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• Eleven-member team set to depart Jamaica for COPA IGA tourney in Panama Oct. 4

  Some of Jamaica’s most-talented young gymnasts have been selected to a National All-Stars School Team set to compete at the COPA IGA 2023 from October 5- 8th in Panama.  The 11 athletes will leave the island on Wednesday, October 4 with Coach Tristan Hall and manager Samantha Bell.

  They are scheduled to return home on October 9.

  The list of talented athletes includes: Adriannah Alexsis Bailey (Mount St. Joseph Preparatory School), Dojanae Ophelia Garwood (Mount Alvernia Preparatory School), Emma-Marie Antonnae Donaldson (St. Richards Primary School), Harmonie-Jade Isabella Johnson (Belair Preparatory School), Harmony Kimoya Burton (Dunrobin Primary School), Joelle Madison Williams (Mount Alvernia Preparatory School), Lashay Janoia Chutcan (Ardenne, formerly Marlie Mount Primary and Infant School), Leah Cowan (Immaculate Conception Preparatory School), Marisol Hogarth (American International School of Kingston), Roshanique Latanya Ricketts (Brixton Hill Primary and Infant School) and Selah Price (Immaculate Conception Preparatory School).

  Coach Hall is very optimistic about the team assembled for the competition, stating, “As the head coach leading this all-star team to Panama I see great potential in each athlete. Our hard work, dedication, and strategic approaches have brought us to this opportunity and I am excited to witness the culmination of our efforts as we showcase our talent and determination in the upcoming meet. We will give it our all and make Jamaica proud.”

  Team manager Bell echoed similar sentiments highlighting the fact that tremendous talents abounds within the island’s primary school system.

  “Our All-Star team showcases the talent within our prep and primary schools. As team manager, my hopes are to see us cultivate raw talent, instill discipline, and nurture a culture of teamwork,” she said.

  “I believe by fostering an environment where athletes can learn and grow, we can ultimately prepare them to represent our nation at the highest level of competition.”

• Matthews' unbeaten 99 in vain as Australia trounce Windies Women by eight wickets in T20 opener

  In a riveting display of talent and skill, Hayley Matthews scored a blazing 99 not out from just 74 deliveries in the first T20 International against Australia at the North Sydney Oval. However, her lone effort couldn't save the day for the West Indies Women, who were soundly defeated by eight wickets.

  Matthews took the opposition bowlers to the cleaners, hitting boundaries at will, and missing her well-deserved century by a whisker. Her innings was adorned with 12 fours and 4 sixes, making it one of the most memorable performances of her career.

  The West Indies, riding on Matthews' brilliance, posted a defendable total of 147-3 in their 20 overs. However, the opposition seemed unfazed by the challenge and chased down the target in 13.2 overs, losing only two wickets in the process, to finish the game on 149-2.

  Skipper Alyssa Healy scored 56 off 29 while Tahlia McGrath finished on 60 not out from 32 deliveries to guide the home team to the opening win.

  Although the day belonged to the home team, Matthews won countless hearts with her valiant effort. Head Coach Shane Deitz remarked, "Magnificent innings, she really deserved the hundred. It's one of the best innings I've seen for a long time. She's been brilliant around the group as a leader, batter, and bowler."

  Deitz also touched upon the team's overall performance, sharing his perspective on the outcome. He added, "I think we were a bit short as the wicket started playing better in the second half. It was a pretty good total, and maybe if we had taken our chances while fielding, things could have been different."

  No surprise that Matthews was the Player of the Match for her 99 not out and bowling figures of 2-0-17-1.

  The West Indies Women will now regroup for the second T20I Sunday night, hoping to bounce back stronger.

• Contract dilemma: outgoing Girlz coach Donaldson says JFF's decision had nothing to do with football; Chung reluctant to engage in public spat

  Outgoing senior Reggae Girlz Head coach Lorne Donaldson stopped just short of saying he is the victim of a personal vendetta waged against him by Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) General Secretary Dennis Chung, as he refuted claims about how discussions to cut ties, transpired.

  Donaldson in response to a widely circulated release by the JFF, pointed out that the decision not to renew his contract was by no means mutual, as the meeting with Chung and JFF’s Human Resource Manager Suzie George-Gayle, lasted a mere five minutes.

  The JFF in its statement said, “after an extended discussion, both parties came to an agreement that the contract would not be renewed.”

  But Donaldson in an interview with Sportsmax.tv, rubbished the claims.

   “He [Chung] said they are terminating me. There was no discussion. In a five-minute meeting, he just said congrats on everything and the next thing was, ‘we will not renew your contract.’ There was no reason why, or anything, he just said, we will not renew your contract,” he shared.

  Donaldson, along with former Head coach Hue Menzies, was first introduced to the Reggae Girlz programme by women’s football ambassador Cedella Marley in 2015 and led the country to an historic first FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance in France in 2019.

  However, after departing the programme in 2020, following the steps of Menzies, who left earlier in 2019, Donaldson was reappointed in June 2022, to replace Vinimore “Vin” Blaine, who was forced to resign a few months into his tenure, after the Girlz expressed their displeasure with his leadership in a scathing letter.

  Like he did in 2019, Donaldson again led the Reggae Girlz to the World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, where they had an historic run to the round of 16, after drawing with France and Brazil and defeating Panama in the group stage.

  The Reggae Girlz eventually bowed out following a 0-1 loss to Colombia.

  In their most recent fixtures, the Reggae Girlz suffered back-to-back losses to Canada in a failed bid to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, but the progress the team has made under Donaldson’s leadership is without question.

  The tactician doesn’t believe he was judged on that basis.

  “Another thing he said is that if they had done well with the Olympic qualifiers, we (the coaching staff) would have carried on. You don’t want to work in a condition where you are being judged based on one game and not your body of work. So, I guess what happened at the World Cup didn’t matter and it never really had anything to do with football,” Donaldson opined.

  “It’s because I disagreed with the way they want to treat players and coaches, and I defended the Girlz. They have been waiting for the opportunity to do this (get rid of me) because they have been trying to do this from June,” he added.

  The outspoken coach recalled a conversation in which he and Chung didn’t see eye-to-eye and he believes it was from that point that their relationship spiralled.

  “From day one when he said women’s football will never catch on in Jamaica and people will never support women’s football, and I told him he is wrong, I realised the relationship has been topsy-turvy since then,” Donaldson revealed.

  He continued: “He said nobody cares about women’s football in Jamaica and it doesn’t matter how bad the men’s team is, the men will get more support than the women. That was when we were trying to go to Australia for the (Cup of Nations) tournament and from that day I knew we are always going to be fighting for these Girlz because it revealed to me that they really don’t care about the Girlz.

  “He was trying to justify why we shouldn’t have gone to the tournament in Australia, all because they were spending a little money, even though Australia was spending some money as well. And then he came up with these ridiculous flight prices and I said no, it is way less than that. And from February on, he was total against everything that we were doing.”

  Despite sensing Chung’s perceived dislike, Donaldson explained that it was his duty as Head coach to remain resolute in his fight for the players, who sometimes felt disheartened by the show of support, or lack thereof, from the country’s governing football body in particular.

  “We had to stand up for the Girlz and I stick to that. When they are right, we fought for them and when they were wrong, I told them. And then we had to make sure they had the resources that we can have them perform,” Donaldson said.

  “It showed the other day when we didn’t have the proper equipment for them to train. There was no equipment on the first day of camp and stuff like that affected the Girlz because they didn’t feel the love. They kept saying people didn’t care.

  “They just went to a World Cup and see all around the world how everybody (other countries) is speaking glowingly of their team, and they come to Jamaica and can’t even get the proper equipment,” he reasoned.

  That said, Donaldson wished the JFF and Reggae Girlz well on their future endeavours, starting with the upcoming Concacaf Women's Gold Cup qualifying matches against Panama and Guatemala, next month.

  “The JFF, whatever they have planned for the Girlz, I hope they are successful with it, and I wish them all the best from the bottom of my heart. They made a decision, and I am fine with that,” he declared.

  “We have a great group of players that are going to come in, and what we have achieved is basically a scratch on the surface because the sky is the limit with this group of Girlz,” Donaldson ended.

  Meanwhile, Chung when contacted about the allegations, was reluctant to address what transpired during the meeting.

  “I don’t want to comment on those decisions (made during the meeting), I don’t know where those comments are coming from, but from an ethical point of view, I’m just not going to comment on it. We issued a release, and the release speaks for itself,” Chung told Sportsmax.tv.

  However, he admitted to an extent that the February conversation in Montego Bay did happen, but not exactly how it was stated by Donaldson.

  “I never said that people don’t care about women’s football, I don’t know where that is coming from. What I have said in the past is that no matter how well the women do, it seems like people tend to support the men more in terms of attendance at matches and that is something that has been said internationally. So, I was just echoing it because someone said it on a sports programme I was listening to,” Chung explained.

   “It is an unfortunate comment that he made, but I didn’t listen to it, because the fact is that the JFF has spent a lot more money on the women’s programme than the men’s programme and in terms of resourcing it, has given it equal footing, if not more.

  “So, it’s a very unfortunate comment if that was said because when you talk about sponsorship, most of the sponsors have come in for the women’s programme, so that was very unfortunate,” he argued.

  When asked about the possible timeline for Donaldson’s replacement given the significance of the upcoming fixtures, Chung said information should be forthcoming by Monday.

   “We are working to ensure that a team is in place so I’m sure that by Monday we will have that sorted in terms of what we are doing. So, something is being worked on and the JFF will communicate that,” Chung noted.