Chad Ziadie and Wendy McMaster emerged winners of the recent National Shotgun Champions (NSC) held at the Grand Port Royal Hotel.

Jamaica Reggae Girlz head coach Lorne Donaldson is eager to see what the team’s new recruits and returning members will offer to the unit ahead of a pair of friendlies against Paraguay next month.

On Wednesday, the Jamaica Football Federation named a 26-player squad, which featured many of the usual suspects.  Also, among, however, was former national team captain Konya Plummer, Shania Hayles who are returning to the squad and young player Zoe Matthews.

With the FIFA Women’s World Cup on the horizon for next year Donaldson remains in the process of shifting through his options to find the best team.  The return of Plummer, a solid defender who returns to the team from maternity leave and Matthews a solid new prospect should give the coach plenty to think about.

“We have a couple players coming back in like Konya and Shaina who just came back off maternity.  Shaina is far ahead of Konya, we know most likely they’ll be a part of what we are trying to do in the future, so we just brought them in to get familiar with things,” Donaldson said.

“We also have Zoe Matthews a young player, an upcoming player, a Bunny Shaw type of player. I hate to mention that but she’s built like bunny and she has that kind of ability.  So, if we can get her in the fold that would be great,” he added.

Another promising young player that has been included is Shaneil Buckley who has dominated the country’s high school football league.

St. George’s College, Mona High, Charlie Smith and Haile Selassie all booked spots in the quarterfinal round of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup on Friday.

St. George’s followed up a 4-1 first leg win over Jonathan Grant on Tuesday with a 3-1 win at Winchester Park on Friday for a 7-2 aggregate win.

Mona High continued their unbeaten run so far this season with a 3-1 win over Tivoli at Jamaica College for a 5-1 aggregate score.

Charlie Smith rebounded from a first leg 1-1 draw with Campion College with a 2-0 win at Stadium East to progress while Haile Selassie got past Excelsior 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in the second leg at Stadium East.

The other four quarterfinalists will be decided on Saturday. The fixtures and first leg scores are as follows:

Kingston College (0) vs Jose Marti (0) @ Stadium East 3:00pm

Jamaica College (5) vs Norman Manley (0) @Jamaica College

 STATHS (2) vs St. Jago (1) @ Stadium East 1:00pm

St. Catherine (1) vs Wolmer’s (0). @ Spanish Town Prison Oval

Outstanding shooting from their eight-man Long Range Team team helped Guyana land the Milex Cup at the 2022 West Indies Full Bore Championships currently underway at Twickenham Park in Jamaica on Friday.

The shooters from South America aiming at targets at 900 yards were the only team to score over 700 out of a possible 800, with a total of 715.35 to take the title over Canada (682.32), Antigua & Barbuda (655.22). Hosts Jamaica finished fourth with a combined score of 652.16.

Four of their shooters score higher than 90 points during the competition - Sherwin Felicien shot 93.3, Roberto Tewari, 92.7, Peter Persaud, 91.5 and Dylan Fields 90.6 – as Guyana dominated the competition.

However, the best shooter on the day was Antigua & Barbuda’s Anderson Perry who scored 49.1 on the first detail and 48.2 on the second for a combined score of 97.3 out of a possible 100. His teammate Christopher Joseph was also excellent with a score of 96.6.

Karen Anderson was Jamaica’s top shooter with her score of 88.3.

Guyana will go for the sweep on Saturday in the Short Range Match at 300/500/600 yards in which Lennox Brathwaite is defending champion in the Wogarth Cup.

Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake continued to be showered with accolades on the back of an outstanding season for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Philadelphia Union after being presented with the John Wanamaker Athletic Award earlier this week.

Blake made history last week when he became the first player to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honours on three separate occasions.  The Wanamaker award, which has been presented to Philadelphia’s top athletes since 1961, is given to a team or organization which has done the most to reflect credit upon Philadelphia and the team or sport in which they excel.

Behind Blake’s top-class performances in goal the Philadelphia Union have reached the conference final of the MLS Cup, where they will play New York City on Sunday.  The Jamaican custodian delighted in receiving the city’s recognition.

“I am grateful to be recognized by the Philadelphia sports community and honored to accept the Wanamaker Award on behalf of my family, teammates and the entire Philadelphia Union organization,” said Blake. “Throughout my career, I have strived to set an example on and off the field of what it means to be a strong leader and community advocate. I hope that I’ve inspired the future generation of young athletes to work hard and keep chasing their dreams.”

Multiple-time winner Lennox Braithwaite of Guyana won the Grand Aggregate in the individual event at the 2022 West Indies Full Bore Shooting Championships on Thursday. The championship is being held at Twickenham Park in St. Catherine, Jamaica.

Brathwaite, who lamented the pandemic-induced relative lack of preparation coming into the tournament, won with a score of 467.39 out of a possible 480 points. He defeated Emmanuel Gauvin and Avtar Nanrey of Canada as well as compatriots Sherwin Felicien and Ransford Goodluck, who finished in the top five.

Guyana had five shooters in the top 10.

Jamaica’s national champion Dwayne Forde scored 449.30 to finished seventh while Karen Anderson was 17th.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Jordan-Cousins of Barbados scored 436.20 while out-dueling Anderson (435.25) to win the Amazon trophy which goes to the top female shooter. Women shoot against the males on the same targets and use same equipment in the competition.

The competition continued on Friday, October 28, with the team event which comprises a short-range and long range component.

The long-range team match, for the Milex Cup, began on Friday and will be followed by the short-range (300m/500m/600m) team match for the Wogarth Cup.

Braithwaite is the defending champion. The short range team match is Saturday, October 29.

About 100 golfers are expected to compete for US$100,000 in prize money when the Jamaica Golf Association’s (JGA) 55th Jamaica Open Golf Championship tees off at Tryall Golf Club from Saturday, November 12-Tuesday, November 15.

This year, the tournament will honour the late Seymour Rose who won the Open in 1977, 1982 and 1987.

“Seymour is really one of the icons of Jamaica’s golf and we don't want to forget him,” said JGA member Gordon Hutchinson at the launch on Wednesday.

“We want to remember him. We want him to be associated with Jamaica Open for a long time.  His name will always be there on the records as a past winner.  Seymour was outstanding because he was such a gentleman, in addition to being a golfer.  He did a lot for young golfers coming up.  He was a very humble person and you can approach him anytime and he would assist you irrespective of who you are.”

Meanwhile, Vice-President of the JGA Dr. Mark Newnham, said the association managed to overcome the challenges associated with the pandemic to make this year’s tournament possible.

"We are just so proud, so excited to host this championship,” he said.

“We struggled a little bit with staging this during Covid.  Our protocols are going to be a little bit more relaxed this time and we couldn't be happier to stage this our 55th event.  The Jamaica Open is our premier event."

With the start less than a month away, Chairman of the organizing committee Peter Chin said everything is going according to plan and they are expecting up to 100 golfers to compete at the tournament.

"We are very happy with where we are now, all the plans are in place, so far so good.  We have sponsorship in place. We have the golf course in place.  We have players who are registering and paid their entry fees,” he said.

“So far we have 65 players and we are hoping to reach to 100 by tournament day.  We are happy that a number of the past winners are coming back; Michael Maguire, who won last year, and Patrick Cover who won the year before.  Both players have graduated to the Korn Ferry tour but they seem to have a liking to the Jamaica Open so they are coming back to play."

The tournament is being sponsored by Aqua Bay, Tourism Enhancement Fund, SDF, Tryall Golf Course, JTL Jamaica Tours Limited, Digicel Business, Jamaica Producers, Rain Forest, Wisynco, Barita and First Rock.

After almost a decade of offering scholarships to needy student-athletes across all sports in Jamaica, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s Pocket Rocket Foundation is planning to go a step further in the near future to help prepare beneficiaries for the next stage of their lives.

Founded in 2013, the Pocket Rocket Foundation has since offered scholarships to 62 student athletes. Some of the recipients in pursuit of careers outside of sport have achieved great success.

Among them are commercial pilot Jovaine Atkinson, a former student-athlete of Kingston College, Brenton Bartley, a former Campion College volleyball player, who now holds a degree in Civil Engineering and J’Voughn Blake, a former Jamaica College student now studying a Dartmouth College in the United States.

The five-time world 100m champion and two-time Olympic champion takes great pride in these achievements and others that she has been able to make possible through the work of the foundation.

“We were able to assist 62 students and also participate in our Christmas treat, our football Peace Through Sports Initiative, the Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Resource Centre in Waterhouse with computers and tablets for the students in the community, donated to children’s homes and just have a presence,” said the super-star athlete who holds a degree in Childhood Development from the University of Technology.

“I think for us as a foundation, where we want to go is having programmes geared towards student-athletes, educational equity, as well as sports and play community initiatives and I am really excited about the progress of the foundation and where we are heading and this time around we are making sure that we create impact when it comes to our student-athletes and making sure that they, too, have a future.”

Of the nine cohorts that have benefitted from the foundation’s largesse there is one that stands out, she said, even though all have a special place in her heart.

“I would have to say the first cohort is very dear to me. Out of that cohort we have had Brenton as well as Jovaine, who is a pilot and it’s just remarkable to see the transition. I am proud of all of them, to be honest, recently we saw J’Voughn Blake matriculate to university overseas and it’s just incredible to see what we have been able to accomplish being a part of the Pocket Rocket Foundation and the lives we were able to change.”

Not one to rest on her laurels or those of the foundation, Fraser-Pryce revealed that come January 2023, there are plans to introduce a new facet that will go even further in equipping student-athletes with the skills needed to thrive.

“What’s next is making sure that is having more community-based initiatives, mental wellness and we are definitely come January having our PR and Etiquette seminar for student-athletes making sure we equip them for the next stage of life, making sure we are giving them access to different things that will help them to advance their lives.”

Defending champions Garvey Maceo will continue their quest for back-to-back ISSA/Digicel daCosta Cup titles after advancing to the quarterfinal round after a 10-0 home hammering of DeCarteret College in the second leg of their second-round fixture on Tuesday. Overall, they won the tie 15-0 after a 5-0 first leg win at Brooks Park on October 21.

With 32 teams advancing to the second round of the daCosta Cup, the teams played two leg knockout fixtures to determine the 16 teams to take part in the quarterfinal round. The quarterfinal round will involve four four-team groups with the winners advancing to the semi-finals.

Joining Garvey Maceo in Group 1 of the quarterfinal round will be Central High, Christiana High and Manchester High. Central advanced after beating Irwin High (Zone A winners in the preliminary round) 4-1 on aggregate. Christiana came out on the right side of a dogfight with Happy Grove, prevailing 4-3 on aggregate while Manchester beat B.B Coke 3-1 over two legs.

Group 2 will be contested by Cornwall College (Zone A runners up), Dinthill Technical (Zone K winners), Paul Bogle (Zone L winners) and William Knibb (Zone C winners). Cornwall College got to the quarters after beating Vere Technical 5-3 on penalties after the teams were deadlocked at 3-3 after two legs. Dinthill Technical now have 12 wins from as many games in this year’s daCosta Cup after 4-1 and 4-0 wins over Browns Town to advance. Paul Bogle beat Cedric Titus 2-0 on aggregate while William Knibb beat Petersfield 1-0 over two legs.

Clarendon College (Zone H winners), Frome Technical (Zone B winners), Rusea’s (Zone B runners up) and York Castle (Zone I winners) make up Group 3. Clarendon College hammered St. Mary Technical 12-1 on aggregate. Frome are still unbeaten this season after 3-0 and 3-1 wins over Titchfield, Rusea’s enjoyed a pair of 2-0 wins over Belair High and York Castle put seven past Seaforth over two legs without conceding.

Group 4 will be occupied by Edwin Allen (Zone H runners up), STETHS (Zone E winners), Manning’s (Zone D winners) and Glenmuir (Zone M winners). The second round saw STETHS secure a narrow 2-1 aggregate win over Holmwood, Edwin Allen beat McGrath 3-0, Manning’s get past Charlemont 4-2 and Glenmuir beat Tacky 10-1.

The quarterfinals get underway on Saturday.

Defending champions Kingston College were held to a surprising 0-0 draw by Jose Marti High in the first leg of their second-round tie in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup at Royal Lakes on Wednesday.

The second round of the Manning Cup will see 16 teams face off in two leg knockout fixtures to determine the eight teams to advance to the quarterfinals.

Kingston College advanced as winners of Group A while Jose Marti advanced as one of the best non-automatic qualifiers after finishing fourth in Group F.

Wednesday’s other second round fixtures saw Group B winners Jamaica College beat Norman Manley 5-0 at Calabar, STATHS (Group D winners) beat St. Jago (Group B third-place finishers) 2-1 at the Spanish Town Prison Oval and St. Catherine (Group B runners up) secure a 1-0 win over Wolmer’s Boys (Group E runners up) at Stadium East.

On Tuesday, Group E winners Mona High, the only team to have achieved maximum points from their 10 first round matches, continued their quest for a perfect season with a 2-0 win over Tivoli (third in Group C) at Stadium East.

Campion College (Group F runners up) and Charlie Smith (Group C winners) played out a 1-1 draw at Jamaica College while Haile Selassie (Group C runners up) and St. George’s College (Group A runners up) got 1-0 and 4-1 wins over Excelsior (Group F winners) and Jonathan Grant (Group D runners up) at Calabar High and the Spanish Town Prison Oval, respectively.

The second legs for the Tuesday fixtures will take place on Friday and the ones for the Wednesday games will happen on Saturday.

Retired Reggae Boy Ricardo Fuller is set to step into coaching after taking a role at the academy of former club Stoke City.

The 42-year-old former player is a cult favorite at the West Midlands club where he made 182 appearances between 2006 and 2012 and scored 43 goals.

The Jamaican will return to the club as part of the Professional Player to Coach scheme, an initiative that is jointly administered by the Premier League, EFL, and Professional Footballers' Association.  The aim of the program is to increase the presence of minority coaches in the game of English football, a major talking point for the last several years.

Fuller will do work with all age groups at the club’s youth academy, where players range in age from 9-21.  Despite being a former fan favourite, the club made it clear the retired striker was not simply handed the position.

“Ricardo was one of a host of applicants for the role and he proved to be the strongest candidate after a thorough interview process,” Garth Owen, the director of the club’s academy, explained.

Fuller made 72 appearances for the Jamaica national team and scored a total of 9 goals.

Getting a bronze medal 10 years after competing at the 2012 London Olympics would be a dream come true for Jamaican 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer.

 Jamaica Reggae Girls coach Lorne Donaldson has been left excited by the prospect of once again facing up to top team Brazil at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The draw, which was made in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, has seen the Jamaicans drawn in Group F where they will face France, Brazil and the winner of Group C of the inter-continental play-offs.

For the Reggae Girlz, who made history by qualifying for the World Cup for a second consecutive tournament earlier this year, facing Brazil will be a rematch of the 2019 edition where they were also pitted against each other in the first round.

On that occasion, the South Americans, who were World Cup runners up in 2007, won the match 3-0.  Four years later the Jamaicans will face a much-changed unit and will hope for a better result.

“It’s a much different Brazil team, it’s a younger team and a different coach.  Their old coach passed away but Pia (Sundhage) is a very good coach so we will have our work cut out for us,” Donaldson said of the prospect of once again facing the South Americans.

“It’s a young fast skillful Brazilian team, so we just have to be ready,” he added.

“The draw itself, we have been placed with some exciting teams that play good football, so, we have to come out and try to match them.”

The Jamaicans will play against Paraguay in two practice matches on the 10^th and 12^th of November,

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls ended the Americas Netball World Cup Qualifiers with a perfect record, following a 69-47 victory over previously unbeaten Trinidad and Tobago, at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday.

Both teams had already secured their spot in next year’s tournament but ended the tournament with a lively affair.  The inexperienced Jamaica squad, led by star goal shooter and captain Jhaniele Fowler, still had enough firepower to dominate.

Led by Fowler’s overall 56 from 60, the Jamaicans led from start to finish, pulling out to a 21-11 lead in the first quarter and never really looking back.  Despite losing the encounter, Trinidad and Tobago captain Shaquanda Greene-Noel was proud of the team’s performance.

“I’m very proud of the work the girls put in today.  We know it’s a battle going up against the number three team in the world but we said to ourselves ‘this is the start of our World Cup campaign’ and I think you learn more from a loss than a win,” Greene-Noel said following the encounter.

In the days other matches, Barbados secured their spot at Netball World Cup with a dominant 68-29 win over Antigua and Barbuda.  St Vincent and the Grenadines also secured a victory after beating Grenada 69-50 earlier in the day.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Calypso Girls defeated the Barbados Gems 50-40 in a top-of-the-table clash on day five of the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the national Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on Thursday.

Entering the game, the Calypso Girls had already booked their spot in next year’s World Cup on the back of a perfect record after six games while the Gems were also unbeaten after five games and would’ve sealed their trip to Cape Town next year with a win.

The end of the first quarter saw Trinidad & Tobago build a 12-7 lead before Barbados outscored them 14-10 in the second to trail 21-22 at half-time. T&T then outscored them by four in the third quarter to lead 35-30 before eventually winning 50-40.

T&T was led by goal shooter Afeisha Noel’s 33 goals from 35 attempts while goal attack Joelisa Cooper had 17 goals from 21 attempts. Bajan goal shooters Faye Agard and Shonica Wharton had 14 goals from 16 attempts and 15 goals from 20 attempts, respectively.

“I am ecstatic about that performance. I think we went out there and executed exactly what the coach wanted and I can’t ask for anything else from the girls,” said Trinidad & Tobago captain Shaquanda Greene-Noel.

Barbados captain Shonette Azore-Bruce praised her team’s fighting spirit despite the result not going their way.

“It’s not the outcome that we wanted but I must say that I am proud of my girls for fighting to the end. We did not score the goals we should have but I’m still proud of my girls for fighting. At least we had that fight in us.”

The Gems will have another chance to confirm their spot at the World Cup when they take on Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday’s seventh and final day.

Other Thursday results saw Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls get by St. Lucia 85-30, St. Vincent beat Antigua & Barbuda 66-30 and the USA getting a 44-35 win over the Cayman Islands.

On Friday, Antigua and Barbuda will play St. Lucia, the USA will battle Grenada, Jamaica will play Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines will play the Cayman Islands.