Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz suffered a 1-0 defeat to South Korea in a friendly international at the Hwaseong Stadium on Saturday.
In the first meeting between the teams, the fixture was settled by an early goal from Choe Yu-ri who found the back of the net in the 13th minute. The Reggae Girlz made a few changes to the starting line-up ahead of the match, including the return of Sydney Schneider who was the team’s custodian at the last FIFA World Cup, and a debut for Siobhan Marie Wilson.
Head coach of the unit Lorne Donaldson believes that barring a bit of inefficiency the team put in a creditable performance.
“Playing with this style that we are not accustomed to, I think the first half we were very tentative and we actually gave up a goal we shouldn’t have,” Lorne said after the match.
“In the second half, it was much better. We might have scored but that’s football. We’ll make some adjustments the players who didn’t play in this game will play in the next game because we still have to evaluate,” he added.
“Winning is good but sometimes you just have to evaluate, look and see what you have and that’s what we are here for.”
Xavi Tamarit, UEFA Pro License Coach from Valencia, Spain, will be in Jamaica for the next two weeks, during which time he, along with Andre Virtue, the founder and director of Ballaz Academy, will evaluate and strengthen the academy’s overall philosophy, technical, tactical, and coaching capabilities. They will also finalize an eight-year development plan that the academy is about to embark on.
Tamarit boasts an enviable record in football development and philosophy with over 15 years of coaching experience.
He has coached at the professional level in the English Premier League with Southampton FC, in La Liga with Valencia CF, Deportivo Alavés and CD Leganés and in Greece with Aris FC and Levadiakos FC.
He has also coached in Argentina with Estudiantes de La Plata, CA Independiente and Vélez Sarsfield.
He has also written two internationally recognized books on the methodology of training called Tactical Periodization and has spoken at conferences around the world at the invitation of federations and universities.
As a player, Tamarit competed in the Champions League, UEFA Cup, Libertadores Cup and South American Cup.
Xavi’s visit, the result of an invitation from Virtue, is part of the strengthening of the relationship between Ballaz Academy and The Next Generation Sports (TNGS), Valencia Spain.
The two organizations have in place an MOU which includes Coaching Development & Education, player and coach exchanges, tours, camps, clinics and workshops.
“As we celebrate 20 years, we have much to give thanks for. We have achieved much and impacted the lives of many of Jamaica’s most talented football players at the primary, secondary and club level,” said Virtue.
“As we look ahead, however, we are committed to pioneering even more pathways for our players and coaches and we are being more intentional about connecting with global stakeholders and partners.
“Xavi’s presence here is a part of that intentionality. First and foremost, he is a friend, then a coaching colleague with an amazing football mind and we share a passion for youth football development and the opportunities that football can provide.
“It is an honour to have Xavi here sharing his love for football, Jamaica, and his experiences as a pro coach. As we continue to build our relationship with TNGS, we build pathways of opportunity for our players and by extension other Jamaican coaches and players.”
Xavi, who has had previous visits to Jamaica in 2011 and 2012 shared that, “Being in Jamaica is a wonderful experience. Andre’ and the Ballaz family came to Spain in July and we were able to see the high level of play as well as the character demonstrated by the players.
The coaching philosophy of Ballaz is also one that is impressive because it focuses not only on developing world-class footballers but great people. I know that this relationship started many years ago with Ivan Salazar, Director of TNGS and it is good to see that it is now at a place where Ballaz can benefit even more from what we have to offer.”
Since, 2002 Ballaz International has been coaching the lives of their football players with the goals of not just top-class football, but building the character of its participants in an atmosphere of love, family and professional excellence. “Our vision is to transform individuals, families, communities, the nation and the world through love and football,” Virtue said.
Jamaica Reggae Girlz coach Lorne Donaldson says the team will use its upcoming fixture against South Korea and others this year to trim down a highly competitive squad ahead of next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Jamaicans will play their first match since qualifying for the tournament two months ago when they South Korea on Saturday. Donaldson will, however, field somewhat of a changed line-up, partly through necessity but also with half a mind on looking at potential additions to the team.
“This window going into South Korea and the next two windows is to look at some new players and give the older players that have been in the squad another chance, so they can put themselves in position for next year to be part of the World Cup squad,” Donaldson said.
“It gives us coaches a deeper squad to choose from and ensures that we do not leave any stone unturned. So, this team going into South Korea will be the start of that, and expect the team to be very competitive. There are a few familiar names that are missing but that’s what we want…it’s good for us to have a deeper pool of players,” he added.
Four new players have been called to Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz 23-player squad for the friendly.
For Alwyn Williams from St Mary, the match that sparked his love for cricket was one he played as a boy in the streets with his friends and elder brother, Adrian Silvera.
Jamaica international Andre Blake insists will be business as usual but acknowledges the significance of the moment as he prepares to make a 200th appearance for Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise.
Should the player make the starting line-up, as expected, against Atlanta United on Wednesday it should mark his 200th appearance for the club, the second most in franchise history and most for a goalkeeper.
The goalkeeper was the first overall signing of the Union in the 2014 MLS Superdraft and 9 years later has gone on to be one of the club's most consistent and recognizable players. The goalkeeper who led the team to the MLS Supporters Shield in 2020 and second place in the U.S Open cup in 2014, 2015, and 2016 was also named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2016 and 2020.
“In a sense, it’s just another number, just another game,” Blake told the Daily Times. “That’s what keeps me humble. But in another sense, it’s a great achievement. You’d have to be in the league for quite a number of years to be able to have 200 starts. It’s a big deal, obviously, but it’s how you look at it. I’m very happy for that moment, but the show must go on.”
Blake has recovered from an early tumultuous spell in 2015 after injuring his right then his left knee.
Jamaican Olympian Simone Facey is now a certified coach of athletics.
The semi-finalists in the 2022 Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket Competitions will begin vying for spots in the final on Tuesday.
Kingston Cricket Club will take on St. Elizabeth Cricket Association at Sabina Park in Kingston while Kensington Cricket Club do battle with the St. Mary Cricket Association at Kensington Cricket Ground, also in Kingston.
St. Mary is the only unbeaten team left in the competition having won three of its preliminary round matches with the other being rained out.
Kingston's quarter-final match against Boys Town last Thursday at Sabina Park was a low-scoring affair.
Boys Town was bowled out for just 52 in 20.2 overs. Rajae McGeachy, who scored 10, was the only batter in double figures as the Boys Town lineup wilted before the Kingston attack led by Quewayne Anglin had remarkable figures of 5-5 from 5.2 overs.
Mekanel Palmer and Keanu Henry each took two wickets.
Kingston achieved their target for the loss of three wickets, reaching 57-3 from 16 overs. Thirty-three of those runs came from extras.
McGheachy took two for 19 and Samuel Burgher got the other for seven runs.
Meanwhile, Kensington walloped St Catherine by 174 runs in their match played at Chedwin Park in St Catherine.
Led by Joziah Neil, who made 99 and David Dewar, 77, Kensington racked up 286-8 from their 50 overs.
Vitel Lawes took 3-36 and Danza Hyatt 2-53.
The score proved too steep a hill to climb for St Catherine Cricket Club as they slumped to 102 all out from 25.5 overs. Lawes 34 and Antwon Robinson 19 were the main scorers in the losing effort.
Bowling for Kensington Jevon Golding took 3-9, Dewar 2-13 and Joziah Neil 2-18.
Over at Manley Horne Park in St Elizabeth, the St Elizabeth Cricket Association side beat St Catherine Cricket Association by 103 runs.
St Elizabeth CA made 155-7 seven in the match that was reduced to 28 overs because of rain. Davian Mason got 41 and Jalil Smith, 23.
Oneil Bonner took 4-14 and Lamar Savage 2-36 for St Catherine CA.
In reply, St. Catherine CA crumbled to 52 all out in 19 overs. Smith was the standout bowler with 5-9 and Kevaughn Brown took 2-10 in the rout.
Westmoreland lost by 18 runs to St Mary in the match played at Boscobel.
Batting first, St. Mary made 113 in 22.2 overs.
Jaquain Jackson scored 21 and Jevaughny Shim, 18, of the paltry score as Delante Scott took 3-25 and E-Jay Spence 3-30.
Despite the relatively easy target, Westmoreland was bowled out for 97.
Rasheed Palmer, 30, and E-Jay Spence, 19, were the main scorers in the losing cause.
Rushawn Bell took 5-27 and was supported by Devonte Miller who snagged 2-19.
The final is set to be played on Thursday, September 1.
200m World Champion Noah Lyles insists he would not be surprised to see Jamaica sprint star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce break the longstanding women’s 100m world record, on the heels of a remarkable season to date.
Fraser-Pryce, the 100m World Champion, pulled out of a showdown with compatriots Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson earlier this week, after feeling some tightness in her hamstring.
Prior to that, however, the 35-year-old has been in near flawless form so far. Fraser-Pryce has dipped below 10.7 on a record six occasions, with her best of 10.62 coming at the Morocco Diamond League meet two weeks ago. Lyles an athlete who is no stranger to fast times himself believes the performances are an indication the Jamaican is on the verge of something special.
“I heard that she said she wanted to break the world record this year and I’m like yeah I can see that. I mean consistently dropping below 10.7s, 10.6s like almost every race and that’s very scary,” Lyles said ahead of the Lausanne Diamond League meet.
“Anytime you see somebody running a time that’s almost the exact same time, very consistently, every race, it means they’re about to make a huge drop. It happened for me in the 2018 season when I ran nothing but 19.6 every race and I dropped it down to 19.5. This year I was just playing around in the area of 19.6, 19.7, and all of a sudden I just made that huge jump to 19.3,” he added.
Last season, it was another Jamaican who had the record in her sights. After a sensational 2021, which saw her crowned the double Olympic champion in Tokyo, Thompson-Herah clocked the second fastest time ever recorded over the distance with a 10.54 run in Eugene, Oregon.
“When Elaine was running in 2021 and messing around with the 10.6, 10.7 area then she just dropped it to 10.5, that just wasn’t out of nowhere she was just consistently running the same pattern and when her body was ready, the wind was ready and the day was good, she was ready to go,” Lyles said.
“I’m really just waiting on Shelly to have that moment where her body is ready and the day is right, the crowd is there and the wind is perfect, I’m not going to be shocked when that world record pops up or it's right next to it or maybe way ahead of it.”
The record of 10.49 held by the United States’ Florence Griffith-Joyner has stood since 1988.
Veteran Jamaica defender Adrian Mariappa has commended an inexperienced Jamaica Reggae Boyz unit for its positive attitude after ending the Austria mini-tournament with a 1-1 draw against World Cup-bound Qatar earlier this week.
With the tournament occurring outside of the FIFA international friendly window, the majority of the team selected to represent the Reggae Boyz were taken from the country’s local league, which left many understandably short on international experience.
The team got off to a rough start with a 3-0 loss to Morocco but rallied back against Qatar and even led the match courtesy of a Jourdain Fletcher goal before being pegged back.
“I thought the goal was brilliant, that’s as good a team goal as I’ve seen that I’ve been a part of with the national team,” Mariappa said.
“It shows that with a bit of composure there is quality there and we can hurt teams, so it’s just about building. We are not going to get too ahead of ourselves because at the end of the day it is a draw, we should have kept the clean sheet,” he added.
“The attitude from everyone was spot on and that’s the first thing you need, that always gives you a chance and a base to play from.”
The majority of the team will arrive back on the island on Sunday.
Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz were held to a 1-1 draw by World Cup hosts Qatar in the team’s final game of the Austria mini football tournament at the Wiener Neustadt Arena on Friday.
After a scoreless first half, it was the Jamaicans who took the lead when Jourdane Fletcher found the back of the net in the 70th minute. The team, however, failed to hold on to the lead after Qatar's Khaled Muneer found an equalizer in the 83rd minute. The match followed up on a 3-0 defeat to Morocco earlier this week.
Interim Jamaica coach Merron Gordon credits tactical adjustments from the first fixture and a bit more luck for a more positive result in the second.
“The technical staff really planned this out in terms of tactically how we would approach the game. I think we got it right tactically right the last time as we but we were unfortunate, so we knew as long as we could build on that we would get it right today,” Gordon said following the match.
“Probably with a bit more concentration we wouldn’t give up that goal and we would have probably won the game and with a bit more luck on the transitional plays we could have scored a few more goals as well, but it was good. This Qatar team has all the resources in the world and we are still just an emerging team.”
Reigning 200m World Champion Shericka Jackson has admitted that the crushing disappointment of failing to advance out of the first round of her pet event at last year’s Toyko Olympic Games provided fuel to ignite a stellar 2022.
Jackson, one of the favourites to win the race in the Toyko, failed to advance beyond the first round of the event after miscalculating badly in the heats. After leading the race comfortably for most of the way, the sprinter eased up before the line and was passed by two other athletes.
One year later, however, there would be no such mistakes as she not only advanced from the preliminary round but went on to clock a blistering 21.45 to take gold in the World Championship final. The time was the second fastest ever clocked over the distance behind Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 21.34.
In addition, however, Jackson also claimed the silver medal behind celebrated compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the 100m. Her time of 10.71 was a huge personal best and made her the 6th fastest woman of all time.
“I worked really hard this year. Last year not advancing in the 200m made me mentally strong. Last year’s loss for me in the 200m took a toll because the 200 is my favorite event and not the 100,” Jackson told members of the media, ahead of Thursday’s Lausanne Diamond League meet.
“For me not to be able to advance made me work extremely hard this year. I got stronger in the gym and I think that paid off in my running 21.4.”
Jackson will face off against Fraser-Pryce and their compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah in a fiery Diamond League clash set for Thursday in Lausanne.
Guyana’s Ramon Chan-A-Sue was returned unopposed as president of the Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) during the association’s Annual General Meeting held at the Liguanea Club in Kingston on Wednesday, August 24.
Janet Sairsingh of the Cayman Islands was elected vice president while Kevin Hannaway of St Vincent and the Grenadines was elected secretary. Bermuda’s Nick Kyme is the treasurer. Each of the eight-member countries will appoint a director before October 2022.
During the AGM it was decided that the junior and senior championships will be held in 2023. However, a host nation will be selected by October 2022. At those championships that a doubles category will be added for the junior Championships, while women over 60 will play in the senior championship.
Veteran Jamaica Reggae Boyz defender Adrian Mariappa has branded the team's recent 3-0 loss to Morocco in the Austria Mini Football Tournament, on Wednesday, as a valuable learning experience.
The team that consisted of mostly players based in Jamaica, for the most part, struggled to keep up with their African counterparts who created plenty of opportunities before goals from Ahmad Hammoudan (33), Mohamed Nahiri (74th), and Reda Slim (80th) decided the contest.
With several players making their debut and a few more with just a handful of appearances, Mariappa who has logged 64 caps for Jamaica, insists it’s all just part of the valuable learning process.
“We were disappointed with the result but there were plenty of positives to take out of the game. Playing against good opposition who have been together a long time, we only came together recently…a lot of guys were making debuts, just playing with each other. It was a learning experience,” Mariappa said.
“It was good for the boys to gain experience playing against good sides on decent pitches as well and to able to show what they can bring to the table,” he added.
The Reggae Boyz will next be in action when they play against World Cup hosts Qatar on Friday.
Four new players have been called to Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz 23-player squad for their international friendly against South Korea at the at Hwaseong Sports Complex on September 3 and a ‘practice match on September 6.
Nineteen-year-old forward Kameron Simmonds, 17-year-old goalkeeper Liya Brooks, 28-year-old defender Sioban Wilson and defender Maliah Atkins are the new players that will be vying for spots on Jamaica’s senior women’s team that has already qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.
The call-ups add depth to a strong unit, most of which were members of the World Cup qualifying squad, even though there are a few absentees because of injury.
As part of his stated policy, Coach Lorne Donaldson will be using this opportunity and other windows this year to look at other players who were not involved in the recent World Cup qualifiers.
The full squad includes Sydney Schneider, Yazmeen Jamieson, Chantelle Swaby, Allyson Swaby, Vyan Sampson, Chinyelu Asher, Kayla McCoy, Atlanta Primus, Marlo Sweatman, Khadija Shaw, Tierney Wiltshire, Drew Spence, Mireya Grey, Trudi Carter, Olufolasade Adamolekun, Deneisha Blackwood, Tiffany Cameron, Shania Hayles, Kameron Simmonds, Liya Brooks, Siobhan Wilson, Giselle Washington and Maliah Atkins.
The squad and the technical staff are scheduled to assemble in Hwaseong on August 30.
Jamaica’s Chris Binnie won a record10th singles title at the Caribbean Senior Squash Championships being held in Jamaica on Tuesday, August 23.
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