A SERIES of community sporting events is being planned for Diego Martin and its environs, starting in mid-April and running for eight weeks. Shurland Hartley, who heads the West Penn Sports and Cultural Organisation, says the objective of the series is to provide opportunities for recreational sport, and in the process, keep young people in the communities away from crime.

The largest and longest-running event will be the West Penn/RBC Youth District Football Tournament. Starting on April 12, it will be contested in two age-group divisions and run on a league basis. Eight teams are registered for the Under-16 division- Belle Vue/Bournes Road, Blue Basin/Bagatelle, Carenage/Pt Cumana United, Patna/River Estate, Petit Valley/Simeon United, St James United, St Lucien United and St Michael’s School for Boys. The same teams, minus St James and Belle Vue/Bournes Road will contest the Under-19 division.

Matches will be played at the Patna/River Estate ground, the Carenage Community Centre on Haig Street, the Belle Vue Community Centre, Diego Martin North Secondary and at Nelson Mandela Park in St Clair. RBC is footing costs associated with the running of the tournament as well as cash prizes. The champion Under-19 team will receive $5,000, while the Under-16 winners will collect $4,000.

Additionally, running enthusiasts will have their chance to participate in two events on May 10. The “Diego Run” will consist of a 5K race from the Diego Martin North Secondary School and back, as well as a half-marathon that will take runners through many of the communities. The half-marathon carries a cash prize of $6,000 for both male and female winners; when it was first run off last year, Tonya Nero and Cleveland Forde were the winners.

Hartley says that aside from RBC, the events are also receiving assistance from the Ministry of Community Development, the Sports Company (SPORTT), the Defence Force, WASA, Blue Waters and the NLCB. The football tournament opens on April 12 at the Diego Martin North Secondary School; the West Penn organisation has invited Sports Minister Brent Sancho and RBC Managing Director Darryl White to attend.

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Emmanuel Callender held off a strong challenge from teenager Jonathan Farinha to capture gold in the Falcon Games men’s 100 metres dash, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, in Port of Spain, yesterday. Callender, a two-time Olympic sprint relay medallist, clocked 10.42 seconds, while 18-year-old Farinha got home in 10.43. Suriname’s Ifrish Alberg was a distant third in 10.73.
In the qualifying round, Callender produced a wind-assisted 10.34 seconds run to advance to the final as the fastest qualifier.
Marcus Duncan was also a heat winner, and had the fastest legal time on the day, 10.36. However, Duncan did not face the starter in the championship race. Darrel Brown, meanwhile, was a non-starter in the preliminaries.
Lisa Wickham won the women’s 100m in 11.69 seconds, from Kamaria Durant (11.76) and British Virgin Islands sprinter Karene King (11.83).
Shakiel Waithe produced a superb effort in the men’s javelin, landing the spear 72.44 metres. Waithe was the winner of the event, beating his nearest rival by more than 18 metres.
Fifteen-year-old Tyriq Horsford triumphed in the boys’ under-18 javelin with an impressive 64.01m throw.
Romona Modeste crushed her rivals in the women’s 400m. Modeste came off the final turn with a commanding lead, and motored to the line for the easiest of victories. She clocked 53.98 seconds, while second-placed Kafi Ottley got home in 56.95.
Tacuma Sterling won the men’s 400m in 47.39 seconds, beating Barbadian Nicholas Deshong (47.86) into second spot.
Josanne Lucas topped the women’s 100m hurdles field in 13.78 seconds. Venezuela’s Genesis Romero was second in 13.92. On Saturday, Lucas won the 400m hurdles, while Romero was golden in the long jump.
George Smith returned a time of four minutes, 03.77 seconds to strike gold in the men’s 1500m. Smith led his Defence Force teammate Cliffton Sylvester off the final turn, and opened the gap on the straight for a comfortable victory, Sylvester taking silver in 4:04.79.
Dawnel Collymore had things all her own way in the women’s 1500m, winning the race in 4:39.08.
Andwuelle Wright produced a 7.30m leap to emerge victorious in the men’s long jump.
Akeem Stewart was the class of the men’s shot put field, the para athlete capturing the top spot with a 17.94m throw. On Saturday, Stewart produced a 56.40m effort to win the discus.
Teenager Chelsea James threw 43.21m to win yesterday’s women’s discus event, following up on her runner-up finish in Saturday’s shot put. James threw the iron ball 13.70m. Her fellow-junior, Portious Warren was the winner with an impressive 14.88m throw.
Another junior athlete, Omari Benoit cleared the bar at 2.05m to win the men’s high jump title. And Livan Reyes emerged victorious in another Saturday event, the Cuban topping the men’s 5,000m field in 14:39.21. Jules La Rode finished second in 15:57.13.

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REVERED WEST Indies fast bowler Sir Curtly Ambrose believes the region can still produce world-class players and return to the “glory days” of West Indies cricket.

Speaking yesterday at the Sports Desk Secondary Schools Symposium at the Cascadia Hotel in St Ann’s, students sought his opinion on the long-lasting decline of the regional team.

Ambrose, who took 405 Test wickets in a 15-year international career, admitted that the situation was “painful.” The 51-year-old, who very recently returned with the regional squad from the ICC World Cup pointed to regional administrators and the WICB (West Indies Cricket Board) in particular for the situation.

“The West Indies Board and the territorial boards have to take most of the blame,” he answered. “Why? Because when we were the best team in the world, nothing was ever done to nurture the talent. We have tons of talented people. The talent is there, but nothing was ever done.

“The Board sat back and they believed we would forever produce great cricketers. Other nations put things in place; academies were set up and they caught up with us, and now they’ve gone way past us, and we are paying a serious price for that. So we need to create a structure and put things in place to nurture the talent, and I’m quite sure if we do that, we’ll see a resurgence of West Indies cricket.”

Perhaps in reference to the inconsistencies of some of today’s leading regional players, Ambrose confessed he was never one to sit down on his laurels. “Always challenge yourself to do better than before,” he declared. “If I took five wickets today, I would not sit back and say, okay, I’m doing good, I’ll settle for that.” Ambrose, along with fellow West Indies legends Sir Andy Roberts and Sir Richie Richardson, were knighted in their native Antigua in February of last year.

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SIR Curtly Ambrose had a simple message for dozens of students at the Cascadia Hotel in St Ann’s yesterday — pursue your full education and work hard to achieve your dreams.

The legendary West Indies fast bowler was making the feature address at the opening of the 16th Secondary Schools Leadership Symposium, for which the theme was “Think big, start small.” The annual event, conceived and organised by “The Sports Desk,” seeks to encourage purpose and excellence in the young people of the nation while they are still attending school.

Throughout his brief address, Ambrose frequently expressed his regret that he did not complete his secondary education. Asked by one student what she should do, as her parents kept pressing her to work hard at school, the six-foot-eight Antiguan replied that she ought do just that, and to please her mother, who he surmised was only seeking her (the student’s) interest.

“Get yourself a proper education,” he insisted, “education, to me, is key to success.”

Ambrose explained that he quit school in Third Form because his father, who resided in the United States, was “not close” to them, and he figured that he (Curtly) needed to get a job and help his mother and six siblings.

Back then, he implied, one could obtain gainful employment with limited education. “It’s not so today,” Ambrose admonished his audience. “You need to go all out to get that education.”

Speaking about the pursuit of excellence, Sir Curtly reflected on his career, reminding the audience that he had never wanted to play cricket.

“But,” he added, “my driving force is I’m a very, very proud man, and everything I do, I want to be the best.” Ambrose said that so it was that four years after he started playing club cricket in Antigua, he was selected for the West Indies in 1988. In 98 Tests, he took 405 wickets at a cost of 8,501 runs.

“I knew they were the best team in the world,” he explained, “and I never wanted to be the weak link. My pride wouldn’t allow me to be second-best.”

Relating his advice to the topic, “think big, start small,” he said everything starts with a dream. “You set yourself goals,” he told his attentive listeners, “and you work extremely hard to achieve those goals. It’s not going to be easy, but if you’re committed, and you make sacrifices and you believe in what you’re doing, at the end of the day you will make it.”

He also advised them to “use negative comments as inspiration” and transform them into positives. “There’s nothing sweeter than proving people wrong.”

As he wound up his address, Ambrose had a parting word of advice that betrayed the gentle side of the man regarded in his time as one of the world’s most fearsome fast bowlers: “When you finally get to the top, always be willing to lend a helping hand to those who are still on the path.”

Ambrose just recently returned from the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where he was the West Indies’ bowling coach. He was originally invited by Guardian Sports Editor Valentino Singh to speak last year, but could not attend. The four-day symposium ends on Thursday.

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