The ongoing transfer of three Jamaican athletes to Bahrain has been described by Warren Blake, President of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), as being part of a “developing trend” for competitors from his country.
The transfer of Olympic and world 400 metres silver medallist Shericka Williams and sprinters Kemarley Brown and Andrew Fisher to the Gulf State is still being processed, but all are expected to be able to represent Bahrain at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as the JAAA has raised no objection to the switch.
Other Jamaican athletes have switched nationality in the past – notably multiple world and Olympic medallist sprinter Merlene Ottey, who transferred to Slovenia, United States-born 400m runner Brandon Simpson, who went on to compete for Bahrain, and Jacques Harvey, who recently committed to Turkey.
This is the first time within Jamaica that multiple athletes have made a request at once, however.
Blake confirmed that the athletes' requests were being processed after the trio had written to the organisation expressing their desire to represent the Middle East nation over a month ago.
"It's more of a developing trend as opposed to being a trend," Blake told The Gleaner.
"Athletes have always been switching allegiances and we have also benefited from it up to recently with steeplechaser Aisha Praught, who was born in the US and has decided to represent Jamaica."
Under International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rule 5.4, athletes are allowed to compete for another country after sitting out a period of 12 months once there is no objection from their original federation.
If there is an objection, the athletes would then need to wait for three years before representing their new country.
Blake has had lengthy discussions with the three athletes involved and is convinced that they are not being coerced into making the move.
It is expected that the trio, members of the Stephen Francis-led MVP Track Club, will continue to train in Jamaica.
Williams, 29, won silver medals in the 400m at the 2008 Olympic Games as well as the 2009 World Championships.
She last represented Jamaica in the IAAF World Relays earlier this year.
Brown, 23, set a 100m personal best of 9.93sec in finishing second in the 100m at the Summer Universiade in Gwangju earlier this month.
Fisher, also 23, recently ran 9.94 in Madrid.
Blake also pointed out that the JAAA does not stand to benefit financially from any athlete switching allegiance to another country, as this is prohibited under IAAF regulations.
Bahrain, like Qatar, has been involved in recruiting athletes for more than a decade - and particularly Kenyan distance runners.
At least 40 athletes have switched allegiances to this region, encouraged by lucrative deals from the oil rich Gulf States.
T&TFA General Secretary must shoulder blame
While staying clear of picking sides in the ongoing dispute between the Minister of Sport Brent Sancho and Raymond Tim Kee led T&T Football Association (T&TFA), its general secretary Sheldon Phillips has come in for some harsh criticism from T&T Olympic Committee boss, Brian Lewis.
In fact, Lewis, not one to mix his words, has labelled Phillips, the son of former national goalkeeper Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips” as being disrespectful in his handling of recent issues with regards to the national Under-23 footballers, both men and women, who are currently at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.
The Women Soca Warriors, captained by Maylee Attin-Johnson exited the tournament after ending with two points from their round-robin group, a 1-1 draw with Argentina and 2-2 deadlock with Colombia, before losing 3-1 to Mexico in a must win match.
On the other hand, the Under-23 men’s team led by Alvin Jones were ousted from their tournament after losing big to Uruguay (4-0) and Paraguay (5-1) ahead of what was expected to be their final round-robin match at the Hamilton Soccer Stadium last night.
But that match was in jeopardy of not coming off as the Under-23s had threatened to boycott the match over what they say was unpaid match fees of US$500 promised to them by the T&TFA via its general secretary Phillip.
The Women Soca Warriors had also threatened to boycott the tournament but was advised to go to Canada by Minister Sancho, while his Ministry and the T&TFA worked on resolving the matter.
But after almost two weeks in North America and no confirmation of payments coming from the T&TFA, it was said the national Under-23 players let their feelings be known to team officials.
In addition to match fees and stipend for the two teams and officials in Canada, monies owed to the national Olympic (under-23) team and technical staff are also outstanding, with no confirmation of when and how it will be paid.
Contacted for comment, Phillip first defended the right of the players to make a request for match fees saying that prior to past teams, majority of the footballers were now professionals at clubs and needed to provide for their families.
“The entire dynamics have changed from us having a mainly amateur national team to a professional unit.
“So I don’t think it was an unfair sum, but what we have to do now is look at the system and see what can be done to ensure we get the necessary funding in a timely manner to satisfy the players and management needs to avoid any problems”, ended Phillips.
Reached here in Trinidad, Lewis said that having spoken to the T&TOC management team in Canada, in chef de mission Dianne Henderson and secretary general Annette Knott, he was confident that everything would be sorted out.
“We have a very strong and experienced T&T Olympic Committee management team in Toronto, and they have worked together with all the team managers for months in preparation for the Toronto 2015 Games, that’s how the T&TOC has always operated. As an athlete centred and focused organisation we focus a lot on creating the environment that will support the athletes, we have a history of doing that.
“Travel, accommodation and meals are all provided for in the ambit of the Pan American Games as well as medical. As a matter of fact, the senior women’s football team, which competed at the Pan American Games, currently has a few injury issues which are being addressed by the T&TOC medical team in Toronto.
“The women’s football team made a request of the T&OC for the team to stay and do some preparation ahead of their Concacaf Women’s Olympic qualifiers and we acceded to that request.
So the T&TOC has always sought to work closely with all the stakeholders to ensure that at the end of the day, the athletes best interest is served, but at the same time we operate within our means. And as I have said on previous occasions, this is the first Games we are focusing on performance based medal bonuses going forward. All of our corporate partners’ discussions now include athlete welfare aspects of it, in the context of ten or more Olympic Gold medals by the year 2024. So we have taken over the last two years a particular strategic focus and initiative and that’s why we we’re able to introduce the medal bonuses.
“But we have always found it when we have done the arithmetic and the numbers that it is not sustainable in terms of match fees and per diems and stipends and therefore it is not a policy perspective of the T&TOC at this point in time. So that while we have not received any official word to this date, the T&TTOC has not had the courtesy or the respect from the general secretary of the T&TFA Sheldon Phillips.”
He added: “Statements have been made pertinent to the Pan Am Games which is under the auspices of the T&TOC without any discussion with the T&TOC. We (T&TOC) respect the autonomy of its member organisation, but what we expect in turn is a certain modicum of respect and courtesy with games under us.
“We are hearing all sorts of things, but not a word from them (T&TFA).”
He reiterated: “I have not received an official word, not even as a point of courtesy from the general secretary of the T&TFA who continues, from what I have been hearing, to make statements relevant to the Pan Am Games that is outside of his remit.”
Asked if he has spoken with T&TFA president Raymond Tim Kee about the ongoing issue, Lewis replied, “I have ongoing conversations with the president of the T&TFA, as a matter of fact, just two weeks ago, I was in the presence of both the general secretary and the president because I served on the independent reform Commission of the T&TFA and this is why the lack of courtesy and respect in this particular matter is very disappointing.
“Because when the general secretary of the T&TFA needs to contact me for other things, he is quite ready and able to do so.
“And therefore I can form no other conclusion that a lot of the problems being created surrounding this Pan Am Games which is unprecedented have to land squarely in the lap of the T&TFA general secretary, in the absence of any official communication.”
“So what is happening is that the T&TOC is hearing things, then having to address things in the absence of official notification.
“This is happening even though there is a level of courtesy in communication that one expects and as I said this is unprecedented because we don’t have this problem I can say with any other national sporting organisation, especially the ones that are accustomed travelling with the T&TOC.”
Special athletes ready for Summer Games
The Special Olympics Trinidad and Tobago delegation departed for Los Angeles California, USA, earlier this week. Sixty-four athletes and 22 officials left in two groups to participate in the Special Olympics World Summer Games.
The T&T team will be competing in eight disciplines including aquatics, athletics, basketball, bocce, equestrian, football, power-lifting and volleyball for which they have been involved in vigorous training sessions for the past two years.
The Digicel Foundation, long-standing partner of the team, donated over $100,000 to the games and hosted a number of events to raise awareness and build support for persons with special needs. The games begin Saturday with the opening ceremony and continue until August 2.
TTOC working on Sport Governance Code
The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) is setting up a Governance Commission.
A TTOC press release on Monday stated that the Commission, established by TTOC president Brian Lewis will comprise five individuals who have no known official affiliation to any local Olympic sport organisation. Of the five persons, four are from Trinidad and Tobago and the fifth is well known Olympic sport governance expert Prof Leigh Robinson, Head of Sport Studies at the University of Stirling in Scotland.
The release said the intention of setting up the Commission was to put together a Sport Governance Code that meets international benchmarks in relation to good governance.
The TTOC said discussions with the proposed members of the Commission will conclude by the end of this month.
The Commission will begin work on the Code in August Lewis said.
The release added that the Commission will be pushing to have the Good Sport Governance Code included in the TTOC Constitution at next year’s Annual General Meeting. And the hope is that the Code will serve as a road map for Olympic sport governance in Trinidad and
Tobago.
Lewis pushing for Sport Governance Code
Over the next 14 days, Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis, will establish a local Governance Commission which will comprise of four local individuals who have no affiliation to any Olympic sporting organisation.
This commission will work towards putting together a Sport Governance Code for TT that meets the international benchmarks in relation to good governance. Lewis has already brought Olympic Sport Governance professor and head of Sport Studies at the University of Stirling in Scotland, Leigh Robinson, on board for this initiative and discussion with the other four proposed members of the Commission will be concluded by the end of July.
According to Lewis, the Commission will begin working on the Code in August since it is being hailed as a roadmap for Olympic Sport Governance in Trinidad and Tobago. The former Harvard man, who was elected as a member of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committee (CANOC) Executive Board in October 2014, is also chairman of the CANOC International and National Olympic Committees Relations Commission, and will be pushing to have the Good Sport Governance Code included in the TTOC Constitution at next year’s Annual General Meeting.
19 teams chase Tobago netball honours
The Tobago Netball League got on the way on July 11 with the traditional parade of the teams and an exhibition match that showcased a number of youngsters at Shaw Park.
The highlight of this season’s launch was the match featuring Black Rock Ballers and Jets 1 showcasing players in the age-group six to 13 years old in the Classification Tournament. Both teams boasted a number of six, seven and eight-year-olds in their line-ups and the spectators were in high praise of the toddlers’ effort in competing against the older and bigger players.
The march past saw 19 registered teams participating and only three teams were short of the minimum quota of players, seven, which they were required to parade with.
Secretary for the Division of Community Development and Culture, Dr Denise Tsoiafatt-Angus in delivering the feature address said, “Netball is one way of remaining healthy and given the level of participation from young and senior athletes in the league, one can safely conclude that the future of Tobago is in good hands.
“Beyond that, we look at the sport itself and the sport is about teamwork; and I see the women here, the women and young girls here learning how to rely on each other as part of a team, learning that there will be losing moments and you comfort each other as part of that team, there will be winning moments and you will stand shoulder to shoulder and celebrate.”
She stressed that those leadership qualities should not just be practised on the courts, but should also be taken back to homes, communities and workplaces. “If we continue to do that, we would certainly build a stronger Tobago together,” said Dr Tsoiafatt-Angus. In declaring the season officially opened, Assistant Secretary of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport, Jomo Pitt said the committee has transformed the face of netball in Tobago.