DAVID NAKHID has received a glowing endorsement in his bid to become the next president of FIFA from Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Raymond Tim Kee.
On Tuesday, Nakhid declared his intention to run for president of FIFA during a live interview on the Rogers Radio Caribbean in Antigua. Tim Kee, in a telephone interview yesterday, spoke in glowing terms of the former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder and team captain.
“David Nakhid is somebody for who I have utmost respect, and this goes way back,” said Tim Kee.
“I was one of the very few people (in local football administration) who made him comfortable.
“I respected him, his independence of thought and he is a stickler for what he believes is right,” he continued.
“He does not compromise anything in his mind which is not right.” Tim Kee pointed out, “David Nakhid is a man who is well-qualified.
He has two different degrees (International Relations and Economics from American University in Washington DC), he speaks several different languages.
“I know he has been in what you call the big leagues. I was kind of surprised when that indication came to me but if David gets the opportunity, he has the credentials to do great things as a leader in football.” Tim Kee is confident that Nakhid can be a worthwhile replacement for Sepp Blatter, who announced his resignation as FIFA president in June, in the midst of the FIFA corruption scandal.
“When somebody has to do a job, the main thing you look at is the credentials,” said the TT FA boss.
“David is (51) so he acquired the right age and the level of experience which will serve him in good stead.
“He’s an International Relations man, he knows how to treat with the world,” Tim Kee added.
“He’s bright, he has potential and that is what you need to recruit, somebody who does not have baggage, who is coming into a new environment and could change things around.
David is a good man and I wish that he gets the support that is required to be among the candidates.” He went on to state, “I think David is a good candidate, as long as he pursues it further.
David and I have chatted, he’ll throw things out and we’ll chat.
If he’s really geared for this, it’s something I think will be a good thing.
“I don’t know who we have in the Caribbean who can rival David in terms of qualifications (and) I dare say, in CONCACAF even, when I look around at all those guys that are involved at the highest level,” Tim Kee emphasised.
“David is a smart guy and a honest, sincere person. You wouldn’t be getting any six-fora- nine with David.
Over the years, he has mellowed a lot.
He’s a lot more suave and a lot more smooth, as compared to how he was when he was playing for Trinidad (and Tobago).” Asked about the likelihood that Nakhid may receive criticism over his lack of experience in football administration, Tim Kee replied, “people had said that about (Franz) Beckenbauer, when he was coach of Germany, he was a (great) player.
“(Michel) Platini was a great player before he went in to UEFA, and he turned to be a good and excellent president of Europe.
But he had no experience before that, in administration.”
Pinard, Amy Gillezeau back for CASA
JOSH PINARD and Amy Gillezeau, both now in their mid-20s, will return to the CASA (Caribbean Area Squash Association) Championships after long absences on Sunday in the Cayman Islands.
Pinard, a two-time national champion who is considered one of the most talented players of the last two decades, had not flown the red, white and black flag since he reached the individual quarterfinals of this tournament at home three years ago.
Gillezeau, a former United States university student who is now working in Costa Rica, also reached the last eight in her last outing in this tournament in 2010.
The former under-19 champ will be playing alongside her sister Faith, the reigning national under-19 champ, national under-17 champ Marie Claire Barcant, Alexandria Yearwood, the national under-17 and 19 runner-up, Charlotte Knaggs and Rhea Khan.
Barcant beat Yearwood for the bronze medal in Junior CASA three weeks ago in Barbados and Faith was also a member of the team.
Nku Patrick, who was crowned under-19 champ in Junior CASA, his brother Mandela, Kale Wilson, Chayse McQuan and Don Lee will join Pinard on the men’s squad.
Wilson, the 2011 Caribbean under-19 champ who is now on the professional circuit and is ranked #202 in the world, nosed out Nku just over a month ago to be crowned national champ.
Mandela, under-19 runner-up in his final year of Junior CASA two years ago, is now at university in the United States, while the 42-year-old Lee, a former top player of the early 1990s who has been based in Canada for over 15 years, has been on the team almost every year since he returned after an absence of over five years in 2009.
Knaggs, a United States university student, and Khan are at the helm of the women’s team. Khan is an 18-time national champ, while the 19-year-old Knaggs was crowned Caribbean under-17 champ in ’11 and ’12 and Caribbean under-19 champ the following two years. The team travels on Saturday and the tournament will be contested from the day after until next week Sunday (August 23).
Three straight
Singapore were given a lesson in Calypso as the Trinidad and Tobago netballers played all over them yesterday in the Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia. On their return to the Allphones Arena, the Calypso Girls recorded their highest goal total so far in this year's competition as they strolled unchallenged to a 75-32 victory against Singapore.
T&T wasted no time in establishing the status quo, as they raced to a 21-8 lead after the end of the first quarter. Despite being a crowd favourite down under, the Calypso Girls were playing in front of a half-empty arena, as they were playing in the early match, and the big draw; Australia and South Africa were on the cards later.
That didn't deter T&T, who were determined to keep the wins going. Samantha Wallace was at it again as her conversion rate continued to impress onlookers; she would go on to score 27 goals from 31 attempts. During the contest, she outmatched her opponents physically, which was a recurring theme during the match.
T&T made wholesale changes at the start of the second half, Kalifa McCollin, who started the second half at goal attack, had an impressive third quarter shooting 15/15, and missing just one goal overall for the match T&T continued to dominate all areas of the court. The score was 58-24 after the third quarter.
The rest of the match played out to the same script, as Kielle Connelly, Daystar Swift and Onella Jack marshalled an uncompromising defence throughout which pressed on the Singaporeans throughout the entire match.
In attack, T&T showed their superior athleticism, physicality and flair commonly associated with Caribbean teams. Wallace, who features for UTT in the Courts All Sectors Netball League led the scoring for T&T with 27—she also top scored in all the previous matches.
McColling scored a massive 26 goals of her own, while skipper Joelisa Cooper also put in a strong shift with 14 goals. Veteran centre Rhonda John-Davis proved once again to be the backbone, as she assisted 24 of the goals on the day.
Goal-attack McCollin acknowledged that their next match would be a tougher encounter.
“I think that Samoa is a little bit more physical than the other team so from the start we need to be physical with them and get the game going," she said.
Rhonda John-Davis, a veteran of four previous Netball World Championships and over 150 appearances for T&T, and a leader in her own right in this World Cup campaign so far, echoed the sentiments for her teammates to be cautious.
“Last time we played Samoa, we won by one… it’s good to know we will be meeting them again and we can measure ourselves for the future," she said.
The win means T&T need to beat Samoa in their last encounter of the second eight group to give them a favourable draw in the play-off. The Samoans also defeated Zambia (55-53) and Singapore (46-39), and would be hoping for an upset win today. T&T were scheduled on the court early-morning (6.20am T&T time).
Podium Push
The Ministry of Sport (MoS) announced a major new sports programme called ‘Podium Push’, which officials say is designed to supplement the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s (TTOC) drive to 10 golds by the 2024 Olympics goal. But officials failed to disclose the amount budgeted for the initiative.
At an Achievers’ Luncheon hosted by the MoS at the grand ballroom of the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, yesterday, MoS director of sport Gabre Mc Tair, speaking on behalf of the absent Minister of Sport Brent Sancho, said the Ministry had created this initiative called ‘Podium Push’ to further enhance top local athletes’ chances of securing podium performances at the Rio 2016 Olympics next year.
“Our Elite Athlete Assistant Programme needed some refocusing to ensure that our sporting elite received proper funding, I recognised that even more was needed to help Brian Lewis and his team at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee achieve their aim of ten gold medals by the year 2024. Providing funding to take our top athletes to the Olympics is not enough. I realise that getting there is not the challenge but finishing in the top three requires additional commitment and effort from the athletes, coaches support teams and the Ministry of Sport,” Mc Tair said, without disclosing any budgeted figures for the initiative.
Mc Tair said the various national sporting bodies will have to recommend to the Ministry of Sport the athletes who they feel are podium ready, not athletes who would just compete but those who are in the top 20 in the world in their discipline.
“These are the athletes who we feel have a real chance of finishing in the gold, silver or bronze positions,” Mc Tair added. Mc Tair said that medals are separated by fractions of a second, metre or kilogramme.
Mc Tair vowed that T&T Olympic athletes will receive the best possible preparation for the Rio Olympics so that Lewis and TTOC can have a realistic chance of achieving the 10 golds by 2024 objective. Mc Tair added the expenses to be covered include travel to competitions, overseas training camps, sessions with a nutritionist, sports psychologist or specialist trainer.
Earlier, members of the Special Olympics Trinidad and Tobago team received plaques for their 48-medal haul (15 gold, 9 silver and 24 bronze) at the Special Olympics World Games that concluded in Los Angeles, California, USA, earlier this month.
Also receiving plaques were medallists of the Pan Am Junior Championship athletics team and medallist at the Pan American Games in Toronto that concluded on July 27. None of the Pan AM Games medallists was present because they were either outside the country or on their way to the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Beijing that commences from August 22. Other members of the Pan Am Games team including swimmer Dylan Carter, T&T men’s hockey captain Darren Cowie, and shooter Roger Daniel, were also present.
Also recognised were members of the Red Steel team who won the Caribbean Premier League championship title last month and members of the Trinidad and Tobago Blind and Visually Impaired cricket team, which clinched the T-20 and 40-overs Caribbean titles in St Lucia over the weekend.
Walcott leads T&T 21 to Beijing
Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott heads a list of 21 athletes who will represent T&T at the 15th IAAF World Championships which will be held in Beijing, China, from August 22-30.
Approximately 2,000 athletes from more than 200 nations are expected to take part during the nine days of competition. The final entry deadline for the Championships was at midnight on Monday.
The National Association of Athletics Administrations of T&T (NAAA), gave their athletes the full opportunity to achieve the qualifying standards. Taking advantage of this was 400m hurdler Sparkle McKnight, who not only won silver on the last evening of competition at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Senior Championships in Costa Rica, on Sunday, but ran her personal best 55.41 which was good enough to qualify (56.20).
Walcott, who injured his ankle about three weeks ago while competing in Monaco prior to the Pan American Games, has been undergoing therapy while training and is hoping to be 100 percent ready to make it to the top of the podium on August 26 when the javellin finals will be held. Included in the team are 19-year old Machel Cedenio, recent double Pan Am medallist, Lalonde Gordon, double Olympic medallist; Commonwealth; Pan Am and NACAC medalist, Mikel Thomas national record holder (110m hurdles) Pan Am silver/bronze and NACAC gold medalist, and defending World Champion and Commonwealth silver medallist Jehue Gordon, who will also be trying to make it back onto the podium after dealing with some minor injuries.
On the ladies side, Commonwealth silver and Pan Am gold medalist Cleopatra Borel, will be the first athlete in action at the Championships on the opening day. 17-year-old Pan Am Junior 100m Champion and World Youth silver medallist Khalifa St. Fort will be making her first appearance at a senior level. NACAC silver medallists Semoy Hackett (200m) who broke her own national record two days ago and Sparkle McKnight (400mH) both seem to be peaking at the right time. Most of the locally based athletes fly out today. The remainder of the team will arrive in China over the next two days where they will set up a training camp which is being sponsored by NGC.
Team
Keston Bledman, Rondell Sorillo, Dan- Neil Telesford, Emmanuel Carter, Kyle Geaux, Mikel Thomas, Machel Cedenio, Renny Quow, Jarrin Solomon, Lalonde Gordon, Deon Lendore, Jehue Gordon, Keshorn Walcott, Cleopatra Borel, Kelly-Anne Baptiste, Khalifa St Fort, Michelle Lee Ahye, Semoy Hackett, Reyare Thomas, Kamaria Durant, Sparkle McKnight.
Officials; Dexter Voison (manager), Dr. Ian Hypolite (head coach), Edwin Skinner, Charles Joseph, Gunness Persad, Ato Boldon (sprint & hurdles/relays coach), Ismael Lopez Mastsrapa (throws coach), Dr Anyl Gopeesing, Dr. Verne Alleyne, Ian Sharpe, Zephrinus Nicholas, Nicole Fuentes (medical).
Medal haul impresses NAAA president
President of the National Athletics Association of T&T Ephraim Serrette has praised the performances of the national squad after it returned with ten medals from the NACAC Senior Championships in Costa Rica.
The team won two gold medals, three silver and five bronze and is looking in solid form ahead of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing from August 22-30.
Serrette said it was a convincing follow-up to last month’s Pan American Games, where T&T won six track and field medals.
“I think it was exceptional to get ten medals and finish third on the table. That was great,” he said.
“Sparkle McKnight ran a personal best in the 400 metre Hurdles. Semoy Hackett broke the national 200m record. They are peaking at the right time.”
He added that based on the team’s current form, he was expecting a strong showing in Beijing.
He said: “The World Championships is a different level than the Pan American Games and NACAC but if they are at their best then they should be competitive… I think that the female sprint relay team is poised to be on the podium with Semoy Hacket and Kelly Ann Baptiste back on the team.”
The squad will next embark on a training camp in Beijing from August 12-21 sponsored by the National Gas Company.
Serrette said it would give the athletes adequate time to prepare and get settled. “Acclimatising to the time zone and shaking off the jet lag is very critical,” he said. “It takes three to four days before they can have a good workout.”
Meanwhile, team manager Durley Lucas was also pleased with the athletes’ showing in Costa Rica.
He said: “I’m satisfied with performance. Not only did we win ten medals, but a lot of the athletes got to the finals and there were lot of fourth place and fifth place finishes. In an overall sense, it was an above average performance.”