National field athletes, Keshorn Walcott (javelin) and Cleoplatra Borel (shot put) captured the 2014 Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards respectively at last night’s annual awards ceremony which got underway at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of-Spain.

Both athletes are coached by Cuban Ismael Mastrapa. Over the past 12 months, both Walcott and Borel produced several highly commendable results in their respective athletic disciplines.

Walcott, reigning Olympic gold medallist, claimed top honours after silencing critics with a mammoth and personal best distance of 85.77 metres in Zurich, Switzerland at the Diamond League. He also secured silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, with the a 82.67m distance.

Borel showed consistency throughout by launching the sphere 18.99m to cop gold at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Veracruz, Mexico. Prior to this, Borel also cemented her name among the world’s best shot putters by holding on to silver (18.57m) at the Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, quarter-miler Machel Cedenio and 100m specialist Aaliyah Telesford took the honours of Junior Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year. Cedenio dominated both the local and regional circuit by bagging gold at the IAAF World Junior Championships and in the Under-20 Carifta Championships.

Also receiving the coveted Alexander B Chapman Award for contribution to sport and Olympism was former national football coach, Bertille St Clair.

Sports Personality of the Year went to Olympic swimmer George Bovell III.

Delegates attending last night’s gala ceremony were Olympic committee president Brian Lewis, Minister of National Security Gary Griffith, TT’s first Olympic gold medallist Hasely Crawford, acting SporTT CEO Adrian Raymond and a host of this nation’s most prized sporting assets.



Awardees

Sportsman of the Year: Keshorn Walcott (javelin)

Sportswoman of the Year: Cleopatra Borel (shot put)

Alexander B Chapman Award: Bertille St Clair

Junior Sportsman of the Year: Machel Cedenio (400m)

Junior Sportswoman of the Year: Aaliyah Telesford (100m).

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Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis says the ten golds 24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund, from which he will raise awareness by participating in the 2015 Trinidad International Marathon on January 25, will also provide for athletes falling outside the conventional subventions and those who have fallen on hard times.

#10golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund will give athletes freedom to pursue sporting excellence

TTOC President Brian Lewis will launch the #10golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund on January 25th, 2015 by participating in the 2015 Trinidad International Marathon. Lewis hopes to raise $500,000TT for the Fund through his participation.

The vision of #10golds 24(10 or more Olympic Gold medals by 2024) is to further enable national athletes to realize their Olympic dreams. It will provide financial assistance to Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games athletes to enable them to train, recover and compete.

Training to be an Olympic champion is a full time commitment requiring significant time and resources. The pursuit of excellence by an athlete to fulfil the dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games and climbing the medal podium, demands years of dedication, sacrifice and single minded focus. This fund will be dedicated to preparing athletes to represent Trinidad and Tobago, and in the ongoing pursuit and achievement of excellence in the Olympic Games and life.

The fund will cover several items in support of athlete development. These include:

Direct support (stipend) and out of pocket expenses Medal bonus Health and Accident Insurance (Providing world class medical support to our top athletes is of paramount importance. Injury and illness can threaten an athlete's career if they're not identified and dealt with quickly.) Internships with Corporate T&T to prepare for life after elite sport

Lifeskills training

“Many of our nation’s elite and high performance athletes are not financially well rewarded, and without financial support are unable to reach their potential,” said Brian Lewis, President of the TTOC. “The wellbeing of our athletes, sportsmen and sports women is paramount to the TTOC, and this fund will enable our athletes to develop their sporting abilities and achieve consistent world class performances, fairly and ethically.”

The lack of dedicated financial support throughout the stages of an athlete's long term development has ended and or compromised the dream of many talented young men and women. Trinidad and Tobago’s elite and high performance athletes need to have the freedom and flexibility and to dedicate more time, money and energy into their athletic endeavours.

The TTOC welcomes the support of the business community and private citizens in this venture. The fund will provide national athletes with a dedicated resource and bridge the gap between success on and off the field.

22 December , Port of Spain,

Today we launch the #10golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund, and, as a symbolic gesture to raise awareness of this much-needed initiative, Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee President Brian Lewis  will participate (walk) in the 2015 Trinidad International Marathon, scheduled for January 25th .

The path to Olympic success requires full time commitment and and unstinting dedication. To be competitive, our elite and high performance athletes, both in individual and team sports need to be able to dedicate much more time and energy to their endeavors. For this to happen they need money.

Winning a medal at the Olympics demands years of sacrifice and single minded focus.

Many of our top athletes are not financially equipped to afford the time required to realize  their full potential. Simply put, without our financial support, they can't be the best that can be.

As a nation, we have a history of providing financial rewards for our athletes after they have succeeded. There are far too many untold stories of talented young men and women who, not for want of effort, have had to give up their Olympic dream because they did not have the financial support to dedicate themselves fully.

The vision of #10golds 24 (10 or more Olympic Gold medals by 2024) is to enable Trinidad and Tobago's athletes to realize their full potential and their Olympic dreams.

The  #10golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund will provide financial assistance to our Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games athletes to enable them to train, recover and compete.

The Fund will seek to provide:

#direct support (stipend) to cover day-to-day living expenses

#medal bonus to reward success

#Health and Accident Insurance: Providing world class medical support for our top athletes is of paramount importance. Injury and illness can threaten an athlete's career if not identified and dealt with quickly.

#internships with Corporate T&T to prepare for life after sport #lifeskills training.

Former world champions, the T&T “Calypso Netballers” will come up against the top two teams in the world, host Australia and New Zealand in Pool A round-robin play at next year’s 14th Netball World Cup in Sydney Australia, from August 7-16.

This will be the second time that the World Championships are being held in Sydney, and the third time in Australia. Sydney last hosted the event in 1991, when Australia won a closely contested final against New Zealand.

All matches will be played at the 21,000 seat Allphones Arena (formerly known as the Sydney SuperDome and Acer Arena), Sydney Olympic Park.

T&T who won the American Federation of Netball Association (AFNA) world title back in 1979 as joint winners with the Aussies and New Zealand will also go head-to-head with Caribbean rivals Barbados, who they have beaten in their last three meetings.

Pool B of the 2015 Championship features world third and fourth ranked teams, England and Jamaica as well as Scotland and Samoa while Malawi, South Africa, Singapore and Sri Lanka comprise Pool C, and the quartet of Fiji, Wales, Uganda and Zambia make up Pool D.

Australia qualified automatically as host along with the next five highest ranked teams from the 2011 Championship inclusive of New Zealand, England, Jamaica, Malawi and South Africa.

The other 11 teams qualified via their regional qualifying competitions, with T&T topping Barbados in the AFNA qualifiers which were held in Alberta, Canada, in August.

The Australians are the defending champions having won the title for a record tenth three years ago while second-ranked New Zealand have captured the top prize on four ocassions, the last being in 2002 while it has ended in second spot no fewer than seven times, including the last two editions.

Australia is also the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medal winners after beating major rival New Zealand in the final earlier this year, 58-40.

It will be the second straight time the Pepe Gomes coached T&T women will face New Zealand in the group stages, having gone under to the Kiwis, 23-75 in 2007 while beating Wales (51-48) and Fiji (58-40) at the Singapore National Stadium.

The “Calypso Netballers” were then upstaged by Jamaica 42-79 in the quarterfinals and also went under to Malawi, 38-61 in their fifth to eight place semifinal ahead of its 56-38 beating of Northern Ireland for seventh spot in the 16-team tournament.

But despite the tough draw, T&T coach Wesley “Pepe” Gomes said he was quite happy with the opponents his team would face.

“My aim is for us to finish among the top six and if you want to be among the best you have to beat the best teams in the world.

“They have been the top teams in the world for a while now but we have been preparing as hard as we can.”

Currently, Gomes has a core of players in training and with the World Championships set for July he is hoping to get in some international matches and possibly two overseas tours.

“We know things are tough when it comes to financial support, but we are looking at some matches in Europe against Wales, Scotland and Ireland in early May and then some against the Jamaicans just before we head to Australia,” Gomes said.

“Our plans were to play some matches against Barbados but with us being drawn in the same pool and beating them on the last three to four times we have played each other, I don’t think they will agree to it this time around.”

Last night the T&T women continued training with another session at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo and depending on the availability of the venue will train again tomorrow morning or Monday afternoon from 6 pm to 8 pm to close out before the Christmas.

Gomes added: “The girls have been really committed to training but we are still having some issues in getting the facilities to train as much as we would hope for.

“Since our return from the AFNA Championships in Alberta, Canada, where we won the title, the players had a little break and have been training since. They will get the break for the Christmas and then we resume or programme on January 2, 2015.”

The T&T coach also praised the younger players who have been in training for their efforts.

“There are a few young players training with us and even though they may not make the final team for the major tournaments, training with their senior peers will help them to prepare well for Under-21 tournaments and I hope they take as much knowledge from the senior players as possible.

At the World Championship, the top two teams from each preliminary pool will qualify to the “first eight” second round series while the bottom two teams in each pool will play in the “second eight” competition.

And at the end of the end of the first eight second round two groups, the top two in each qualify to the semifinals, the ther bottom two battle for fifth to eight.

And the teams in the second eight groups will play round robin match, followed by crossover playoffs.

more info

Preliminary round groups:
Pool A: No 1 Australia, No 2 New Zealand, No 10 Barbados, No 9 T&T
Pool B: No 3 England, No 4 Jamaica, No 12 Scotland, No 14 Samoa
Pool C: No 5 Malawi, No 6 South Africa, No 19 Singapore, No 24 Sri Lanka
Pool D: No 7 Fiji, No 8 Wales, No 13 Uganda, No 18 Zambia

Qualification rounds:
First Eight:
Pool E: A-1, B-2, C-1, D-2
Pool F: A-2, B-1, C-2, D-1

NB: Top two teams from each pool qualify to the semifinals while the bottom two qualify to the fifth to eight playoffs.

Second Eight:
Pool G: A-3, B-4, C-3, D-4
Pool H: A-4, B-3, C-4, D-3

NB: 
At the end of the second eight matches, the teams will then face off in the playoff matches for positions ninth to 16th.
Winner’s row:
Year    Host    Placing 
1963    England    4th
1967    Australia    5th
1971    Jamaica    4th
1975    New Zealand    4th
1979    T&T    Joint 1st with Aus/NZ
1983    Singapore    3rd
1987    Scotland    Joint 2nd
1991    Australia    DNP
1995    England    6th
1999    New Zealand    8th
2003    Jamaica    10th
2007    New Zealand    11
2011    Singapore    7th

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