Early this morning, Saturday August 17th, athletes  from across the region gathered on the Mighty Grynnner Highway to compete in the triathlon, aquathon and mixed relay championships.  Advo Magazine was on  hand to capture these images.

Over 300 footballers from across the island convened at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex on Sunday, August 11, to participate in the first Player Empowerment Workshop series for competing players in The Prime Minister’s Cup 2024.

The sessions, which form part of the vision outlined by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, will continue throughout the tournament, which is scheduled to start on August 26.

According to member of the organising committee, Seth Carrington-Skeete, the tournament is in line with the holistic development of young people of Barbados.

“It is the Prime Minister’s vision that this tournament is about more than football. The idea of the tournament is to leave a legacy for growth, self-actualisation, and individual empowerment with the hope that we are all better citizens at the end of the tournament,” he stated.

The Player Empowerment Workshops will cover a variety of topics, including but not limited to: Citizenship, Conflict Resolution, Entrepreneurship, Mental Health, Physical Fitness, Setting and Achieving Goals, and Workplace Etiquette.

The facilitators for the inaugural session were Capacity Building Advisor, Amanda James; General Manager of Shine Automotive, Dario Greenidge, and Managing Director of Gainzville Fitness, Frank Parris.

Mr. Greenidge commented that he was impressed by the young audience and the attention they paid to him as he highlighted the challenges and successes of starting a business.

“I think it went well. They were listening and I think it is going to be an interesting tournament with a good mixture of young people of different ages and stages of life. It will be good to see them come together on the field of play and achieve that common goal.

“As a young person myself I know it’s tough out there just to exist; so, for me any opportunity I get to encourage people and help them do better I appreciate,” he said.

In her sessions, Ms. James dealt with aspects of empowerment and self-motivation.

“It was really nice and very interactive. The players shared some really good views. The main message to them was to empower yourself as an individual. I have always said that footballers have a range of skill sets that often non-footballers may not have such as critical thinking, mathematical knowledge, collaboration and teamwork, just to highlight a few,” she maintained.

The health of the body and importance of training properly was the focus of the sessions conducted by Mr. Parris and left a lasting impression on the budding football stars.

“What I found was that a lot of them were not aware of what was required of them to be successful in the sport. I can see they have a passion for it, but they don’t understand that there is a lot more to what they do to make them the best. 

Nutrition plays a major role in how they perform, so the requirement of eating right changes their activity in a big way. I am hopeful they would have absorbed some of what I have said today and implement it into their regime,” he stated. (PR/GIS)

Barbados’ Under-19 Boys National Volleyball team won gold in the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association’s Championship.

The recently concluded tournament was held in Jamaica, where the Barbados team defeated the Trinidad and Tobago team in the finals, after they lost to them in the preliminary rounds. They won in five sets – 20:25, 24:26, 25:21, 25:22, 15:12 – to win the championship.

The team was led by captain Kaden Hoyte, who reflected on their journey. He shared: “The experience all around was a bit nerve-racking at the start. My boys were prepared, but they are very young. To gather my troops and really get them ready for this tournament was a very long and hard battle. They have been practising for six years, and to really see my team put all that effort in and end up on top; it’s very, very good.”

The captain also spoke of the significance of an earlier loss in the preliminaries against Trinidad, which served as a crucial learning experience. “Taking a loss in the preliminaries was one, an eye-opener; and two, it was a good thing because it really helped my boys fight. They felt like, well, look, ‘Trinidad beat me, but they can’t beat me again’, and I really saw that throughout the rest of the competition,” Kaden stated.

Head coach of the junior boys team, John Stuart, who expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance, said preparation for the tournament was rigorous and there were some unexpected challenges.

“Preparation was very, very good, but coming on to the week and a half before we left, we had no indoor court to practise on, so we resorted to the beach. But that did pay off,” Mr. Stuart said.

He mentioned some key players and their performances. “Isaiah [Francis], our big left-handed player playing Opposite, had a fantastic tournament. He started a bit slow, but in the semis and finals, he really came through. And of course, you have the captain, Kaden Hoyte. Honestly, all the guys that started did their job. I don’t want to single any person out because everybody that went on the court did what they were supposed to do,” Coach Stuart stated.

Best Blocker of the tournament was awarded to Nicholas Russell-Griffith, and Best Digger went to Dominic Durant. Best Outside Hitter and MVP went to Kaden Hoyte, who gave his MVP trophy to teammate Isaiah Francis, for his performance in the semi-finals and finals. Other notable players were setter Sergio Jones and Libero Zordan Thomas.

The coach also shared insights on the girls’ team, which finished third, and faced a challenging defeat. “The girls were a bit unfortunate because they should have gone to the finals. They were leading by two sets but lost from there. That was heartbreaking,” he said. 

Looking ahead, Mr. Stuart revealed that the boys’ team has qualified for the NORCECA (North, Central America, and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) Championship, an opportunity reserved for the team that wins this tournament. (PR/GIS)