Lady Ballstars & Sugar Boys are BVIFA 9-A-Side Champions

December 17, 2015 by
Photo courtesy of Charlie Jackson/VINO

Photo courtesy of Charlie Jackson/VINO

By VINO

Lady Ballstars beat Women Panthers 4-2 and Sugar Boys overcame Islanders F.C. to win their respective BVIFA Nine-A-Side Tournament Championships at the Greenland Recreational Park on Sunday December 13, 2015.

In the Women’s Final, the Ballstars looked to be sitting pretty with a two-goal advantage before Jacintha Weekes struck a quick fire brace to send the game into extra time.

Phillia James had earlier given the Ballstars the lead, when she raced onto a through ball from Lilly Pierce to beat the advancing keeper, Decima Lambert and fired home. The second goal came courtesy of a sliced clearance by the Panthers defense, which lobbed up and over the despairing leap from Lambert and into the net.

However, almost directly from the restart, Weekes wriggled her way through the Ballstars back line and made it 2-1. Within ten minutes it was all square when again the Ballstars defense failed to deal with the ball and Kimone Mills fed Weekes who took a touch and made no mistake, shooting low past the keeper.

Into extra time and  Yasmin Ruffel Smith was first to react to a loose ball in the box after a fine save from Decima Lambert from Sharlene Pond’s rifle shot on the turn, to put the Ballstars back ahead and then victory was secured when Lilly Pierce intercepted a goal kick and smashed a shot into the empty net.

The MVP was Jacintha Weekes (Panthers), Golden Glove Brittney Peters (Avengers) and Golden Boot Phillia James (Ballstars).

Sugar Boys top Islanders     

In the Men’s Championship, Sugar Boys beat Islanders 2-0 with second half goals coming from Derol Redhead and McGraw Baptiste.

Redhead flicked home a header, leaving Monty Butler stranded and then Butler failed to deal with a long range free kick and could only watch as the ball rebounded back off the bar and into the path of Baptiste who fired home.

The MVP was Derol Redhead (Sugar Boys), the Golden Gloves Andre Gaymes (Wolues) and Golden Boot, Roger Roberts (Sugar Boys).

The Panthers claimed third place with a 3-2 win against Wolues, who not only had lost key players through suspension, but then having gone into a 2-0 lead, then saw their keeper injured and unable to finish the game.

Filed Under: Football Tagged With:

OECS Championships Kick Off Final Leg For BVI Athletes – Karene King is the reigning OECS 200m champion

July 7, 2014 by

By BVIAA

Karene King Photo: Dean "the Sportsman" Greenaway

Karene King Photo: Dean “the Sportsman” Greenaway

As the 2014 track and field season begins winding down, the BVI will kick off the regional and international phase of competition with the OECS Championships in St. Kitts July 5-6.

The team includes Tahesia Harrigan-Scott who will run the 100m and has a season’s best of 11.27 seconds and will be joined by Karene King who has run 11.52 this season. King, the OECS 200m defending champion has only one wind legal race to her credit when she ran 23.83 at last month’s BVI Twilight Invitational and a 23.40 wind aided time run in California.

Ashley Kelly is expected to see action in the 200 and 400m where she has marks of 24.02 and 53.43. Lakeisha “Mimi” Warner who has a season’s best of 2 minutes 13.15 seconds will run the 800m.

Trevia Gumbs and her twin sister Tynelle will contest the Shot Put and Javelin Throw where they have respective marks of 13.81 and 38.30m respectively.

Eldred Henry will see action in the Shot Put where he had a personal best toss of 17.34m. Henry, Kelly, King and Harrigan-Scott will use the OECS Championships as a tune up for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, later this month where they will be joined by Shaquoy Stephens.

The BVI Athletics Association will not field a team in this weekend’s CAC Jr. Championships in Morelia, Mexico. The BVIAA thanks the BVI Olympic Committee for its support of its endeavors.

The BVI will also be represented by Nelda Huggins and Kyron McMaster at the IAAF World Jr. Championships in Eugene, Oregon, July 22-27.

Huggins is coming off improving her 200m National Jr. Record of 23.91 seconds with a mark of 23.77 in Antigua over the Weekend.

McMaster lowered his 400m National Youth Record to 48.10 and broke Keita Cline’s 23 year old 200m National Youth Record of 22.09 with a personal best effort of 21.74 seconds. Henry and Stephens will compete in the August 8-10 NACAC U23 Championships in Kamloops, Canada.

Huggins and McMaster will be joined by Deya Erickson, Kala Penn and Akeem Bradshaw at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China Aug 20-26 to close the season.

Filed Under: Athletics Tagged With:

Runners take off in Saturday’s Ceres Juice 10K Series in Carrot Bay

July 3, 2014 by
Ceres 10K run in Virgin Gorda

Ceres 10K run in Virgin Gorda

There’s one thing the top runners agreed on regarding Saturday’s second Ceres Juices 10K Series tour stop in Carrot Bay: the course is tough.

Besides the challenging course, Virgin Gorda’s Maxford Pipe had his hands full with visiting North Carolina’s Wake Forest High School runners, Bailey Autry and his brother, John, after they broke from the field early in the race.

“Honestly, out of all the 10Ks I’ve run this is the hardest one,” Pipe said after navigating the scenic route on the water’s edge from Carrot Bay to Smugglers Cove and return in 42 minutes and 37 seconds to finish less than a minute ahead of Bailey. “There are lots of hills and they are steep and quite lengthy”.

It was Pipe’s first time running the course and his aim was to run faster than the 41:33 in the series opener but didn’t expect the hills to be so steep. “I’m satisfied with the time which is good because of the difficulties but I wanted to run a faster time than I did in the first race which was a lot easier”, he recalled. “Thanks to my pace setter (Bailey). He went out on the first half that led me to a better time”. 

An 11th grader this fall, Bailey said the course was harder than one at his house that had more hills over which he ran a faster time. “That’s how hard this course was”, noted Bailey, a 4:43 miler who has run the 800m in 2:11. “Since some of it is on gravel, it’s hard to step on it and you loose your traction on it so you had to run harder to got the same speed”. 

John who will be a 9th grader in the fall and has a 19:03 5K best to his credit, finished third in 45:04. “There weren’t too many hills but the three we did were incredibly steep so that you almost wanted to start walking”, he recalled. “It took all your energy before you got to the top”. 

Hanging with the leaders early in the race Julius Farley said he tired his best but just couldn’t hold out as he placed fourth in 46:31.

“This course is a very tough course”, he lamented. “The hills are really tough. That was the hardest I’ve ever done. Even harder than the Virgin Gorda Half Marathon”. 

Women’s winner Katrina Crumpler, eight overall in 53:51, said it’s her favorite course. “I love the views, the different terrain, the variety and it’s really interesting”, she explained. “It wasn’t really the best race for me today. I was a bit tired. I had a hard week at work and I was a bit slow, but it was nice to win it. I enjoyed running it anyway”. 

Final Results.

Men: 1. Maxford Pipe, 42 minutes and 37 seconds.2. Bailey Autry, 43.12. 3. John Autry, 45:04. 4. Julius Farley, 46.31.  5. Curwin Andrews, 46:59.  6. Adrian Dale, 51:54.  7. Joseph McIvor, 53:08.  8. Russell Crumpler, 54:21. 9. Ben Mays, 54:22. 10. Adam & Alysiana De Monte, 54:51. 11. Jermain Abrams, 58:04. 12. Shane Donovan, 59:21. 13. Patrick Ormond, 1:05.25. 14. Zebalon McLean, 1:05.27. 15. Howard Moore, 1:07.32. 16. Andrew Willins, 1:10.01. 17. Jeremy Snead, 1:13.48.

Women: 1. Katrina Crumpler, 53:51. 2. Rosmond Johnson, 56:37. 3. Clare-Louise Whiley, 56:57. 4. Kay Reddy, 58:33. 5. Sarah Hayes, 59:35.6. Anna Kinkead, 1:01.44. 7. Sally Blackmore, 1:03.33. 8. Maureen Peters, 1:06.30. 9. Jenny McIvor, 1:09.43. 10. Jo Vass, 1:09.43. 11. Ghislaine Hoogendijk, 1:13.12.  12. Clair Burke, 1:14.52.

Power Walker: 1. Sophie Bennett, 1:30:34.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Creed celebrates win in BVI/PSA Open Squash Championship

June 25, 2014 by

By: VINO

Joe Chapman may have fallen early, but Peter Creed gave the crowd plenty to cheer about as he beat Dane Sharp to win the BVI PSA Challenger 5 Professional Squash Tournament on Saturday June 21, 2014, at the Tortola Sports Club.

large

Challenger 5 Professional Squash Tournament Photo Credit: Charlie E. Jackson

Chapman playing Canadian Matthew Serediak, in the second round on Thursday, recovered from losing the first game, 4-11, to win the next two, 11-5 and 11-8, but could not sustain the pressure and lost the last two games 11-4 and 11-3 to conclude his Tournament, having reached the second round for the first time in the three year life of the event.

“He stayed really disciplined and made me do a lot more work than him to win those two games and he was able to clean up in the last two games. He is more experienced than me, but a year ago I would have probably been beaten by him much easier, so overall, having gone to a 5th game, I’m happy with my progress”, Chapman said.

Chapman also went onto to note how well the Tournament had gone , “The Players say every year that this is one of the best small Tournaments, in terms of the atmosphere, the way they are treated and how well organized it is”.

Although having some extra days off after his defeat Chapman will have little time to rest as he has Tournaments in New Zealand and Australia before heading to the Commonwealth Games and then Colombia.

Serediak went onto lose his semi final 6-11, 7-11 and 8-11 to Peter Creed, the top seed from Wales, who had recorded victories against Chris Hanson (USA) and Phillip Bull (Eng) to progress to the latter stages. Bull had knocked out Tom Chapman in the first round, 11-3, 11-3 and 11-1, in just 21 minutes on court.

Dane Sharp reached the Final, losing just one game, to local entrant, Adrain Ostbye. He also beat England‚  Joe Green and Shahjahan Khan and was much the sharper against Creed, in winning 3-0.

“I won’t say it was easy”, he exclaimed. “I felt like I was playing the best squash all week and having spent less time on court was fresher. I knew if I could show that each and every point then the energy would sap from his legs and I would get stronger and stronger”.

It was Creed’s first time to the Territory and the Caribbean, but he will be back. “I can’t miss this place! It’s hot, but the Country is awesome, everyone is so laid back and it has been a lot of fun”,he said.

Other local players who had progressed through to the main draw met similar defeats to Chapman against their more illustrious competitors with only Ostbye picking up a game, against Sharp. Mike Adamson and Rory Thornton were the other local players to get into the first round proper.

Filed Under: Squash Tagged With: , , ,

British Virgin Islands Duff WIns 22nd International Optimist Regatta

June 25, 2014 by
Rayne Duff in St Thomas

Rayne Duff in St Thomas

Shifting strategies to match wind speed and direction, staying out in front of the fleet and remaining calm provided successful strategies for 11-year-old Rayne Duff. Duff won the 22nd International Optimist Regatta (IOR) hosted out of the St. Thomas Yacht Club, St. Thomas, USVI, from June 20 to 22. At the conclusion of Sunday’s final two races, the Tortola, British Virgin Islands based sailor continued to lengthen his lead and comfortably finished with 33 points separating him from his closest competition. That’s quite a feat considering the keen level of competition in the 59-boat Advanced Optimist fleet and wind conditions blowing a brisk 10 to 15 knots, plus higher in gusts.

“I still need to work on my starts,” says Duff, who along with his other team members will be representing the BVI in the Optimist North American Championships, in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico, July 9 to 16. “But being consistent, in the top three in every race, is really what helped.”

Duff not only won the overall championship, but also the 11- and 12-year-old Blue Fleet. The BVI had a total of 7 sailors in the competition.

BVI Coach Rob Lind said “the BVI team sailed really well and we were very proud of all of them, especially of course Rayne Duff”. 

Nathan Haycraft came second in the 10 and under White Fleet – 35th overall. Thad Lettsome in 11 and 12 year old Blue Fleet was the 2nd best BVI Boat and 19th overall. Sam Childs finished 25th overall, James Dawson 36th overall and Amelie Clark 39th. Anya Reshetiloff competed in Green Fleet.

In the 13- to 15-year-old Red Fleet, it was 13-year-old Teddy Nicolosi, from St. Thomas, USVI, who finished first in spite of poor scores at the beginning of the regatta.

“The first day I was too nervous, I couldn’t think straight,” says Nicolosi, a member of the USVI National Team that will also compete in the Optimist North Americans in Mexico. “The second day I relaxed and told myself I didn’t care about the results, that it was just practice. Then I started sailing better.”

The USA’s Stephan Baker won the age 10 and Under White Fleet. “I played the left side of the course. That’s what my coach recommended and he has a lot of experience here. It really paid off,” says Baker. Baker is coached in Miami, Florida, by Antigua native and former BVI coach, Omari Scott.

The trophy for Top Girl was awarded to 11-year-old Isabella Casaretto from the USA. Casaretto also finished an impressive 7th overall.

“I sailed here last year and didn’t do well,” says Casaretto. “This year, I got clean starts, clear air and kept up with the top of the fleet. I like it that there’s a lot of wind here.”

Twenty-two junior sailors competed in the Green or Beginner Fleet, which bodes well for the future of the sport. In the end, it was 9-year-old Caroline Sibilly from St. Thomas, USVI, who emerged victorious.

“My strategy was to get away from the others and into clear air so I could go fast,” says Sibilly.

“I was very impressed with the level of skill here especially in the top sailors,” says David Campbell James of Southampton, UK, who served as the IOR’s Principal Race Officer.

A total of 81 sailors competed in the Advanced Red, Blue and White Fleets and beginner Green Fleet. The Advanced Fleets completed 10 races and the Green Fleet a total of 18races over the three days of competition. Sailors hailed from 10 nations – Antigua, Argentina, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Germany, Puerto Rico, Spain, the Netherlands, U.S.A, and all three USVI.

The IOR is organized under authority of the Virgin Islands Sailing Association and it is a Caribbean Sailing Association-sanctioned event.

The week started off with the Sea Star Clinic, run by local coaches and coaches from OptiSailors.com, and included the one-day Sea Star Team Race. The BVI team sailors were Rayne Duff, James Dawson, Thank Lettsome and Nathan Haycraft. They won 3 of their 5 heats qualifying for the semi-finals; they ended up with 4th place.

The team race was won by STYC 1, made up of Teddy Nicolosi, Christopher Sharpless, Mateo DiBlasi and Robert Hunter.

The BVI would like to thank their Sponsors Moorings, Nanny Cay and Nagico Insurances without whom the weekend would not have been possible.

 

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With: , , , ,

Curacao overcome BVI in NACRA Championship

June 25, 2014 by

By: BVISports.com

South Zone League

South Zone League

In the final round of the South Zone Cup League Curacao and St Lucia came away with bonus point victories which allowed the two teams to finish 1-2 in the four team pool.

Curtleyson Martis struck for three tries including two first half efforts while fullback Tjakko Breuer had a brace as Curacao rolled over the British Virgin Islands 42-12 to take top spot in the South Zone Cup League title on Saturday. Thomas Chapman and Rory Thorton responded with second half tries for the BVI with Thorton converting his own effort.

St Lucia got a pair of tries from Lenford Eugene with solos from Ervin Joseph and Imran Williams, along with three Colvis Samuels conversions to win 26-22 over St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Kicking was the difference as St Vincent got two bonus points in the loss as Philip Alvis got two tries along with five pointers from Justin Joyles and George Kruger. Alvis only hit for one conversion from four attempts as St Vincent lost by less than 7 points and scored four tries. St Lucia finished 2nd in the South Zone Cup League with 6 points in the table and a 2-1 record while St Vincent, with a 1-2 record, ended with 5 points in the table including 3 bonus points.

As a result of this round, Curacao will take on the third place finisher in the South Championship League, which is 0-2 Barbados, while Bermuda (0-2) will take on Mexico in the other relegation promotion match. These games are scheduled to take place in September at the respective top place finisher, AOS home field.

Filed Under: Rugby Tagged With: ,

Islanders conclude season unbeaten

June 24, 2014 by
Akeem Hendrikson heads home a first half equalizer for the Sugar Boyz. Photo credit: Charlie E. Jackson


Akeem Hendrikson heads home a first half equalizer for the Sugar Boyz. Photo credit: Charlie E. Jackson

Islanders F.C. duly completed an unbeaten Premier League Season with a 3-1 win over the Ballstars on Sunday, whilst the Sugar Boys overcame a battling Wolues 3-2 to cement third place in the standings and give themselves a shot at finishing second.

The Islanders have already been crowned Champions following One Love forfeiting last Wednesday nights top of the table clash found themselves a goal down inside the first five minutes when stand in goal keeper, Fitzroy Daley made an elementary handling error inside his own box to gift the Ballstars a free kick, which was deflected by Ranalie Caine past the flapping Daley and inside the near post.

Just two minutes later though, the Islanders were level when McTair James was brought crashing down in the Ballstars box and Avondale Williams powered his spot kick straight past Troy Caesar.

The Islanders then went 2-1 up, in the 20th minute, following a long run by Noel Isaac, who slid the perfect ball into the path of Andy Davis and who, in turn, expertly chipped the ball over Caesar and into the empty net.

The second half saw the Islanders squander a lot of chances with several players guilty of over elaboration in front of goal and a lack of composure, but eventually Caines made it 3-1 in the 70th minute when presented with the simplest of tap ins.

The Wolues then played the Sugar Boyz and caught their defense still getting organized when Xavier Arnau Gili slotted home the opening goal in the second minute.

The same player had a chance to double the lead moments later, but his flicked effort went agonizingly wide of the far post.

However for much of the remainder of the first half it was a sea of Orange in the Wolues half as the Sugar Boyz piled on the pressure. Derol Redhead latched onto a through ball and should have at least hit the target. Wolues Keeper, Nick Messum, made a couple of flying saves from Jeunick Mingo, Roger Roberts and Redhead, but even he was powerless to prevent the equalizer in the 32nd minute when a pinpoint cross from Terry Nanthan was met with a bullet header by Akeem Hendrikson.

A sublime touch and first time pass from Nanthan put Roberts through on goal early in the second half and he made no mistake in sliding the ball past Messum to make it 2-1 to the Boyz.

Then a Robin Van Persie like looping header from Graeme Willis in the 47th minute made it 2-2, but 15 minutes later Roberts scored his second to restore his teams lead at 3-2.

As time ran out Redhead should have made it 4-2, but opted to pass rather than shoot and at the other end Jose Jiminez squandered an opportunity to give the Wolues what would have been a deserved point,

On Wednesday night, June 25th, One Love play the Ballstars in a Premier League encounter on the A.O. Shirley Ground at 7pm.

Filed Under: Football Tagged With: , , , , ,

VI’s Nanjing 2014 athletes announced at Olympic Day celebrations

June 24, 2014 by
Olympic Day celebrations at Tortola Sports Club

Olympic Day celebrations at Tortola Sports Club. Photo: BVIOC

The BVI Olympic Committee (BVIOC) announced the 7 athletes who will be representing the Virgin Islands at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games in swimming, sailing, and athletics. The announcement and a special presentation of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games Participant’s Pin were part of Olympic Day celebrations hosted at the Tortola Sports Club on Saturday, June 21.

In his remarks Mr. Ephraim Penn, President of the BVIOC, said, “2014 is a busy year for the BVIOC. In addition to the Sochi 2014 Winter Games that took place in February, there are no less than 4 global games and competitions coming up in which the Virgin Islands expects to participate. These include the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games which take place July 23 – August 3 in Scotland, the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games which take place August 16 – 28 in China, and the Vera Cruz 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games which take place November 14 – 30 in Mexico. We then have the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games which will take place that summer in Brazil.”

“It is an exciting period for the BVIOC Executive board as we continue to see up and coming young athletes make the mark and join the roll call of competitors who have represented the Virgin Islands at major games,” added Penn.

The Nanjing 2014 competitors from athletics include sprinter, Nelda Huggins; 100m hurdler, Deya Erickson; Long Jumper, Kala Penn; 400m intermediate hurdler, Kyron McMaster; and triple jumper, Akeem Bradshaw who all qualified for the second Youth Olympic Games during the 2014 Carifta Games held in April in Martinique.

Sam Morrell will be representing the Virgin Islands in sailing following his success in the 2014 Byte CII North American Championships to become the first VI sailor to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games.

In another first for the VI, Amarah Phillips will be competing in swimming.

Chef de Mission for Nanjing 2014, Mrs. Stephanie Russ-Penn, who announced the athletes said: “These kids will get the opportunity not just to go and compete, but they will have an opportunity to develop themselves because these games are nothing like any other games. It’s completely designed to give them both a cultural, educational, as well as competitive experience.”

Mr. Lloyd Black, Secretary General for the BVIOC, reiterated Stephanie’s remarks by recognising the hard work, diligence and perseverance of the athletes required to make the qualifying marks.

The programme of events continued with the presentation of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games Participant’s Pin to Peter Adam Crook, the VI’s half- pipe skier. Mr. Paul Hewlett, Deputy Director of the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, representing the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports presented the pin to Adam.

Mr. Rey O’Neal, Past President of the BVIOC provided an overview of the Olympic history of the VI which had made its Olympic debut with speed skater, Errol Canute Fraser in the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Games. Adam is the territory’s second Winter Olympian.

Drawing events to a close, Ephraim Penn, President of the BVIOC read out the Olympic Day message from Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee. He then invited the gathering of over 90 participants of all ages to join in the symbolic Olympic Day run through Road Town before returning to the sports club to collect their Certificate of Participation.

The afternoon set up at the sports club included information desks run by the National Federations for Swimming, Sailing, and Athletics, and the VI branch of the Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO).

The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, and Lifeline BVI, a privately owned, ambulance and EMT service, ensured the safety of the runners and walkers. Roadtown Wholesale distributed Dasani water and Powerade to participants along the route and at the sports club. Ice and coolers were provided by MBs Ice.

Cleave Farrington, Executive Director of the BVIOC and lead, event organizer, acknowledged several individuals from the community who had volunteered their time to assist with the set up, registration, and marshaling of the event.

Earlier in the day, an Olympic Day run was held in the Valley, Virgin Gorda while the BVI Tri Federation held a children’s triathlon event at Smuggler’s Cove, Tortola.

Olympic Day Message – IOC President, Thomas Bach

Today, people all over the world are celebrating Olympic Day. I am pleased to have this chance to greet you. Because today, together,we are sharing a success story. Like you, millions of other people in their own countries are taking part, regardless of age, sex or sporting ability.

On this day, we remember the creation of our modern Olympic Movement. We are demonstrating the Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respect. For this reason, today is not just about having fun through sport and physical activity. Olympic Day is more than that.

We invite everyone, everywhere, “to move, to learn and to discover”—through sport and beyond sport. It is especially good to see more and more young people taking part. Make full use of all the sporting and cultural opportunities in your community and neighbourhood. Invite other people to join in.

Because that is what is so special about Olympic Day: It doesn’t really matter how you celebrate it, so long as more and more people get to move, learn and discover. That way, we can all help to make our future a better place to live. That is the Olympic ideal.

I wish you all a happy Olympic Day 2014!

Filed Under: Athletics, BVI Olympic Committee, Skiing, Swimming Tagged With: , , ,
« Previous Page