Sports

Be Creative to Survive

The future of sport clubs in Barbados is under pressure to stay viable and some of them may not stand the test of time if the management of these clubs do not implement strategies to halt their decline. This is the assertion by Steven Leslie the manager of Marketing and Communications at the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) on Tuesday night as he was delivering the feature lecture at the Empire Club as the club celebrates its 109^th anniversary.

Empire Club motto is “Strength Through Adversity” and Leslie’ topic was fittingly ‘Unity Is Strength: Challenges in The Club System”. Giving an historical context to the origins of clubs in Barbados Mr. Leslie indicated that changes in community life has changed club culture. Clubs were, at a point in time, the hub of community and social interaction as well as a place to learn and develop skills in sports. With the changing times clubs are no longer central to the lives of people. Leslie asserted that most people who are in clubs have a narrow and personal agenda rather than an interest in the sustenance and growth of the club. Lots of people are in the club to “Express their sporting talent,” said Leslie.

The education system is closely linked to cricket and club culture. In the 1860’s there was a deliberate effort to focus on sports, specifically cricket, and this resulted in vibrancy in club cricket. In modern Barbados the school system is more interested in getting the school curriculum completed than in using sports as an integral component.

Leslie encouraged the current management team of the 109 old club to be creative in finding ways to evolve and preserve the club culture. The income generating model must also suit the times “The reality is such that to have a sustainable club you must have a viable finance revenue generating model. It cannot rely solely on the subscriptions that might be paid on an annual basis, and it cannot rely solely on having social activities. Those strategies are not going to allow a club to be able to be sustainable in 2023.” said Leslie.

The BCA official congratulated Empire on its 109^th Anniversary and advised them to document the life of the club so that future generations will have something to look at.

Steven Leslie’s well-researched and delivered lecture found favor with all those who were at Empire, the Home of Champions. (Article by: Christopher Williams)

Sports

WEST INDIES LOSE AGAIN

by David Harris

England defeated the West Indies by three wickets at Kennington Oval in London on Tuesday to complete a 3-0 sweep of their One Day International (ODI) Series.

The match was reduced 40 overs per side after 97 minutes were loss because of rain in the 15^th over of the West Indies’ innings.

The Caribbean team scored 251 for nine wickets after losing the toss and being sent into bat, they were reeling at 28 for three wickets in the seventh over before Keacy Carty (29) and Sherfane Rutherford added 62 for the fourth wicket.

Rutherford also shared 33 runs for the seventh wicket with Gudakesh Motie added 33-run seventh wicket after the West Indies slumped to 121 for six wickets in the 22^nd over; and Motie shared a vital 91-run stand for the eighth wicket with Alazrri Joseph.

Rutherford missed the first two ODIs while representing the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL); his last match was 4,000 miles and five time zones away from London in Mullanpur on Friday, but he showed no signs of jet lag.

Rutherford took to balls get his eye in before blasting the next two for four, he top-scored with 70 off 71 balls and struck nine fours and two sixes. Motie contributed 63 that included five fours and three sixes off 54 deliveries, and Joseph made an entertaining 41 off 29 balls towards the end of the inning.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid picked up three wickets for 40 runs off eight overs, while fast bowlers Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Saqib Mahmood all took two wickets each.

Set a revised target of 246 to win the match and complete a whitewash in the series, England scored 246 for three wickets in 29. 4 overs. Openers Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett took control of the match with a barrage of boundaries of pacers Jayden Seales and Sharmar Joseph.

Smith smashed 64 off 28 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, and Duckett made 58 that contained five fours and three sixes from 46 balls; veteran batsman Joe Root contributed 44, while Jos Buttler and captain Harry Brook were unbeaten on 41 and 26 runs respectively.

Sports

WEST INDIES LOSE FIRST ODI AGAINST ENGLAND

By David Harris

The West Indies suffered an embarrassing 238-run to England in the first One Day International (ODI) match at Edgbaston Thursday. Chasing a massive total of 401 to win the match, the West Indies were bowled out for 162 runs in 26.2 overs.

The chase was over before it began, the West Indies were stumbling at 79 for five wickets in the 15^th over as England’s bowlers dismantled the West Indies batsmen; Saqib Mahmood who captured three wickets for 32 runs ripped out the top-order; pacer Jamie Overton kept the lower-order batsmen in check with three wickets for 23 runs, and leg-spinner Ail Rashid picked up two wickets.

Fast bowler Jayden Seales batting at number 11 top scored with 29 not out, captain Shai Hope 25, and Keacy Carty 22 were the other batsmen that scored over 20 runs.

Earlier, England scored 400 (their second highest score in an ODI) after the West Indies won the toss and opted to field.

England’s batters launched a collective assault on the bowler –every batter from one to seven scored over 30 runs, but it was the Barbados-born Jacob Bethell that top scored with 82; the 21-year-old faced 53 balls and struck eight fours and five sixes, opener Ben Duckett made 60, newly appointed captain Harry Brooks got 58, and veteran batter Joe Root contributed 57.

Seales captured four wickets for 84 runs from nine expensive overs, while fast bowler Alzarri Joseph and Justin Greaves took two wickets apiece.

The second ODI in the three-match series will take place at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Sunday.

Sports

BARBADIAN GOLFER EMILY ODWIN IN US WOMEN’S OPEN TODAY

Article by David Harris

Barbadian golfer Emily Odwin will create history today, Thursday when she tees off in the US Women’s Open at Erin Hills Golf Course in Washington County, Wisconsin.

Odwin, 21, a junior at Southern Methodist University (SMU) will become the first Barbadian to play in a US Open golf tournament.

Odwin will play at the tournament as an amateur, she qualifies for the tournament after an outstanding performance at the prestigious Olympic Club Lake Course in San Franciso earlier this month; after delivering a composed and consistent showing across two 18-hole rounds to finish at three-under-par tying for first place with American Sarah Lim.

Spaniard Paula Martin Sampedro who finished one behind Odwin and Lim also qualified for the Open.

Odwin, a former student of St Winfred’s School and Queen’s College grew up on the West Coast in St James, she loved to swim at the age of four. Odwin enjoyed all kind of sports and even got a brown belt in karate.

She became interested in golf after watching Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth on television with her father.

At the age of 11 Odwin began to focus her attention on golf, the competitive scene for sport was limited with few official tournaments, and even fewer competitions for girls to participate in. Odwin needed to find alternatives to push herself:

“As I got older and as I got better, it was tougher for me to find competition and I had to travel outwards. I started to come to the United States, or I had to go to Europe. When I was at home, I started having to play with boys a lot. I would have to play in their division off their tees. There are not a lot of girls playing golf in Barbados and there weren’t a lot of competitive opportunities back home”, Odwin told journalists in the United States.

Odwin is proud of her culture and plans to wear an embroidered flag of Barbados on her polo shirt at the US Open.

“I just want to inspire kids back home that golf is possible. You never know how far you can go until you try”, Odwin said.