Recently, in keeping with this commitment the national governing body sent Brazilian volleyball coach Agustini Sabatini and Sean Morrison volleyball coach at the Ministry of Sport to Tobago to support Tobago's Head of Volleyball Mr. Nolan Daniel with the development of the sport.

Tobago House of Assembly(THA) Secretary of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport, Assemblyman Huey Cadette and Mr. Theophilus Trim Director of Sport in Tobago have been in regular communication with Mr. Daymian Stewart, President of the TTVF as both the THA and the TTVF seek to implement plans for  the growth and development of volleyball  throughout the sister isle.

The TTVF, with the aid of the world governing body FIVB, the  North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) and the Ministry of Sport, assigned both Sabatini and Morrison to conduct a one month coaching project in Tobago. They  along with Daniel,  visited several Primary and Secondary Schools in Tobago to introduce Indoor and Outdoor Volleyball . 

A total of fifteen schools have been targeted including Spey Side High, Scarborough, Signal Hill Secondary, Buccoo Primary, Black Rock Primary, St. Patrick Primary to name just a few .
The three coaches also inaugurated a Beach Volleyball Community program at Turtle Beach with twenty-five male and female students per school.
According to Morrison, the children and teenagers were all excited and happy to learn the sport. " Tobago has a lot of raw talent. I can already envision some of these youngsters competing at the international level" said Morrison.
He added that, "there is definitely a great need for more coaches to help develop and raise the level of the sport in Tobago".  
TTVF President Daymian Stewart confirmed that sustainably developing indoor and beach volleyball in Tobago is a key strategic priority for the TTVF. 
" We will establish in Tobago a structured coaching development and player development pathway . My intention is to have the TTVF work closely with the THA to ensure that volleyball in Tobago achieves its full potential ."

 

Rheeza Grant

Executive Assistant,

Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation

Eric Cantona says Manchester United's derby win over Manchester City proves they are capable of winning the Premier League title next season.

United beat City 4-2 at Old Trafford on Sunday to consolidate their third place in the Premier League table.

"Now they are the kings of the city," said Cantona, who won four titles for United between 1992 and 1997.

"Sometimes you have a season when you lose games and you finish fourth or fifth. Next year they can win."

Despite going behind to an early Sergio Aguero goal, United came back strongly with goals from Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata and Chris Smalling before Aguero added a late consolation.

The first home derby victory since 2011 put them four points ahead of City and firmly on course for a return to the Champions League next season.

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Multiple Olympic champion Usain Bolt has made "significant strides" as he bids to defend his world titles this season, and is unconcerned about the challenge of sprinter Justin Gatlin.

American Gatlin dominated last year's Diamond League, running 9.77 seconds and 19.68 secs in the 100m and 200m.

Coach Glen Mills said Bolt had stepped up his preparations since running 46.37 seconds over 400m in Kingston in March.

"Usain's made significant strides since the last time you saw him," he said.

Gatlin, 33, won 100m Olympic gold in 2004 and World Championship gold in 2005.

"We take all competitors with a level of seriousness," added Mills. "But the truth of the matter is Usain at his best doesn't have much to worry about."

Bolt, 28, ran only three races last year. He is next due to run in a 100m race at an athletics meet in Rio on 19 April, and will follow that by representing Jamaica in the World Relay Championships in Bahamas on 2 and 3 May.

"I want to run really fast this season so I'm working on it," he said.

"I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm doing a lot of work leading up to this first run in Brazil [in April] - that's the focus and that's what we're working towards."

Bolt will bid for a third 100m gold and a fourth 200m gold in succession at August's World Championships in Beijing.

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Sergey Bubka has launched his manifesto for election to the International Association of Athletics Federations presidency, pledging to provide the most thorough athletics review ever.

Six-time world champion pole vaulter Bubka, 51, will run against Sebastian Coe to succeed Lamine Diack in August.

The Ukrainian has proposed holding more athletics events in public spaces.

"We have an opportunity to go closer to the public. This can be on squares, in streets, in shopping malls," he said.

"I remember competing in these types of competitions when I was an athlete and they are very attractive."

The proposed examination of "every significant element of our sport" would focus mainly on restructuring the global events calendar and the federations' rules and by-laws.

Bubka also said that he was pleased with how the World Anti-Doping Agency had approached claims of widespread drug use among Russian athletes.

But he added: "Cheaters will be punished. And we must protect and highlight clean athletes. We need to study how we can legally strengthen sanctions - it will need a very deep study."

Other aspects of Bubka's manifesto include:

  • using more technology, such as biometric chips and cameras
  • a focus on youth and creating more school-level competitions
  • creating a position of IAAF chief executive officer to help share the workload of the general secretary
  • promoting mixed gender competitions


Lord Coe, 58, who oversaw London's hosting of the 2012 Olympics, has also made the athletics calendar, youth engagement, anti-doping and public competitions central to his bid for the presidency.

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Teenager Amber Thomson continued to represent T&T with success, with her latest achievement recorded at the Winter Equestrian Festival held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida, last month, where she was awarded several prestigious ribbons.

Mounted on 16-year-old Argentine  thoroughbred, Vertigo, who is the same age as her, Thomson collected ribbons in almost every appearance at the arena, where they jumped the course with obstacles up to 1.2m high.

Thompson and Vertigo secured an eighth place finish in the opening speed class, but followed up well with a fourth place finish in the Classic Show jumping class, the next day when they jumped two clear rounds, but were beaten by time in the jump off.

In the “Clear Round gets a Ribbon” leg of the competition, held several days later, Thompson rode two clear rounds, following which she was awarded the celebrated ribbons.

On the following Saturday, in another Classic Show jumping class, Thompson and Vertigo conceded four faults in the jump off, but cleared the first the first round.

The, in the Children’s Modified jumper class, both rider and horse performed two outstanding clear rounds. The time in the jump off was 38.307 seconds, placing the pair third in a class of 40 entrants. The winner's clocked 37.674 seconds.

In the final week of the Winter Equestrian Festival, Thompson claimed another ribbon for riding a clear round. She and Vertigo went further to place second in yet another Classic Show jumping class with clear rounds in the first and jump off rounds and in a very good time on this occasion.

They were beaten by half a second by one of the last riders. On the last day of the competition, on March 29, the twosome placed fifth in the final Classic Show jumping class.

Once again the first round was a clear, but Thompson had a rail down in the jump off which unfortunately amounted to four faults.

Canadian equestrian and eight-time Olympiad, Ian Millar, congratulated Thompson on being awarded ribbons almost each time in the Classic Show jumping class.

Thompson has temporarily returned to T&T. She and 14-year-old Jordanne Brown will represent this country at the Caribbean Equestrian Association’s (CEA) Junior Jumping competition to be held in the Cayman Islands on both days next weekend.

Earlier in February, whereby part of the competition was held in Barbados, T&T placed first, represented by Hadley Rahael and Jordanne Brown. After competing in the Cayman Islands, Thompson will return to the Millar Brooke Farm in Canada where she will continue to ride and compete.

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AMBER THOMPSON again flew the Trinidad and Tobago flag with distinction in the United States during the recently-held Winter Equestrian Festival events at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Centre in Wellington, Florida.

The 16-year-old, who is the same age as her Argentine thoroughbred Vertigo, was awarded ribbons almost every time she competed during the month, jumping courses with obstacles up to 1.2 metres high.

Thompson’s very best performance was delivered in the penultimate competition when she placed second in the Classic Show Jumping Class. One of the final riders in the event edged her by half-second to claim the top prize.

Earlier in the competition, Thompson had been beaten by less than a second again when she placed third from a field of 40 in the Children’s Modified Jumper Class.

Thompson and Vertigo placed eighth in the speed class, before subsequently finishing fourth in the Classic Show Jumping Class. The duo participated in the “Clear Round gets a Ribbon” leg of the competition and were awarded blue ribbons for producing two clear rounds.