THE teams will play twice today when the CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) Youth Girls’ Championships continues today at Sentro Deportivo Korsou, Curacao.

Action gets going at 9 a.m. with defending champions Trinidad and Tobago opposing Curacao and this contest will be followed by the clash between Bonaire and Barbados.

The night session starts with the T&T/Bonaire encounter at six o’clock and the busiest of the four-day tournament will conclude with Barbados tackling Curacao in the final match of the round-robin phase.

The tournament served off after press time last night with a double-header featuring Barbados against T&T and Bonaire versus Curacao.

The T&T girls have won all three editions of the Under-18 tournament, but coach Idalmis Gato Moya believes that it’s far from a foregone conclusion that the domination will continue.

The Cuban, who was a member of the team in 1992, 1996 and 2000 when her country became the only one to ever complete a hat-trick of volleyball gold medals in the Olympic Games, pointed out that there is potential in the squad, but just two of the players (skipper Nicolette De Mille and Jordyn Ali) have experience at this level.

However T&T and hosts Curacao were the most impressive during a practice session on Wednesday night.

Curacao captured the gold medal in the boys’ edition of this tournament at home in’10 and picked up the silver in the following edition two years later, but this is their first outing in the girls event.

Bonaire has played in neither, while Barbados trailed a field of three and of four in their two appearances.

The winner of the round-robin phase will tackle the fourth-placed team in tomorrow’s first semifinal at 5 p.m. and two hours later the second and third-placed team clash for the other place in Sunday’s gold-medal encounter.

This match is scheduled for 6 p.m., two hours after the bronze-medal match.

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July 10th, Toronto, Canada – Multiple Commonwealth and Pan American Games medallist, shooter and two-time Sportsman of the Year awardee, Roger Daniel has been chosen to be Trinidad and Tobago’s flag bearer when the 2015 PanAM games open today.

The soldier will be aiming for his third Pan Am Games medal following his podium finishes at the 2007 and 2011 editions of the hemispheric meet, where he won bronze and silver medals respectively.

Daniel is coming into this years competition in fine form having led Trinidad and Tobago’s shooting team to five (5) medals at the recently held 38th Copa del Caribe/Caribbean Cup Shooting Championships in Salinas, Puerto Rico. He won four (4) of Trinidad and Tobago’s five (5)-medal haul, including the lone gold medal in the 50m-pistol event.  He also secured silver medals in the 25m-centre fire and 10m air pistol events and bronze in the 25m-air pistol discipline.

Shooting action for Trinidad and Tobago begins on Sunday July 12^th.  Daniel and compatriot Marlon Moses will see action in the men’s 10m Air Pistol, 50m Pistol and 50m Rifle Prone events. Anthony Maraj, who will compete in the Trap shotgun event, joins them. The 2015 edition of the games has the potential to hold special significance for Daniel, as his son Shaquille Daniel will be representing Trinidad & Tobago when men’s field hockey action commences on Tuesday July 14^th.

Trinidad and Tobago has appeared at every edition of the Pan Am Games, with our best performances coming at Winnipeg 1967, Cali 1971 and Santo Domingo 2003, where the team won seven medals. Trinidad and Tobago is currently ranked sixteenth on the all-time Pan Am Games medals list with 54 medals including eight gold.

Future track and field stars will be on show at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain on July 18 and 19.

Athletes from 20 countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, will do battle for honours at the Sagicor CAC (Central American and Caribbean) Age Group Championships. And at yesterday’s media launch, at the Radisson Hotel Trinidad, National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) president and CAC Athletic Confederation (CACAC) vice president, Ephraim Serrette noted that St Kitts and Nevis sprint star Kim Collins and Bahamian Golden Girl Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie are products of the regional meet.

“In our own scenario in T&T, we have seen the rise of Andwuelle Wright coming out of this programme, winning Carifta Gold, CAC (Junior Championship) gold. And recently, Tyriq Horsford who broke the record in the (Boys Under-18) javelin in Carifta Games this year.

“It is an event, Serrette continued, “that is designed for us to look at the athletes and look at their strengths. The athletes, in the case of the 11-12 age group, do five events plus a relay. The athletes in the other age-group, 13-14, do seven events plus the relay. So it gives you an opportunity to look at athletes in totality, based on sprinting, throwing, jumping. It’s the basics of our sport, run, jump, throw.”

Serrette expressed his gratitude to the sponsors for supporting the meet.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank the sponsors, especially Sagicor who has been with us for the past ten years giving support to the NAAA for our Championships, and has come on board for these Games, the TDC (Tourism Development Company), as well as Blue Waters, the Sport and Culture Fund, and also the Ministry of Sport, not financial but the facilities that we use, and the Sports Company (sporTT) with some of the officers who work with us in the technical areas.

“It’s always our pleasure in T&T,” the CACAC vice -president continued,” to host events, It’s an easy access for most of the countries: no visa issues and we are always good hosts.”

NAAA secretary and Games Committee chairman, Allan Baboolal explained that T&T was not the original host nation for the 2015 CAC Age Group Championships.

“Because of financial constraints in other countries, the event was tossed around. In January of this year, Bermuda indicated they weren’t able to host the event.

“There are 20 participating countries,” Baboolal continued, “including Honduras from Central America. Twenty for an Age Group Championships is extremely good. Four Area Technical Officials (ATOs) have been appointed to oversee the Championships, including one from Trinidad and Tobago, Durly Lucas.”

Admission to the Crawford Stadium is free on both days of the CAC Age Group Championships.

TEAM T&T Boys’ 13-14 heptathlon: Avindale Smith, Joel Andrews

Girls’ 13-14 heptathlon: Safiya John, Antonia Sealy

Boys’ 11-12 pentathlon: Daniel Qui, Jordan Pope

Girls’ 11-12 pentathlon: Malika Coutain, Xea Bruce

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The top Trinidad and Tobago cyclists will continue a busy year as they prepare for the 2015 Pan American Games, which will be hosted in Toronto, Canada. A small six-member team has qualified for the big meet, and will be participating in both the sprint and endurance events during the Games.

The members of the team are all abroad currently, preparing for their competition which starts next Thursday, July 16. The team includes London Olympian Njisane Phillip, Quincy Alexander, Justin Roberts, Jude Codrington as the sprinters, while Varun Maharajh is the sole endurance rider and Emile Abraham will participate in the road race.

Rigtech Sonics clubmates Phillip and Maharajh are both based in Pennslyvania, USA at the moment, while Alexander, Codrington and Roberts are in Colorado. Emile Abraham is in Atlanta.

The T&T cycling contingent will be competing in the team sprint event via Alexander, Codrington and Roberts. Phillip will compete only in the individual events which will include the match sprint and keirin. His local rival Alexander will also be in the sprint. Elite class endurance rider Maharahj will contest the men's omnium.

T&T's cyclists qualified for the Pan American Games based on the results from the last two Pan American Cycling Championships held in 2013 and 2014, as well as results from the CAC Games last year. This year's team will be headed by Des Dickie, team coach, while David Francis will serve as the team manager. Christopher Pitt is the team's mechanic.

The Games as a whole will commence tomorrow and will conclude on July 26. The cycling competition runs from July 16-19.

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The Trinidad and Tobago Cheer Federation (TTCF) held its third annual "Cheer Xplosion" competition at the Hasely Crawford Stadium last Sunday. Twelve teams participated at the competition, which comprised of cheer and dance routines.

The TTCF is the recognised governing body of the sport in T&T, and includes over 200 active athletes in the sport. These athletes range from various univeristies, secondary schools, primary schools and clubs locally.

Among the competing teams Sunday, included; Treasure House Cheer Club Limited, Woodbrook Secondary, Holy Name Convent, Bishop Anstey and Trinity College East, Atwell's Primary School as well as the UWI Cheer Team among others.

Sunday's Results:

Dance Hip Hop Juniors: 1. Sacred Heart Girls 2. Teamwork Dream Team

Dance Hip Hop Seniors: 1. Holy Faith Convent 2. Holy Name Convent

Stunt Level Two: 1. Woodbrook Secondary School 2. Treasure House and Holy Faith Convent - Elite (tie) 4. Holy Faith Convent - Royals, 5. Holy Faith Convent - Warriors

Stunt Level Three: 1. Phoenix All Stars, 2. Holy Name Convent

Level One Youth Mini: 1. Atwell's Primary School - Blue Eagles 2. Sacred Heart Girls

Level One Youth Prep: 1. Sacred Heart Girls 2. Southern Scarlets

Level One Youth Open: 1. Teamwork Dream Team 2. Treasure House 3. Chaguanas North Secondary

Level Two Team Cheer: 1. Holy Faith Convent - Infinity 2. Belmont Secondary

Level Three Team Cheer: 1. St Joseph's Convent

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