Na­tion­al Am­a­teur Atheltic As­so­ci­a­tion pres­i­dent Ephraim Ser­rette has ad­mit­ted that 2019 was a dif­fi­cult year.

He made the com­ment as the NAAA recog­nised the per­for­mances of ath­letes at its an­nu­al end of year award func­tion at the Radis­son Ho­tel in Port-of-Spain on Sat­ur­day evening.

Ser­rette said there were chal­lenges both on the field and ad­min­is­tra­tive­ly, but said the per­for­mance of the ath­letes last year was cred­itable.

Not­ing specif­i­cal­ly that the NAAA need­ed to max­imise on the use of its re­sources, he said, “We are the best per­form­ing sport at the Olympics. The record will show that Trinidad and To­ba­go has won 17 Olympic medals and 14 came from the track and field. That speaks vol­umes for our sport. We must feel cheat­ed, where fund­ing is con­cerned.”

He added, “We have pro­duced Dar­ryl Brown as a world ju­nior ath­lete, Keshorn Wal­cott and we can pro­duce many more. We have to chal­lenge our uni­ver­si­ties to do things to keep our ath­letes at home at UTT and UWI.

“We have got to at­tract our ath­letes. The on­ly dif­fer­ence I can see is the com­pe­ti­tion which is had in the Unit­ed States. We have got to set the path­ways and in­stead of four years to at­tain a de­gree, then we can give our ath­letes a five-year pro­gramme. We will then be able to com­pete re­gion­al­ly and in­ter­na­tion­al­ly in a ma­jor way.”

Last year at the same event, then NGC chair­man Ger­ry Brooks was the fea­ture speak­er and told the gath­er­ing: “It’s not where you start; it’s where you are go­ing! Good is the en­e­my of great!”

Brooks then high­light­ed the work in 2018 of Michelle Lee Ahye and Jereem Richards, but told the gath­er­ing,“Col­leagues, 2018 is over! This is 2019—the be­gin­ning of a new year. We are 360 days away from a new decade—the 2020s. This must be our decade!”

When it came time to ho­n­our the ath­letes, reign­ing Com­mon­wealth Games 200 me­tres cham­pi­on Jereem “The Dream” Richards, of Abi­lene and Zenith’s Kel­ly-Ann Bap­tiste were named the 2019 se­nior Sports­man and Sports­woman of the Year awardees.

Cougars Ath­let­ic Club’s Shani­qua Bas­combe was mean­while vot­ed as the fe­male Youth Ath­lete of the Year and Point Fortin New Jets’ Devin Au­gus­tine the boys’ Ath­lete of the Year.

Kaizen Pan­thers’ Safiya John (fe­male) and Zenith’s Tyriq Hors­ford walked away with the Ju­nior Sports­man and Sports­woman of the year ho­n­ours.

The Cougars Ath­let­ic Club al­so con­tin­ued their run of suc­cess af­ter be­ing named the Cham­pi­on Ju­ve­nile Club of 2019.

How­ev­er, his­to­ry was made in the Ju­nior Club Cham­pi­onship when there was a tie be­tween Cougars and Mem­phis Pi­o­neers. Mem­phis was ad­judged the Cham­pi­on Se­nior Club.

Ho­n­our Roll

Spe­cial Awards

Pres­i­dent’s Ris­ing Star Award

Devin Au­gus­tine (Point Fortin New Jets)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete

(Girls’ U-9) — Yanque Stew­art (To­co Ti­tans)

(Boys’ U-9)—Jom­mal­ly Mark (Mem­phis)

(Girls’ U-11)—Jenique McLaren (To­co Tafac)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-11) —Akul Si­mon (Mem­phis)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Girls’ U-13)—Kaori Rob­ley (Mecury)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-13)—Iman­ni Math­ew (Ti­tans)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Girls’ U-15)—Kayleigh Forde (Cougars)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Girls’ U-15 Field)—Janae De­Gannes (Zenith)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-15)— Keone John (Mem­phis)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-15 Field)—Far­rel Ger­ry (Mer­cury)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-15 Mul­ti-Events)—Do­ri­an Charles(Point Fortin New Jets)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Girls’ U-17 - Track)—Shani­qua Bas­combe (Cougars)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Girls’ U-17 - Field)—Shaki­ra Kirk(To­ba­go Fal­cons)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-17 - Track)—Devin Au­gus­tine (PFNJ)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-17 - Field)—Jay­den Scott (Mer­cury)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Girls’ U-20 - Track)—Ak­i­lah Lewis ( Con­corde)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Girls’ U-20 - Field)—An­tonie Sealy (FAD)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Girls’ U-20 Mul­ti-Events)—Safiyah John (Kaizen Pan­thers)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-20 – Track)—Gen­e­sis Joseph (Health Olympians)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Boys’ U-20 – Field)— Tyriq Hors­ford (Zenith)

Best Mul­ti-Event Ath­lete (Boys’ U-20)— An­son Moses (To­ba­go Fal­cons)

Most Out­stand­ing Cross Coun­try Ath­lete (Fe­male)— Sjae­lan Evans (Un­at­tached)

Most Out­stand­ing Cross Coun­try Ath­lete (Male)— Sher­win Sta­ple­ton (Road Run­ners)

Most Out­stand­ing Fe­male Ath­lete (Road Run­ning)— Tonya Nero (Ath­let­ic Cen­tral)

Most Out­stand­ing Male Ath­lete (Road Run­ning)— Sher­win Sta­ple­ton (SRoad Run­ners)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Women Open)— Kel­ly-Ann Bap­tiste (Zenith)

Best Com­bined Events Ath­lete (Women Open)— Tyra Git­tens (Kaizen Pan­thers)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Women Open – Field)— Cleopa­tra Borel (Re­birth)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Men Open – Field)— Keshorn Wal­cott (Re­birth)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Women Open – Track)— Michelle-Lee Ahye (Re­birth)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Men Open – Track)— Jereem Richards (Abi­lene)

Most Out­stand­ing Ath­lete (Men Open – Field)— Keshorn Wal­cott (Re­birth)

Out­stand­ing Per­for­mances Awards for 2019

Akeem Stew­art - Para­pon Amer­i­can Games (To­ba­go Fal­cons)

Nyoshia Cain - Para­pon Amer­i­can Games (Sim­plex)

Cham­pi­on Club Tro­phies

Cham­pi­on Club (Ju­ve­nile)— Cougars

Cham­pi­on Club (Ju­nior)— Cougars & Mem­phis

Cham­pi­on Club (Se­nior)— Mem­phis

Ath­lete of the Year Awards

Youth Ath­lete of the Year - Fe­male— Shani­qua Bas­combe (Cougars)

Youth Ath­lete of the Year - Male— Devin Au­gus­tine (PFNJ)

Ju­nior Ath­lete of the Year - Fe­male— Safiya John (Kaizen Pan­thers)

Ju­nior Ath­lete of the Year - Male— Tyriq Hors­ford (Zenith)

Se­nior Ath­lete of the Year - Fe­male— Kel­ly-Ann Bap­tiste (Zenith)

Se­nior Ath­lete of the Year - Male— Jereem Richards (Abi­lene)