By Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#Jamaica, June 5, 2023 – FIFA launched a Football for Schools Workshop in Montego Bay Jamaica, a collaboration between FIFA and UNESCO to educate, develop, and empower about 700 million children globally; this makes Jamaica the first nation in the Concacaf region to host a FIFA Football for Schools programme.

Under the initiative, FIFA member associations from the region who are participating, will receive a one-time  payment of US$50,000 to fund their individual programmes under the guidance of key objectives including a result-based management framework and theory of change.  These are expected to foster the development of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive skills.

Fatimata Sow Sidibe, FIFA’s Football for Schools director, in giving an overview of the Programme expressed that a component of it will be results-based monitoring, and to this, part of the US$50,000 will be allocated.

She continued to say, “the monitoring and evaluation will offer the scope for FIFA and UNESCO to collate and analyse data, and refine data collection tools, collate data from all schools and share with FIFA/UNESCO.”

Sidibe further explained that through the Programme, four life-skills themes will be achieved which are, Personal understanding, Relationships, Living in the wider world, and Health and Well-being.

Additionally, she highlighted special components; a free digital application, an online learning platform with relevant content for programme stakeholders and the provision of equipment (including size four Adidas footballs).

Michael Ricketts, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Football Federation’s (JFF) president shone light on the initiative, saying it will be of great help to maladjusted children.

“This will help dysfunctional boys and girls … it will offer an opportunity to address the social well-being of this group,” he said.

“We must applaud the role that ISSA has been playing over the years in developing talents and this initiative will greatly boost what has already been done,” he continued.

Sidibe emphasized this, pointing out that it will foster the global  expansion of football and aid the participants to become global citizens.

“We want every child across the world to have the opportunity to play football through the 211 members associations and in doing so, we want them to learn and develop important life skills,” added Sidibe.

The FIFA delegation as well as the representatives of various regional associations from Concacaf, were  warmly welcomed by Leroy Williams, Montego Bay Mayor.

Williams also gave props to sport as a “unifying force,” bringing the world together, alluding to the event.

#TurksandCaicos, May 15, 2023 – As Women in Sports (WIS) continue to celebrate 10 years of existence in the Turks and Caicos Islands they continue to empower and motivate young girls in Sports through the program “ATHLETE OF THE QUARTER.”

Ms. DIERIANNA WILLIAMS was the first female to be named MVP in Rugby. It all took place at the Inter High School Rugby Championships earlier this year when she played a significant role in bringing her school…H.J. STALLIONS to victory. She was also named MVP of the Championships.

She received a plaque and special T-Shirt in her honor sponsored by First Lady, Mrs. Delthia Russell-Misick who has been sponsoring the gifts to all the Athletes.

Mr. Austin Dickenson the coach from inception played a major role in the celebration and spoke to the Athletes on their journey from some 11 years ago.  He presented DIERIANNA with gifts on behalf of the Rugby Association.

The Women in Sports showered DIERIANNA with gifts, words of encouragement and a small social in her honour that was attended by her family members,  her fellow Rugby Athletes and Members of the Anglican Church Youth group who assisted in celebrating this special moment.

The WIS invites other young women to join this Sports group as they worked towards Gender Equality in Sports Administration and participation.

Ms. Sharon Simons 

President, Women in Sports

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks & Caicos Islands: After Beaches Turks and Caicos Cricket Club (BTC CC) brushed aside Jaguars Cricket Club in a tense top of the table clash in the TCI Business House T20 Cricket competition at the Gustavus Lightbourne Sports Complex in Providenciales, Sidue Hunter, winning captain praised the consistency of his charges for the win.

Replying to Jaguars 130 all out in 17 overs, BTC CC cruised to a comfortable nine wicket win to top the points table of the competition.

Scores: Jaguars 130 all out (17 overs); BTC CC 132-1 (18.5 overs)

With this victory, BTC CC has taken sole leadership of the competition with two wins from three games played. All-rounder Anthony ‘Moses’ McKnight was man of the match, grabbing three wickets with his right-arm spin and hitting a patient 46 not out to nullify the motivated Jaguars’ bowling line up.

“This Beaches team is filled with talent and has a positive approach to any challenge from other teams. We have a ‘never give up’ attitude and this has enabled us to gel as a team and face whatever encounter that we experience. Our team has a number of high quality all-rounders who can deliver with the bat and ball on any given occasion, and today, Claude Williams and Anthony McKnight showed up with the ball. McKnight and Mario Smith (48) delivered well with the bat as they ensured that we claimed our second consecutive victory in this competition,” Hunter shared.

“It was a tricky game as the Jaguars raced into an early lead with some offensive batting during the power play overs. With the captain sensing the need to peg them back, he brought on Williams and myself to take some pace off the ball, and it reaped success. This team, I’m confident will be able to go one better and win the trophy this season, as we lost narrowly last year in a very competitive final match,” McKnight noted.

Claude Williams who has so far claimed eight wickets in the competition is happy with his form at the stage as he is confident that he can contribute even more to his team.

“As a bowler, whenever my captain calls on me to deliver, I always give it my best, because with the nature of this team, we are able to depend on each other to give 100 percent. We work with each other at the resort, and even though we are in different departments, we still work towards one main goal, and that is the mindset with which we play each game,” Williams said.

Mark Austin, the Jaguars captain, rued the failure of his batters in not capitalizing on the good start of his top order.

“We had a very good start to the innings as we had the BTC CC bowlers on the ropes but then we started losing quick wickets in the middle order and we just never recovered. Our batters panicked a bit in terms of scoring enough runs to challenge a good Beaches batting line-up. We were hoping for more than the 130 that we got, but that being said, we should have defended the score that we made.”

“In this game, catches win matches and we failed to hold onto many of the chances that we got and that gave the opponents momentum to take this victory. We know that we are one of the better teams in this competition and this defeat will allow us to go back to the drawing board and prepare ourselves for the next game,” Austin shared.

As a way forward initiative, General Manager, James McAnally shared, “the work life balance that we are building as a resort played out well in the way that our cricket team performed. The management and sports club at the resort continue to help in advancing the way that our team members incorporate their professional and social lifestyle. This win was a well needed victory as we press forward towards being crowned the champions of the TCI Business House T20 cricket competition.”

Release: BTC