T - 13.85

Boys 4x400m Relay U-18 Finals

1 Jamaica - 3:12.07

2 T&T - 3:14.23 (Kobe John, Terry Frederick, Judah Taylor, Jacob St Clair)

3 Bahamas - 3:18.12

Girls 4x400m Relay U-20 Finals

1 Jamaica - 3:37.96

2 British Virgin Islands - 3:46.43

3 T&T - 3:47.55 (Thyla-Maree Scott, Kayelle Clarke, Jeunice Maxime, Jeminise Parris)

Standings

Country G S B Total

Jamaica 41 25 19 85

Bahamas 8 13 10 31

T&T 6 8 8 22

Barbados 7 4 5 16

Grenada 1 3 4 8

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