Joshua Solomon-Davies

Joshua Solomon-Davies won sprint titles in Saint Lucia and the United Kingdom in 2009. But these days the youngster has turned his attention to football.

Joshua, who lives in the UK, plays at right back for the Wirral Schoolboys. The team comprises kids from schools in the city of Wirral, one of 60 communities that takes part in the English Schools FA Cup.

On Saturday at Sheffield University’s Norton Playing Fields, Wirral were taking on Sheffield in the ESFA semifinal. The scores were level at 2-2 late in the game, when up popped Joshua to make it 3-2 Wirral.

This is the first time Wirral has made the ESFA final since 1912. Their win over Sheffield comes on the heels of victories over Preston, Nottingham, Bury, Manchester and Stockton on Tees.

But there’s no rest for the winner. Joshua will be back in action on Sunday. It’s his weekend routine, as he plays schoolboy football on Saturday and then turns out the following day for Tranmere Rovers.

Earlier this season, Rovers had another Saint Lucian, Janoi Donacien, on loan in their senior setup. Joshua, though, plays for the under-16′s although he is younger than most of his teammates.

In fact, the young man from Gros Islet has so impressed observers that he has had trials with Premier League team Everton. Wherever his path takes him, he will bring high energy, pace and athleticism.

To be fair, though, football is in the blood for Joshua. His grandfather, Carlos ‘Ball’ Southwell was a well known footballer for Shamrock and Saint Lucia in the 70′s when they won the Popham Trophy.

Wirral celebrate Josh’s winner!

Nyanka Joseph at American champs.

NEW YORK – The University of Connecticut women’s track and field team won the second-ever American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship on Saturday at The Armory in New York City.

UConn concluded the meet with 108 points, edging out UCF (86.5) and SMU (83).

Joseph

The title marks UConn’s third indoor conference crown after winning Big East indoor titles in 2008 and 2009.

One of the key contributors for UConn was senior Nyanka Joseph, a Saint Lucian sprinter. In the 400m dash final, she picked up five points with her fourth-place finish in 54.67 seconds. Teammate Deysha Smith-Jenkins checked in in sixth with a 54.86 second result.

Joseph stopped the clock at 24.20 and Smith-Jenkins at 24.74 in the 200m dash, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

But her 200m performance had added significance, as the Huskies team captain ran 24.15 in the preliminaries. That time broke Verneta Lesforis’ 1999 Nationla Record of 24.19, one of the oldest Saint Lucian records.

“It was a blessing to see everyone come together as a unit, execute our plans, and to be someone who helped score in two events was the cherry on top,” said Nyanka. “I’m super happy and look forward to outdoor.”

UConn Huskies Celebrate

PRESS RELEASE - The St. Lucia football Association Inter-Districts Under 15 and Royal Club Under 23 Competitions continued on the weekend with games playing in the different Districts.

In the Inter –District Under 15 Competition final preliminary games were played in the Southern Zone on Saturday 28th February at the Dames Playing Field in Vieux Fort.  The First game featured Soufriere vs Vieux Fort North.  At the end of the game the results was 0-0.

The 2nd game featured Laborie vs Vieux Fort South.  At the end of the game Laborie won over Vieux Fort South 4 goal to 2.

The Royal Club Under 23 Competition continued with the following games:

On Sunday 1st March in the Southern Zone at the Dames Playing Field in Vieux Fort,  Soufriere defeated Choiseul 3 goals to 1 and Vieux Fort South defeated Laborie 4-0

In the Western Zone at the Anse La Ray Playing Field on Sunday 1st March, Canaries won over Roseau 4 -0  and Anse La Ray won over South Castries 4-2.

In the Eastern Zone at the Deruisseaux Playing Field on Sunday 1st March, Dennery won over Mon Repos 3-1 and Mabouya Valley won over Micoud 3-1.

The Tournament in the Southern Zone will continue on Wednesday 4th March with two games featuring Vieux Fort North vs Soufriere at the Dames Playing Field and Laborie vs Choiseul at the Augier Playing Field.

Pernal Williams (yellow).

A 31-member locally-based squad has been named to begin preparations for three upcoming football encounters.

The team is led by Footballer of the Year, defender Sheldon Emmanuel of Vieux Fort North. Experienced goalkeeper Randy Poleon is back in the fold, along with Magnum Valcin, talented young Castries defender Emmery Edward, Gros Islet attackers Troy Greenidge and Eden ‘Eve’ Charles, and Desruisseaux striker Gerlanne Neptune.

The squad will be supplemented by seven overseas players, including five plying their trade in the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League. From W Connection, the national team will call on attacker Tremain Shayn Paul, midfielder Malik St Prix and fullback Kurt Frederick.

Forward Lester Joseph and defender Jamil Joseph will join the squad from Caledonia AIA. Pernal Williams will come in from L’Aiglon of Martinique, and Zachaeus Polius will join the side from Antigua-Barbuda.

Under head coach Francis ‘Baba’ Lastic, the men’s team is preparing for the home-and-away FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 qualifier against Antigua-Barbuda in June.

Kurt Frederick celebrates his first-half goal.

Prior to that, they will defend the Windward Islands title they won last season from the end of April to early May. That tournament will be played in Saint Lucia. In advance of those competitive engagements, Saint Lucia is set to play Guyana in Guyana towards the end of March.

The national squad will train on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 4:30pm at Gros Islet.

Full local complement as follows:

Randy Poleon

Alton Robert

Sabbatus Hunte

Rickson Augustin

Sheldon Emmanuel

Gervan Janvier

Erick Gabriel

Everton Lambert

Romiel Felix

Levi Francis

Nyhime Gilbert

Magnum Valcin

Eden Charles

Gerlanne Neptune

Vernan Abbott

Melvin Aurelien

Troy Greenidge

Emmery Edward

Jason Similien

Shawn Evans

Johnathan Symphorien

Valdez Maximin

Travis Thomas

Danil Denis

Rommel Hippolyte

Kingsley Henry

Dwayne Jn Baptiste

Shimron Demille

John Perry Joseph

Akid Modeste

Sadic Bertin

Jamil Joseph (left), Pernal-Williams (right).

A 28-year-old former police officer is making a bit of a name for himself as a footballer in Northern Ireland.

Jerry Philip moved from Saint Lucia four years ago. A native of Piaye, he played football for Plice, Laborie FC, Piaye and Choiseul. He’s participated in the Blackheart Knockout Tournament for Choiseul, whilst working at the Laborie police station.

Since moving to Northern Ireland, however, Jerry has linked up with Banbridge Rangers. Banbridge compete in the fourth tier of football, in a league called the Daily Mirror Mid Ulster Football League Intermediate A, just below the three national leagues.

From all reports, the Saint Lucian import has made quite an impact with his goalscoring exploits. So far, he has nine goals in 11 league games.

Not coincidentally, Banbridge are unbeaten in their last eight league games, and near the top of the league. They presently sit third out of 12 teams, within striking distance of second, although only the league champions can be promoted.

With their sharpshooting Saint Lucian ace performing so well this season, though, the 10-year-old club is thoroughly enjoying its rich patch of form.

Rosen Daniel, Abilene Christian (Southland Conference)

Abilene Christian junior Rosen Daniel has been announced as the Southland Conference’s Newcomer of the Year for the 2015 Indoor Track and Field season.

A transfer from Coppin State, and an alumnus of St Mary’s College in Saint Lucia, Daniel scored 22 points for the fifth-place Wildcats, who tied with Northwestern State with 50 points – a 24-point improvement from last winter.

Rosen won the 200-meter dash in 21.32 seconds over New Orleans’ Constant Pretorius, finished third in the 400m (47.01) behind SFA’s Cass Brown-Stewart and Sam Houston’s Rodney Jones, and ran the second leg for a third-place 1600m relay that completed its course in 3:12.51.

Daniel was joined on the relay by Devan Brown, Osei Allyene-Forte and Deandre McBride.

Daniel, freshman Kimone Green and senior Daniel Block, today were officially named to the all-conference first team in recognition of their respective victories. Green won the women’s 400m behind a personal record of 55.24 that makes her ninth-fastest all-time performer at ACU, while Block won the 800m with a PR of 1:50.01, ranking him as the seventh fastest performer in Wildcat history.

Green additionally made the all-conference second team in the 200m (24.39) and third team with the 4×400-meter relay of Petrene Plummer, Taylor Yantis and Jessica James (3:45.65).

Plummer, a freshman from Troy, Jamaica, earned three all-conference third-team citations as she also captured bronze in the 800m (2:14.94) and with the distance medley relay (12:04.41) of Diana Garcia-Munoz, Jessica James and Alexandria Hackett.

Joining Daniel and Block on the list of all-conference honorees were freshman Kai Schmidt, who made third team in the shot put (51-11.00) and the second place distance medley relay of Block, Allyene-Forte, Sterlen Paul and Ryan Cleary (10:07.63).

A very busy Viannie George saves from point-blank range.

After an 0-6 loss, it might seem counter-intuitive to say that the goalkeeper was probably man of the match for the losing team. But playing behind a backline revamped from the opening loss to Costa Rica, Saint Lucia’s Viannie George faced an incredible 30 shots in the island nation’s Tuesday game against Mexico, the second for both teams at the CONCACAF Under-17 Championships, being held at the Olimpico Metropolitano Stadium, San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

For most of the first half, the vastly inexperienced Saint Lucians held off the Tricolor, looking to maintain their 19-game unbeaten streak at this level.

Finally, though, in the 42nd minute, the Saint Lucian resistance broke. Ulises Torres headed Mexico into a 1-0 lead off a Pablo Lopez corner, one of 11 corners won by the North Americans.

With only an Albertini Philip shot to their credit going in to halftime, Saint Lucia could well have counted themselves fortunate not to be down more. Mexico had two goals called back for offsides, and they were caught behind the Saint Lucian back four on five occasions in all.

In the second stanza, Kevin Magana scored in the 58th minute, and José Gurrola in the 61st. A minute later, midfielder Nyrone Winter was subbed off to bring on defensive cover in the person of Anton Paul.

In the 71st minute Saint Lucia conceded what appeared to be a harsh penalty. But George guessed right, flying to his left to palm the ball away. It appeared the football gods might have some small mercy for Saint Lucia.

Unfortunately, Kevin Lara beggared that notion within 60 seconds. He was culpable in the penalty save, but he put matters to right to become the fourth different scorer for the defending champions.

With 14 minutes remaining in regulation, José Gurrola scored again to make it 5-0 Mexico. Midfielder Bradley Cyril went off for forward Jamie Prospere, and it looked as if that would be all she wrote.

With five minutes of time added on, however, there was still time for Ulises Torres to score on a broken from a long free kick into the box.

Mexico have now extended their CONCACAF U-17 Championship unbeaten run to 20 consecutive games, including 10 straight wins. Saint Lucia next face Panama, who earlier handed Caribbean champions Haiti an unbelievable 7-0 drubbing. That game is set for Friday evening.

Eduardo Aguirre with one of 30 Mexican shots on the night.

Viannie George called into action again.

PRESS RELEASE - The Community of Mongouge, Morne Sion – through the Mongouge Development Committee will be hosting the Annual Mongouge Road Relay Marathon which will culminate on the Mongouge Multipurpose Court on Sunday, March 15, 2015.

Among other things, the activity is designed to achieve the following:

-              Promote healthy lifestyle;

-              Foster community-wide integration; and

-              Continue the process of community development in Mongouge and Morn Sion – an initiative of the Ministry of Social Transformation.

The Road-relay will be from Mongouge through Morne Sion, the Village up to Dacretin and ends at the Mongouge Court via Victoria covering a total of 17 Km.  Special sporting activities will continue on the Mongouge Court.

Activities will commence at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 7:00 p.m.

All interests clubs are welcome to register.  Please contact the following committee members for further information:

Anika Jean: 519-6669/584-4449, Arthur Eugene: 724-8186, Leanda Peter 486-5993

Or Email: mongouge2014@outlook.com

PRESS RELEASE - The St. Lucia football Association Inter-Districts Royal Club Under 23 Competitions continued on Wednesday 4th March in the different Districts.

In the Western Zone at the Anse La Ray Playing Field one game featured Roseau vs South Castries.  At the end of the 1st half the score was 0-0.

South Castries took the lead in the 71st minutes with a penalty goal from Yanick Henry.  Roseau equalised with a goal from Zack Dornally in the 88th minutes.  At the end of the game the score was 1-1.

In the Southern Zone at the Dames Playing Field Soufriere won over Vieux Fort North 3-2 and at the Augier Playing Field Choiseul won over Laborie 2-1.

PRESS RELEASE - The rescheduled first ever FIBA Endorsed 3×3 basketball in the Caribbean is all geared to tipoff as previously advertised this coming Sunday March 8th, at the Vigie Multipurpose Sports Complex from 9am.

The Saint Lucia Basketball Federation (SLBF) in collaboration with presenting sponsor KFC is finalizing preparations to host the most significant 3×3 event to be hosted on island.

According to President of the St. Lucia Basketball Federation Mr. Leslie Collymore “it’s with deep regret that the tournament had to be pushed back two weeks due to the unavailability of FIBA Representative Mr. Rodriguez”.

He continued, “It was mandated by our governing body (FIBA) that the first ever 3X3 planet endorsed tournament be conducted with the presence of the FIBA Official but more importantly his services was required to facilitate the 3×3 clinic one day prior to the tournament”.

FIBA Representative Mr. Rodriguez arrives on Friday and the clinic is now scheduled for this Saturday March 7th at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College Conference Room.

Invited attendees comprising of coaches, affiliates, referees and officials, media and 3×3 team representatives, will get the opportunity to learn: the history and progression of 3X3, the new rules, player development, event management / promotion and much more in both theorhetical and practical applications.

The Independence 3×3 event will showcase for the first time three (3) divisions featuring the Ladies, U17 boys and Senior Men categories.  Registrations had been extended due to the postponement and will now officially close on Thursday March 5th, 2015.

Public Relations Officer of the SLBF Mr. Neil Joseph added “the reopening of registrations now offers an opportunity for increased participation from interested persons who had prior engagements with the number of Independence activities on February 22nd; this may very well be a blessing in disguise”.

The SLBF is indeed honored to be given this opportunity to partner with FIBA Americas to execute this globally endorsed event. This endorsement by FIBA 3X3 planet marks a tremendous achievement for the development of the sport on the island.

Other events scheduled for the day will be the Slam dunk competition, 3 point shoot-out and free throws competition.  The general public is invited to the Vigie Sports Complex to be treated to entertaining fast paced 3×3 Basketball and to be part of history as the first ever 3×3 FIBA Endorsed tournament launches in the Caribbean.  A token entrance fee of $5.00 will be accepted upon admission.

Persons interested in registering can do so by contacting any member of the SLBF or the 3×3 Commissioner Mr. Jonathan Cox via email at jcox@stluciabasketball.com or 484-9395 on or by Thursday March 5th, 2015.

Additionally, persons can register their team online using the following link http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk+a07eagzcxv7442a78dd&llr+wsvxeybab.  Persons needing more information can also visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/slbfed.

Joseph Clercent (digging) and Julian Bissette.

Saint Lucia’s senior Men’s National Beach Volleyball Team, Julian Bissette and Joseph Clercent, has qualified for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

In 2014, Saint Lucia playing relatively few North American, Central American and Caribbean (NORCECA) Tour Events, but Joe and Julian’s exploits in 2012 and 2013 were sufficient to ensure that they qualified for this prestigious event.

Beach volleyball was Saint Lucia’s first team sport to qualify for an international multi-sport competition, in 2010, making it to that year’s Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. In 2014, the men’s team placed sixth at the CAC Games.

Currently, Joe and Julian are playing professional volleyball in the Greece first division for Club MENT, where they are both now getting quite a bit of playing time, with Julian recently gaining a spot on the 2014 Greece All Star Team. He is the second-ranked attacker and blocker in the league.

Kevin Deligny.

The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats men’s tennis team snapped a five-match losing streak on Sunday, with a 7-2 decision over St Thomas.

It was the second victory this season for BCU, against five losses.

Saint Lucian sophomore Kevin Deligny was instrumental in the win. He won at number 4, beating Joshua Rosner 6-1, 6-3.

He also teamed up with Walid Gtari to win the number one doubles match 8-4 over Juan Bravo and Grover Ordonez.

In other results from the match, Bravo beat Gtari 6-3, 6-2 at number one singles. Gilbert Rotich evened things up by beating Ordonez 6-1, 7-5.

Alvaro Barrera then took the lead for BCU, defeating Luis Soto 6-4, 6-2, before Deligny extended the advantage at number four.

Ariel Listo threatened a comeback for St Thomas, getting the better of Diego Garavito 7-5, 1-0, before the Wildcat man retired. But Pablo Lopez won over Jamie Spruill 6-2, 6-2 to make it 4-2 BCU in singles competition.

Following Gtari and Deligny’s doubles win, which sealed the contest for BCU, Garavito and Rotich beat Listo and Soto in a hard-fought 9-8 contest, and Greg Almeida and Pablo Lopez topped Spruill and Rosner 8-5.

Adrian Albert.

The Independence Day Classic Table Tennis Championships continued over the weekend at the Beausejour Indoor facility.

Zoya Jn Marie of Ave Maria Girls Primary, Abigail Nicholas, Mia George and Joanna Theodore, all of St Joseph’s Convent, contested the girls under 13 semifinals.

Nicholas dismissed Theodore in straight sets 11-8, 11-3, 11-3. George whitewashed Jn Marie in straight sets, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9. The all-SJC final saw Mia George beating Abigail Nicholas 11-6, 15-13, 11-3 to win her third under-13 title.

In the boys under-13 Coel Doctrove, Jelanie Desauzay, Jordan Hunte and Joshua Devaux made the semis. Under-11 champion Desauzay lost to primary schools champion Hunte in the first semi, 6-11, 5-11, 19-21.

Deveaux then won over Doctorve 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7.  Hunte added the Independence title to his schools title, getting the best of Devaux 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9.

In the under-15 girls, Junior Female Table Tennis Player of the Year, Cherese Darcheville ran through all her opponents in straight sets except in the finals when she defeated Mia George 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4 in an all-SJC affair to win her sixth straight under-15 title. Petreuse Edwards and Zoya Jn Marie finished third and fourth respectively.

Mia George, Under-13 champion.

The boys under-15 was very competitive. The top four boys were Jason Loncke, Sunil Chitolie, Mario St Cyr and 2014 Junior Male Table Tennis Player of the Year Andrew Daniels.

Daniels ran through Loncke 11-2, 11-2, 11-7. St Cyr played a five-game thriller when he shocked fellow Samarian Chitolie 11-7, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5. St Cyr held his form to surprise defending champion Daniels in another five-game thriller 8-11, 15-13, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5.

Sunday’s action also saw some of Saint Lucia’s best adult players in action. In the semifinals were Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States champion Adrian Albert Jr, 2014 champion Bertlan Shepherd, Saint Lucia’s number 1 ranked male player, Chris Wells, and former OECS, Windward Islands and French Antilles champion Teddy Matthews.

Adrian Albert.

The semifinal action saw Albert winning over Matthews 11-5, 11-3, 5-11, 11-7. The other semifinal match saw Shepherd edging out Wells in a five-game thriller 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 11-6. In the finals Albert played exceptionally well to beat Shepherd 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7.

Nick Elibox.

Nick Elibox starred with bat and ball as Castries Comprehensive beat Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports Massy United Insurance Under 19 Schools Cricket Tournament.

The competition continued on Wednesday at the Gros Islet Playing Field. The game was reduced to 35 overs a side due to the a late start forced by early morning showers.

Batting first, Sir Arthur Lewis was restricted to 136 for 7. Adeju Hobson top scored with 47, Allian Ashby added 31. Elibox took two wickets for an economical 13 runs in his maxium seven overs, Ardil Barlow took two for 32 in five overs.

Chasing 137 for victory, Castries Comprehensive made 139, losing four wickets in the process and attaining the target with 12 overs to spare. Elibox smashed 74, including six boundaries and six maximum hits. Jamie Mathurin took two wickets and CCSS won by six wickets.

The tournament continues on Thursday with Babonneau Secondary against Ciceron Secondary at Gros Islet; CARE taking on Corinth Secondary at Monchy; Soufriere Comprehensive hosting Piaye Secondary; and George Charles Secondary versus Anse Ger Secondary at Dennery Playing Field.

Saint Lucia and West Indies allrounder Darren Sammy has agreed a short-term deal with Nottinghamshire to play in this season’s NatWest T20 Blast. Sammy, West Indies’ T20 captain, will fly in for a brief spell at Trent Bridge between stints in the Indian Premier League and Caribbean Premier League.

Nottinghamshire already have South Africa’s Vernon Philander on board for the first two months of the season, after which Ben Hilfenhaus will take over.

Saint Lucia’s Sportsman Of The Year for 2014 will fill the second overseas slot during a two-week period in which Notts play four Blast matches, from 31 May 31 to 12 June. He could also return for the knockouts, if Notts qualify.

England’s schedule is likely to deprive Nottinghamshire of two of their key limited-overs performers in June, when five ODIs and a T20 are scheduled against New Zealand, and Mick Newell, the county’s director of cricket, believes Sammy can help plug the gap.

“We’ve got to look at the summer in terms of where and when we might lose players to international cricket,” Newell said. “There’s a period in June where we could lose James Taylor and Alex Hales to international cricket and therefore we need to strengthen up the team at that time.

“It’s a gap between the IPL and the Caribbean Premier League where Darren was available and keen to play. He’s an explosive Twenty20 player, with a reputation around the world for being a good player and a good bloke. We’re looking forward to welcoming him to the team and hope he can help us achieve a good season in the NatWest T20 Blast.”

Sammy is one of the most powerful lower-order strikers in the game, scoring at 152.99 in T20 internationals while chipping in with his medium-pace bowling. He made his only Test century at Trent Bridge on West Indies’ tour of 2012, a time when he was captain in all three formats.

He was bought for £300,000 by Royal Challengers Bangalore in this year’s IPL auction and will captain Saint Lucia Zouks in the CPL. Last year, he played six matches for Glamorgan in the Blast.

Stanislaus

Vinus Stanislaus and Kamillah Monroque are officially the fastest schoolboy and schoolgirl on the Saint Lucian roads. The two were the winners of the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports Inter-School Road Race last week.

One of the peculiarities of the race results, as schools gear up for the Inter-School Track and Field Championships at the George Odlum Stadium and Beausejour Stadium in coming days, was the dominance of the younger athletes.

Vinus, from Anse Ger Secondary, won the race in 26 minutes, 16.13 seconds. He was also the winner in Division 2, for under-18 boys. Of the top 10 finishers, eight were from Division 2 or lower.

Torry Richelieu of Sir Ira Simmons Secondary and Jude William of Clendon Mason were second and third overall. Both compete in Division 2. The top runner in Division 1, Grande Riviere Secondary’s Milan Degazon, was fourth overall. The firth, sixth and seventh placed boys all came from Division 2, whilst the Division 1 silver medalist, Camrand Henry of Soufriere Comprehensive, was eighth.

Among the girls, the disparity was even further pronounced. Representing Babonneau Secondary, CARIFTA contender Monroque ran 33:13:42 to beat Choiseul Secondary’s Andrea Gittens by over a minute. Kettina Joseph of Micoud Secondary was nearly two minutes further back in third.

Monroque

Notably, the top six girls across the line were from Division 3, comprising under-16 competitors. The next three, Batrina St Croix (Sir Ira Simmons), Jenna Mitchel (Choiseul) and Udoka Constantine (Soufriere Comprehensive) were all from Division 2.

The race route of approximately 7.9km included La Ressource, Cantonement, La Tourney, Black Bay and the St Jude Highway in Vieux Fort. Starting outside the Vieux Fort Comprehensive Schiool La Ressource, the runners headed towards Windward and Leeward Brewery, up to the Cantonment playing field, behind the Brewery, through Black Bay, down the Laborie-Vieux Fort Highway, past the Vieux Fort Fire Station, back onto St Jude Highway, onto the La Ressource road and ending at the La Ressource Playing Field.

Schools were allowed to enter a maximum of two athletes in each category and division resulting in a maximum of 16 athletes per school. 69 boys and 58 girls took part in the event, out of a possible maximum of over 300 athletes.

Given that the Ministry road race was scheduled during the second term, when some schools were still having their road races, and others are having their inter-house track and field competitions, the relatively poor participation is understandable.

One obvious solution to this would be to move road racing to the first term, freeing up more athletes to get involved, including athletes from different disciplines who would be able to use the race for cardiovascular conditioning. The Ministry could then posibly end the term with the inter-school contest.

PRESS RELEASE - The St. Lucia football Association Inter-Districts Royal Club Under 23 Competitions continues this weekend with the following games to be played in the different Districts.

In the Western Zone at the Anse La Ray Playing Field on Saturday 7th March, one game will be played featuring south Castries vs Canaries at 4.00 p.m.

In the Southern Zone at the Dames Playing Field on Saturday 7th March Laborie will face Soufriere at 4.00 p.m. and the action will continue on Sunday 8th March at the Dames Playing Field with two games featuring Vieux Forth south vs Choiseul at 2.00 p.m. and Vieux Fort North vs Laborie at 4.00 p.m.  The games will continue in the Southern Zone on Tuesday 10th March with one game at the Dames Playing Field featuring Laborie vs Soufriere at 4.00 p.m.

In the Eastern Zone at the Desruisseaux Playing Field on Sunday 8th March two games will be played with the 1st featuring Dennery vs Mabouya Valley at 2.00 p.m. and Desruisseaux vs Micoud at 4.00 p.m.

Panama celebrates after scoring.

Saint Lucia got on the scoresheet for the first time in the CONCACAF Under-17 Championships on Friday night against Panama, but ended up suffering a third consecutive loss nonetheless.

With forward Noah ‘Lucky’ Nicholas looking lively again, it was strike partner Albertini Philip who netted in the 12th minute for Saint Lucia, blasting past custodian Javier Cruz off a rebound from a Nyrone Winter shot.

Within six minutes, though, the Caribbean team had a major turnaround in fortunes. Influential midfielder Lael Cherry succumbed to injury for the second time this tournament, and was replaced by Antoine Wilfred. Then Ronaldo Córdoba took advantage of some sloppy defending to find the back of the net twice within a minute, giving the Central Americans the lead.

Córdoba completed his hat trick in the 33rd minute, and Oliver Beckles added to the Saint Lucian misery with a goal three minutes further in. The Saint Lucians, who had started so brightly, were behind by a 5-1 scoreline at the half.

A slightly more even second half saw a Saint Lucia, who had been pounded in their two previous second halves by Costa Rica and Mexico, holding the deficit and attempting bravely to cut into it on several occasions.

Instead, George Picart extended the lead in the 74th minute, only for Nicholas to pop up in the box eight minutes from time to notch Saint Lucia’s second goal.

The Saint Lucians gave up just 10 shots, but allowed their opponents to be far too efficient. For their part, the six shots taken by the boys from the islands were the most they had strung together in their three games to date.

After giving up six against Mexico, the Saint Lucians had made a change in goal, with Andre Gustav coming in for Viannie George, only to concede the same number of goals on a third as many shots. The Saint Lucians did suffer 21 fouls, putting them at the top of the league table with 43 fouls won.

The next game for Team Saint Lucia is against Canada on Monday.

Dave Cameron will head the WICB till 2017. Photo credit: WICB Media Photo/Randy Brooks.

ESPN - Dave Cameron has been re-elected WICB president for a second term, till 2017, after the Jamaican defeated his sole challenger, former West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner, with a convincing 8 votes to 4 margin.

Cameron further stamped his authority when his deputy Emmanuel Nanthan won the vice-presidency elections for the second successive time, defeating Trinidad & Tobago businessman Baldath Mahabir also by an 8-4 margin.

The elections, which were held in Kingston on Saturday as part of the WICB annual general meeting, assumed particular importance since Cameron had received a lot of criticism for his handling of West Indies’ pull-out from the India tour last year.

Players, both current and former, and politicians, including prime ministers in the Caribbean, wanted Cameron to take the responsibility for the India debacle and resign after Dwayne Bravo and his team decided to abandon the tour midway into the ODI series last October. Consequently, the BCCI slapped a $42.7 million claim on the WICB, to cover damages from the loss of revenue.

The relations between the WICB and the players became extremely strained and it all came out in the open after Chris Gayle questioned the Clive Lloyd-led selection panel’s decision to omit Bravo and Kieron Pollard from the World Cup squad. Gayle was pulled up by the WICB disciplinary panel even as the team was in the middle of the World Cup campaign.

Despite the growing criticism, though, Cameron remained steadfast during their campaign, the Cameron camp proudly listing their achievements: installing a professional franchise structure at the domestic level, improving relations with the West Indies Players Association, and putting in place a fresh memorandum of understanding with the players that should lend financial security to not just the internationals but also to players from the regional teams.

Cameron’s detractors, meanwhile, said that under Cameron’s watch the WICB had lost respect, especially in the eyes of powerful BCCI. Garner, in his manifesto, said he wanted to help West Indies cricket strengthen its base and climb up the ladder once again. But Garner, who was nominated by his native Barbados Cricket Association and supported by the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, was aware of Cameron’s dominance.

Leading up to the elections, Cameron had secured the support of four WICB members – Guyana, Windward Islands, Leeward Island and his home country, Jamaica. Garner’s camp hoped that people might change their mind on voting day, but it did not happen.