Jamaica punched their ticket to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand in commanding fashion with a 4-0 win over Haiti in their final match of Group A of the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship on Monday night at the Estadio BBVA in Monterrey.

The result means Jamaica have qualified for a second straight Women’s World Cup, making it the second time in history that a Caribbean team have qualified for a Women’s World Cup.

Haiti have finished in third place and will advance to next February’s 10-team 2023 Women’s World Cup Playoff in New Zealand.

The blistering pace at the start made for a back-and-forth affair and Haiti’s Melchie Dumornay almost scored the opener with a dazzling solo run from her own half that ended with her shot ringing off the post.

An opening goal was bound to come and Jamaica were the ones to break the deadlock as some nice work from Khadija Shaw set up Trudi Carter, whose right-footed shot beat Haiti GK Nahomie Ambroise to make it 1-0 to the Reggae Girlz in the 26^th minute.

Haiti went right to work to try to find an equalizer and Roselord Borgella had it all there to get it in the 52' off a Jamaica turnover, but instead swung her shot wide of the post.

Haiti continued to push forward in search of a goal, but it left space behind for the Jamaican attack and Shaw was happy to take advantage of it by firing in a right-footed shot to double the Jamaica lead to 2-0 in the 58'.

Nevertheless, Haiti kept pushing and almost pulled a goal back in the 63’ through a blazing effort from Dumornay in the 63’, only to see Jamaica GK Rebecca Spencer parry the ball onto the post and eventually out of play.

However, the night belonged to Shaw and Jamaica and after a Haiti handball in the area, the Manchester City striker stepped up and fired in her third goal of the CWC from the penalty spot for a 3-0 lead in the 70'.

They then capped off their magical night in the 79' with a well-placed header from Drew Spence off a free-kick to complete the winning 4-0 scoreline, earning their first-ever CWC win against Haiti in three attempts.

Suriname kept their slim hopes of claiming the gold medal in the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship alive with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-15) victory against host Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena.

With the straight-sets win, Suriname, seeking a first title at this level, improved their win-loss record to 2-1 and 11 points, the same as Jamaica (2-1) and two points behind unbeaten leaders Haiti (3-0) as the trio will enter the final day of the five-team round-robin series all in contention for their first title.

Hosts Trinidad and Tobago, who needed a win to keep alive their medal hopes dropped to a 1-2 record and three points, just ahead of winless US Virgin Islands, who completed their four-match campaign with two points.

Despite the loss, Trinidad and Tobago still has a slim chance at a medal but will need to pull off a shock win over title-favourites Haiti.

On, Monday, July 11, in the final round of matches, Jamaica meets Suriname at 10 am, and Haiti meets Trinidad and Tobago at 4 pm, at the end of which, the top team will be declared champions.

Two of Jamaica's promising junior golfers are in Scotland for the three-day R&A Junior Open which tees off on Monday at the Monifieth Golf Links. Sixty-five countries including Jamaica were invited to field two representatives - a girl and one boy - at the tournament which is held every two years.

Mattea Issa and Ryan Lue, both 15, were invited to play in the tournament after posting the lowest scores at Jamaica's national junior trials held in April at the Caymanas Golf Course.  The invitees had to be in the 12-16 age group.

The pair will be in a field of 110 golfers who are expected to attend Sunday's opening ceremony after the practice round earlier in the day.

The top 80 golfers who make the cut after round two on Tuesday will move on to the final round on Wednesday.

Alison Reid, Jamaica’s team manager to the recently held 34th Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship and convener for junior golf in Jamaica, has accompanied Issa and Lue to Scotland.  She expects that the golfers will give a good account of themselves.

Jamaica eased past the challenge of the US Virgin Islands 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-17) at the 2022 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.

The win means that Jamaica which lost their opening match to Haiti have now improved to a 2-1 record in their five-team round-robin series and stayed in the hunt for the title.

The win lifted Jamaica to 11 points and a top spot on the table followed by Suriname (1-0) with five points, Haiti (1-0) with four points, T&T (1-1) with three points and the winless US Virgin Islands, fifth with two points and a 0-3 record.

“I know the boys worked very hard in the short space of time we had to prepare and in each game we play we have seen a drastic improvement as we have gotten better and better as the matches come along," said a satisfied Steve Davis, Jamaica’s coach following the shut-out performance.

Like his coach, team captain Andrae Robb was also pleased with the nature of the victory.

"We stuck to our game plan and we executed very well which helped us to get the win,” he said.

“Overall, we are happy with the outcome and will now rest ahead of our final match on Monday against Suriname.”

Meanwhile, US Virgin Islands' coach, Isaac Raphael, said his team lacks experience and it showed during the match against Jamaica.

"We know we have a very young team and you can see that the capabilities of the players are right there but our inexperience continues to bite us as we have been guilty of making too many careless errors when we seem to be closing the gap, and it has been hurting us in each game," he said.

Team captain Gabriel Rosa believes his team has to put more significant effort into their contests.

"I believe my team needs to put more energy into our game from the start," he said.

"We have been getting off to slow starts and for us to be competitive we need to have more concentration and focus for our passing and serving game to be effective."

Talismanic Jamaica Reggae Girlz forward Khadijah Shaw insists the team will rely on the experience of being in similar situations ahead of Monday’s must-win CONCACAF W Championship encounter.

Heading into the final match of group A, the Jamaicans find themselves in third spot, behind Haiti on goal difference with both on three points.  Only the top two teams from each group will advance to next year’s tournament, with the third-place team heading to a playoff.

The Reggae Girlz made history by qualifying for the 2019 edition of the tournament.  On that occasion the team also found themselves in a tight situation, needing to beat Panama to secure a spot.  On that occasion, the team prevailed in a dramatic penalty shootout win.

“We’ve been on this journey before.  When we qualified for the World Cup and we beat Panama, we lost to the US, so it’s not new to us it’s just to bounce back,” Shaw said in assessing the situation.

“We know what’s at stake.  So, it’s just to regroup, look at our mistakes, and hopefully not let it happen in the next game,” she added.

 “They’re a physical team that always gets the job done and that’s credit to them.  Going into that game we just have to match that physicality and effort and play our game.  Once we come out doing what we know we can do best I think we can get the job done.”

Jamaica swept past host Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-13) to register their first win of the 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship round-robin series at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena.

The win lifted Jamaica to a 1-1 record after two matches and six points in the five-team round-robin winner-take-all pool, one ahead of Suriname (1-0) while Haiti with four points (1-0) and T&T (1-1) with three points are next and US Virgin Islands, fifth with two points and a 0-2 start.

Following the win, Steve Davis, coach of the winning Jamaica team said his team was delighted to get among the winning column after the tough start to the tournament.

"Our travel arrangements and late get in time didn't help us much in our first game and we were able to get some rest after that and managed to give off a better performance in this match,” he said.

"We also adjusted our game plan as we were able to watch part of the Trinidad and Tobago and US Virgin Islands match last night and devised a game plan which we executed good enough for the win,” he added.

Team captain, Andrae Robb said he was very satisfied that his team was able to rebound from the loss and get a win against the host country.

"We knew from watching Trinidad and Tobago play their first match it was not going to be an easy challenge for us, but with the rest we got we were able to come out and do much better and we are hoping that we can continue to improve in each match."

Jamaica international Leon Bailey has vowed to silence his critics ahead of the new season after an underwhelming start to life in English topflight football.

The 24-year-old winger joined English Premier League (EPL) club Aston Villa last summer amid a flurry of high expectations for everyone involved in the deal.  The player has, so far, failed to live up to many of those expectations.

Bailey’s problems have in the main stemmed from being unable to take the pitch.  Two thigh injuries and an ankle injury saw the players miss significant time on the sideline.  In fact, the forward has only been able to take part in 18 matches, with just 7 starts.

The player has given glimpses of his tremendous potential in a cameo against Everton last September, assisting one goal before scoring a belter.  Bailey suffered a season-ending injury but has since returned to action for the Jamaica national team where he scored in the CONCACAF Nation’s League.  It is a trend the forward intends to continue.

“Talk the same talk you did last season,” Bailey warned his critics via Instagram.

“New season incoming, I’m coming for everything they said I couldn’t achieve, mark my words.”

Reggae Girlz head coach Lorne Donaldson believes the team will have to play its best game against Haiti if it is to secure one of the automatic spots to the FIFA women’s World Cup from the Concacaf W Championship.

Locked on three points each after two games, the Caribbean teams are set for a winner-take-all showdown on Monday, which will see the victor secure a spot at the global football showpiece event next year.

The stakes of the game will be even higher for the Reggae Girlz who must win to advance as they will head into the encounter trailing but goal difference.  By most metrics, the Haitian team has had a more impressive tournament to date.
The team began with a strong showing against the United States, who defeated them 3-0, a score that based on the run of play slightly flattered the Americans.  The USA went on to defeat the Jamaicans 5-0.  In their second match, the Haitians went on to devastate hosts Mexico 3-0.  The Jamaicans had only defeated the Mexicans 1-0, albeit missing several other presentable opportunities to score.  The Haitians unit has so shown a high level of fitness, skill, and extraordinary organization. It is a challenge Donaldson believes the team can meet.

“Coming into the tournament I always said Haiti would have a big part to play in this tournament.  They have been to the last U-17 championship, and they have been to the last U-20 championship.  So, people don’t understand the type of players Haiti has, they all play in France,” Donaldson said.

 “Their fitness is what most impresses me, their discipline, they have been playing together as a group for a long time.  They are well organized.  We have to go in now and try to execute.  We have to play one of our best games and we have to play football to win,” he added.

“If coming into the tournament, myself, the players if you had offered us this situation to be in, we would have taken it.”

Olympic champion Keston Bledman was welcomed home on Thursday, two days after receiving his 2008 Beijing Games men’s 4x100 metres gold medal in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Andrew Price has been appointed as Head Coach of Calabar’s Manning Cup team, the school announced in a statement on Friday.

Price is a seasoned coaching professional with over 30 years of experience as a player and coach.

He was the National Premier League’s Coach of the year in 2012 and was the assistant coach of the Reggae Girlz team that participated in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

Additionally, Price continues to mentor and support youngsters through the Boys’ Town Football Club, with whom he has been associated for the past 20 years.

According to the statement released by Calabar on Friday, Price will be “responsible for the overall football programme and for coaching the Under-19 football team to develop students’ skills so that they may excel in football.”

The statement continued: “He is expected to deliver a competitive programme that contributes to the holistic development of the students in keeping with the school’s objective of producing rounded, capable young men with excellent leadership skills.”

Calabar are three-time winners of the Manning Cup with their latest triumph coming in 2005.

Haiti made a winning start to its bid to claim the title left vacant by six-time winners Barbados when they came from behind to defeat Jamaica 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21) in their 2021 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship round-robin opener at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena.

Haiti’s coach Junior Siecle was a satisfied man afterwards.

"I'm very pleased with the win but going forward we still have to make some corrections as I'm not satisfied with our blocking," he said.

Meanwhile, team captain Dieulengy Relis said the team didn’t start as well as they would have preferred but they are happy to come away with the win.

“We started off a bit slow but then we found our momentum and played much better as the match went along," he said.

"We are very happy to start with the win, and now we must continue to improve to win our other matches as well.”

Jamaica’s coach Steve Davis said fatigued played a major role in his team’s performance.

"We are not ones to make excuses but we reached in late and also had a long stay in immigration,” he said.

"Apart from that, we also had little preparation time at home due to exams and we know that our players can improve their level of play and will improve in the next match.”

Andrae Robb captain of Jamaica also said he felt his team was badly affected by their travel schedule and a lack of confidence.

"We know where we fell short in this match and we need to improve for our next encounter," he said.

Haiti will take on Suriname on Saturday, July 9 at noon in the five-nation round-robin winner-take-all competition while Jamaica will have a short turn-around as it plays host Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.

She is one of the fastest women in the world in the 100m hurdles but Ackera Nugent, the second-fastest Jamaican woman on the planet this year, is not considering turning professional just yet. According to the reigning World U20 champion, getting an education is among her goals and she still has unfinished business as a collegiate athlete.

Nugent, 20, who completed her sophomore year at Baylor University in May, ran a personal best of 12.45 at the Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas on May 15.

The time, which she shares with Jamaican champion Britany Anderson, is the sixth-fastest in the world this year. Only Texas Tech’s Demisha Roswell’, who ran 12.44 to beat Nugent at the Big 12 Championships has run faster.

Notwithstanding, what is a significant accomplishment, Nugent is focused on completing her education at Baylor where she is majoring in Psychology.

“Basically, having an education with track is very important, so if I decide to go pro, I’d still be going to school but I have only ran 12.4 once and I haven’t run healthy, so I have decided that I should come back to college and focus on trying to get an outdoor NCAA title,” said the 2021 NCAA National Indoor champion.

Two years of college, she said, have been a great learning experience for her.

“It has taught me a lot. That I need to expect the unexpected, that you will have your highs and lows but you have to get up and do what you have to do, especially not having your family around you, your support system and when you have to put your trust in a coaching staff, a medical team,” she explained.

“It has helped me grow so much. I am more mature and Baylor is helping me grow into the amazing athlete that I think I am today.”

Nugent shut down her season in June after tearing her plantar fascia in regionals earlier this year. The decision saw her miss the NCAA Division I nationals in Oregon and also the Jamaica National Championships at the end of June.

 Haiti leapfrogged Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz on the back of a five-star performance against Mexico, which saw them down the host 3-0 in the second match of the Group A Concacaf W Championship on Thursday.

This result also means the United States cannot finish lower than second place in the group and has officially qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The match started on a high for Haiti. In the 13^th minute, Mexican defender Stephany Mayor committed a foul in the area and the referee awarded Haiti a penalty. Roselord Borgella calmly scored her first goal for Haiti in this round of the qualifiers.

Haiti kept pushing and in the 29th, Borgella scored what seemed to be the second goal of the match but after a VAR review, was judged to be in an offside position.

The irrepressible Haitians looked a constant threat and got another opportunity to add to the lead in the 65^th minute when GK Emily Alvarado brought down Nérilia Mondésir in the area.  Mondesir stepped up and scored the second goal of the match for her team.

Mexico’s faint comeback hopes received a fatal blow in the 77^th minute when centre half Greta Espinoza received a yellow card but saw it upgraded to a red card after a VAR review.

A minute later, Sherly Jeudy stepped up to score a sensational freekick for Haiti, which flew over the wall and arrowed into the top left corner of the goal.  The win was the first time that the Caribbean side has beaten Mexico in a CWC match and saw them move past Jamaica into second in the group on goal difference.

Mexico will close out group play with a match against the now-qualified USA, while Haiti will tackle Jamaica in a winner take all showdown for the next available spot from Group A.

Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz suffered a setback in the bid to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup following a 5-0 loss to world champions the United States, in the Concacaf W Championship on Thursday.

The loss was the first for the team in group A, after opening its campaign with a 1-0 over hosts Mexico.  It did not take an industriously starting United States long to get on the score sheet as they broke the deadlock in the 5^th minute courtesy of the boot of Sophia Smith.

The player doubled the lead just three minutes after with a lob over the head of Jamaica goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer, which looked to have been cleared off the line, but was judged to have crossed it.

A dominant performance for the Stars and Stripes continued in the second half when Rose Lavelle fired wide of Spencer after a 14-minute spell of resistance for the Jamaicans.  With the game winding down substitute Paige Bailey-Gayle brought down Margaret Purce and Kristie Mewis scored the resulting penalty in the 84^th minute.  Substitute Trinity Rodman completed the rout with a goal two minutes later.  The win saw the United States stay at the top of the group with 6 points, while Jamaica were second with 3 but with Haiti and Mexico yet to play in the later game.

Edwin Allen High School speed twins – Tina and Tia Clayton – will go pro and join the MVP Track Club, according to a report published in the Jamaica Observer.

The twins, who turn 18 on August 17, have been standout high school athletes for the past few years with Tina developing more quickly than her sister Tia over the past couple of seasons.

Both were members of Jamaica’s 4x100m team that set a world record 42.94s at the World U20 Champions in Nairobi, Kenya last year. Both were also members of the team that ran 42.58, a world record at the 2022 Carifta Games held at the National Stadium in Kingston in April. However, that time was not ratified by World Athletics when Jamaican authorities failed to test Tia, who had won the 100m title the night before.

At the National Championships at the end of June, Tina, the World U20 100m, set a new national U20 record of 10.96, breaking the previous record of 10.97 set by Tokyo Olympic gold relay medallist Briana Williams.

Tia, the Carifta Games silver medallist, who was third at the national championships boasts a personal best of 11.25.

Sources indicate that on the basis of the incredible performance by Tina at the national championships several potential sponsors were chasing their signatures but according to a report in the Jamaica Observer, one of those companies managed to move ahead of the rest and seal a deal that will see the girls ending their respective impressive high school careers.

At MVP, Tina and Tia Clayton will most likely be under the guidance of Stephen Francis, who has enjoyed tremendous success over the past decade with two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah, the only woman to win the 100/200m double at consecutive Olympic Games.