Team TTO | Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee | teamtto.org

Caledonia have been declared third place winners of the 2013 Hoop of Life Community Basketball League and will receive the $250,000 purse.

This after the Hoop of Life management team took a decision to suspend Laventille for two games with immediate effect.

The decision followed  the behavior of the supporters of the Laventille team after they erupted by throwing missiles onto the basketball court during their semi-final clash against Maloney in St Barb’s.

Laventille won the game 87-69 but failed to make the final. According a media release Laventille were suspended “after their supporters infringed the Hoop of Life Community Basketball League Rules, Guidelines and Code of Conduct.”

The release stated: “Article 30(b) of the Hoop of Life by-laws clearly outlines that spectators must be aware that they are an extension of their team and should also be gracious host, and role models of good conduct and sportsmanship.”

Among the rules for spectators are that they must always represent their community in a positive way and they must be respectful to officials as well as members of the opposing team.

The best of three final for $1.5 million dollars starts tomorrow (Saturday 26th) with Maloney Is We hosting La Romaine Jet Stars in Maloney from 7:30 p.m. Game two is set for Monday in La Romaine and if a third game is needed, it will be played on Wednesday in Maloney.

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The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee is hosting a Sport Administrators Course for sporting bodies in Tobago at the Conference Room of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports in Dutch Fort, Scarborough. Over 20 representatives from several organisations including the Paradise Hockey Club, Crusoe Isle Tennis Club, Game Fishing Association, Tobago Football Association, Tobago Rugby Club, FX Gym, Zenith and Falcons Athletic Clubs have enrolled for the four week workshop which began on October  8 and ends on October 30. The aim of the course is to educate persons in the field of sport administration so that they can efficiently and effectively manage their organisations. Stacy Cateau did the opening presentation on the Structure of the International Olympic Committee. The first two weeks featured presenters Surendra Arjoon (Ethics in Sport and Fair play), Catherine Forde (Communication), Roger St. Rose (Constitution), Gabre Mc Tair (Development  Pathway), Annette Knott (Governance in sport), Sherlan Cabralis (Marketing) and Carol Charles-Austin (Strategic Planning).   The remaining sessions are on Public Relations, Sports Science, Event Management, Financial Management and Budgeting and Sponsorship.

Annette Knott
Secretary General of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee Annette Knott addressed participants on the topic of Governance in Sports at the TTOC Sport Administrators Course  at the Conference Room of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports in Dutch Fort, Scarborough on October 17.

Carol Charles-Austin
Former chairman of the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago Carol Charles-Austin speaking on Strategic Planning at the TTOC SportsAdministrators Course  at the Conference Room of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports in Dutch Fort, Scarborough on October 19.  

Gabre Mc Tair
Gabre Mc Tair shares on Development Pathway  at the TTOC Sport Administrators Course  at the Conference Room of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports in Dutch Fort, Scarborough on October 16.

Participants 3
The participants fully focused  at the TTOC Sport Administrators Course  at the Conference Room of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports in Dutch Fort, Scarborough on October 17.

Surendra Arjoon
UWI professor Surendra Arjoon (right) with participant, Javon Carrington (left) of the Sports Department of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports  at the TTOC Sport Administrators Course  at the Conference Room of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports in Dutch Fort, Scarborough on October 12.

Participants
(From left) Lyndon Bacchus, Johan Roberts, Anthony Moore and Michael Alexander at the TTOC Sport Administrators Course  at the Conference Room of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports in Dutch Fort, Scarborough on October 17.

October 23 - John Coates, the President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), has combined with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in launching a "Campaign Rio" targeting a top five finish on the medals table at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Australia finished fourth at both Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 but has endured a steady decline in fortunes since.

A sixth placed finish in Beijing 2008 was followed by tenth position  in London, where only seven gold medals were won, their worst performance since Seoul 1988.

The latest campaign, a partnership between the AIS and both the Olympic and Paralympic Committees, aims to deliver the "best planning and preparation for Australian athletes in Brazil" to ensure a climb back up the table.

The announcement follows the establishment of a "WInning Edge" high performance strategy by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) late in 2012 which has put the onus on individual sports to be more accountable for the use of their funding.

It was also announced that this Federal Government funding will remain at $95 million AUD ($91 million/£58 million/€66 million)

While in the past the AIS have supported athletes in years preceding the Olympics, they have passed control over solely to the AOC for the duration of the Games

They will now be directly involved, with AIS director Matt Favier serving as Deputy Chef de Mission in a role said to mirror that of the 2003 Rugby World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward with the Great Britain team at London 2012.

In a move which aims to give athletes and coaches more familiar points of contact, the AIS chief medical officer Dr David Hughes and sports scientist Nick Brown have also been invited on the Board.

Coates, recently appointed vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as well as chairman of the Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020, explained the aims of the new scheme at its launch in Canberra.

"I decided to do things differently for Rio after the disappointment of London and we need to work more closely with the AIS," he said.

"The AIS will be a key part of our team and they need to be inside the tent."

Coates says the partnership was only made possible once the Australian Sports Commission created their Winning Edge high performance strategy.

"In the past they've sort of sat back there," he said.

"For some reason they noted our top five [goal], but never endorsed it.

"They just weren't prepared to put their neck on the line as they've done now.

''We had to do something to focus more on high performance,''

''We're competing against more money now.

''We have to be smarter and in the case of the AOC we've decided to focus more on high performance, to understand more what the coaches want and the institutes agreed to put their top people in our team rather than outside the tent.''

ASC chairman John Wylie said the partnership between the organisations was a natural progression to assist in giving athletes the best possible preparation before the Olympic Games.

''It's a long overdue review and tightening up of the system to make it more effective,'' he said.

''It's time for the AIS to reinvent itself, and it's doing that.

We're keen to kick it along again and make sure we're at the cutting edge of world sport.''

At the announcement, Coates also expressed a desire to "widen the net" of sports which Australia wins medals in so as to offset the impact of less medals being won by the swimming team in London.

''I think we've had an over-dependence on swimming,'' he said.

''We've got to have more sports that produce medal prospects.

"It mightn't come for Rio, but I think the initiative of having a combat centre here [at the AIS] looking at boxing and judo are important initiatives we need to pursue.

''You've got to have a very wide base of sports to have those results.''

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Despite ‘Worlds’ success...

Trinidad and Tobago 2013 IAAF World Championship 400m hurdler Jehue Gordon shared his experiences at the Michael Johnson Performance Centre at a workshop organised by the bpTT and the MJP at Hasely Crawford Stadium yesterday.
And Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (T&TOC) president Brian Lewis said the continuing partnership between the MJP, bpTT and the T&TOC was “critical” to this country’s goal of developing elite and high class athletes to perform at future regional and international games.
MJP director Lance Walker and Gordon’s coach Dr Ian Hypolite were also present at the workshop, hosted in the VIP Lounge.
Gordon, who spent a week’s stint at the Texas-based MJP back in January, explained that the MJP’s officials scientific approach to athletic development identified physical and nutritional weaknesses that Gordon and Hypolite had to work on.
“For the short period of time that I was up at MJP, I was able to learn a lot about my body, a lot about my weaknesses.....also in terms of nutrition I was able to realise that most of the stuff that I thought was healthy actually was not nutritional enough...and they were able to map out a good programme for me that guided me through my season from April until the Worlds,” he said.
Gordon specified that he needed higher knee and back lift and to alter his arm swing. The top T&T hurdler also said he discovered that his drive from the blocks was deficient, which he said was owing to an ankle injury that he is still managing and working on.
“Also when it came to core strength I was much weaker on my left side compared to my right side, so we had to do a lot of stability and activation stuff for the left side. It was just significantly weaker, so it is a continuous programme and not something that is going to fix one time, but something we know we need to work towards,” he said.
MJP officials and his coach mapped out a programme identifying corrective measures that coach Hypolite took to ensure his success at Worlds.
But there is still work to do.
“I am still weak, my body is still flimsy, I am still young, so I am not trying to overload my body too much and do stuff my body is not ready for. It’s a gradual progress continual process to reach where we want to reach,” he said, adding that doing the right thing does not necessarily guarantee good results right away.
“For me, I try to pass on knowledge to the younger ones. You might see discrepancies in them and weaknesses in them and I just want to relate the same message to them because I know from personal experience what I went through. So it is more about helping the young ones that need the help and sharing the info and not being greedy about guarding the info,” he said.
For Lewis, the partnership between T&TOC, MJP and bpTT was about identifying a path to future success for T&T athletes.
“Elite and high performance sport is not the same as recreational sport. At this level it is a results business and you can’t get away from that. So we at the TTOC have to build the next phase, which is targeted results and objectives. Remember, one of our goals is ten Olympic medals by 2024; the journey has started and continues now,” Lewis said.
Lewis added that workshop like these add to the sporting capacity and the T&TOC’s continued partnerships would focus on developing the coaching, sporting education and administration capacity and knowledge database.

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• Wada seeking audit of Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission
• 'The current position is unacceptable

Jamaican athletes such as Usain Bolt could face exclusion from the Olympics after the world anti-doping chief John Fahey warned the nation's drug testers they must prove quickly they are meeting international standards.

The Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (Jadco) is under intense scrutiny following claims from its former head, Renee Anne Shirley, who revealed in August that only one out-of-competition test had been carried out in the five months leading up to last year's Olympics.

That led the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) to seek an audit of the organisation, but Jadco has said it cannot accommodate such a process until next year.

The Wada president, Fahey, told the Daily Telegraph: "The current position is unacceptable to Wada and we're not going to take it lying down, their suggestion that they'll talk to us next year.

"To suggest to Wadathey're not ready to meet with us to talk about their problem until sometime next year is unsatisfactory, it's totally unacceptable to me and we shall act appropriately within an appropriate time frame."

One course of action available to Wada would be to declare Jadco non-compliant, which would result in its athletes being banned from global competitions such as the Olympics and World Championships.

Jamaica came under the spotlight after five athletes including Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson returned positive tests earlier this year.

Shirley, who began her job as executive director of Jadco last July, left her post in February after becoming frustrated at the lack of progress made.

Leading Jamaican athletes such as Bolt and Yohan Blake face regular tests as part of the IAAF's international testing pool, and there is no evidence they have committed any wrong-doing.

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October 20 - If Paris bids for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics then they need to show "humility, of listening and of perseverance", instead of being arrogant, they have been warned by Jean-Claude Killy.

Killy is France's most senior member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and claimed that the country needs a fresh approach if it is to finally succeed after five consecutive unsuccessful bids.

Three of these have come from Paris.

They were for 1992 which were awarded to Barcelona, 2008 to Beijing and 2012 to London when the French capital was the overwhelming favourite only to be beaten in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic bidding history.

This was then followed by a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics from Annecy, when they polled only seven votes as the Games were awarded to South Korea's Pyeongchang, the second lowest total in recent history.

Lille had also bid for the 2004 Olympics but were not even chosen as a candidate city for a Games awarded to Athens.

The last successful French Olympic bid came from Albertville, who were awarded the 1992 Winter Games.

A bid from Paris for 2024 is widely expected, especially as it would mark the centenary of the 1924 Games which were held there and immortalised in the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire.

But Killy, a former skier who won three gold medals at Grenoble in 1968, has cautioned that Paris needs to adopt a new attitude if it is to come out in front of what is expected to be the most competitive bid campaign since 2012 which also featured Madrid, Moscow and New York.

"We must stop putting ourselves forward as something we're not," Killy told French newspaper Journal du Dimanche in an interview published today. .

"We can't turn up once every ten years and tell the whole world what the Olympic Movement is about, that shows arrogance, and then go and repeat that ten years later."

Killy, who gave his lukewarm support to Annecy's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, gave Paris a word of advice should they emerge as 2024 host city candidates.

"They should create a Team France obviously backed by the Mayor [of Paris]," said Killy, who is currently head of the IOC Coordination Commission for Sochi 2014.

"It also helps to pay attention to the competition.

"The Americans will be hard to beat.

"France should adopt a position of humility, of listening and of perseverance."

If Paris pinned its hopes of being awarded the Games because it is the centenary of 1924, then it is doomed to fail, Killy warned.

"Never [should they adopt this strategy], looking at its scope and responsibilities a romantic IOC no longer exists," he said.

But, even if Paris does bid, then Killy does not wish to be part of its campaign.

"Out of the question, or only a helping hand," he said.

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Trinidad and Tobago’s Paralympic swimmer Shanntol Ince won two more gold medals on the final day of the 2013 Youth Parapan American Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina yesterday to finish with four gold medals.

The 18-year-old swimmer reached the top of the podium in the women’s S9 100 metre butterfly and the women’s S9 100 metre freestyle events yesterday.

She also won the S9 400 metre freestyle on Thursday and followed up with gold in the 100 metre backstroke on Friday.

Yesterday, Ince won the butterfly final in a time of one minute, 21.89 seconds to finish ahead of Mexico’s Isabel Martinez,  who clocked 1:45.85.

Ince also finished ahead of Martinez in the freestyle event, getting to the wall in a time of 1:12.86 seconds. Martinez clocked 1:29.63 in the freestyle final. The T&T swimmer won gold in all the events she competed in and her style in the pool impressed of many, according to T&T Paralympic Committee president Kenneth McKell.

“This is a proud moment for us. You cannot ask for anything better than four gold medals in four events,” said McKell, who was in Argentina to witness the games.

“She did her best and did her country proud and she has drawn admiration from the American Paralympic body as well and the International Paralympic organisation.

“She carried herself as a true diplomat and athlete and we can all be proud of what she has accomplished.

“Her style and movement were very smooth and she had good form in the pool and those were some of the commendations she got from and her major competitors, who all complemented her on carrying the regional flag so to speak,” McKell explained.

He said Ince’s achievements will also inspire other young athletes in T&T.

Ince was the only T&T swimmer at the Games, and McKell hopes her performance will motivate others to get into the pool.

“We have some young swimmers coming up and this provides them with an example on what we could achieve. It will inspire them,” he added.

Ince returns to Trinidad today at 4.30 p.m.

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A week after reclaiming the T&T Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) Toyota Championship Division title after two years, Caribs RFC stormed into the final of the Marcus Minshall Cup Competition, when it handed Royalians a 44-10 whipping, in the last four stage, on Saturday.

Playing simultaneously, reigning knockout champion and last year’s league winner, Harvard also took a berth into the final following a 22-13 victory over Stag Trinidad Northern.

The Beer Boys, Caribs, which is on high seven days following its Bruno Browne triumph and the league title win on the final day, cruised past Royalians. Caribs led 25-0 at the half and never looked back. For Royalians, Mark Roberts and Felician Guerra scored two consolation tries in the second half, long after it stood no chance of a come back.

Meanwhile, for Caribs, both Graeme Alkins and Anderson Joseph scored two tries, while Richard Staglon, Ryan Brown, Don Rojas, Jamaal Stewart and Abdeel Giles scored one try each. Two of the nine tries were converted by Stewart.

Both of Saturday’s winners will clash in the final on Saturday at a venue to be announced. Harvard will seek to defend one of several first-time titles it won last season. It has already been dethroned by Caribs for the league title. Harvard picked up its first ever Marcus Minshall Cup last season with a 25-11 win over Northern in the final.

Following Caribs’ big win, club president Ronald Annandsingh said he was pleased at the direction the club is currently heading.

“I think yes, this season our focus is to play rugby and enjoy it. Last season was an eye opener; the club needed to refocus our energy in training.

He said however, the method of training has not changed at all. “Caribs’ game has just gotten tighter.” Annandsingh credited his players for their determination and passion, which he said stemmed from an accident in which one of its key players, Jason “Moon” Clarke was involved in last year.

“I know the players wanted the league for Moon (Jason Clarke). That (incident) brought out a lot of emotion, which ultimately affected our competitiveness in the league,” said Annandsingh, a veteran of the sport and manager who has been involved in schools’ rugby for several years.

Apart from his senior team, Annandsingh is happy at the direction the Under-19 and Under-17 teams are heading in.

“The Under-19 team is stepping up and we’re looking an improved Under-17 team next year. I just wish the women would play more games.”

Results

Caribs 44 v Royalians 10

Harvard 22 v Northern 13

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The TTOC Executive Committee members received their instrument of declaration at the Presidents house on Friday 18th October 2013.

Top Trinidad and Tobago swimmer George Bovell splashed to a bronze medal in the men’s 100 metres individual medley (IM), on the opening day of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2013 Dubai leg, in the United Arab Emirates, yesterday.

Bovell, swimming out of lane six, was timed in 52.38 seconds for the four-lap event in the short course (25-metre) pool.

Australia’s Kenneth To grabbed gold in 51.64, getting in ahead of Russian silver medallist Vladimir Morozov (51.76).

In the morning prelims, Bovell was the fourth fastest qualifier after winning heat five in 54.74 seconds. Morozov was the fastest in 53.81, while To was third fastest in 54.11.

Today, Bovell will line up in the men’s 50m freestyle, his pet event, in heat five. He has been drawn in lane four. Top seed Morozov is in the same lane in the sixth and final heat of the blue riband event.

Bovell earlier captured one gold and four bronze medals at the Berlin, Netherlands and Moscow legs of the World Cup.

The 30-year-old Bovell’s next Cup assignments following the Dubai leg will be in Doha, Qatar (October 20-21), Singapore (November 5-6), Tokyo, Japan (November 9-10), and Beijing, China (November 13-14).!”

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Ince grabs Youth Parapan gold

Trinidad and Tobago Paralympic swimmer Shanntol Ince won this country’s first gold medal at the 2013 Youth Parapan American Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, yesterday, taking first place in the women’s S9 400 metres freestyle final.

The 18-year-old swimmer touched the wall in five minutes, 30.41 seconds to top the field. She will be back in the pool today for the 100m backstroke.

Ince will also compete in the 100m butterfly and freestyle events.

“I feel really elated with my performance and I thank Jesus for everything he has done. My parents sacrificed a lot and to see that it all paid off is a great feeling for me,” Ince told the Express after the win. “I would also like to thank my club Areios Aquatechs and my coach Franz Huggins.

“This race was not really my best,” the gold medallist continued. “It could have been better but that is all behind me now. I really need to stay calm and focused to achieve faster times and medal in my other races.”

President of the T&T Paralympic Committee (TTPC), Kenneth McKell is in Buenos Aires, and witnessed Ince’s golden swim.

“This is the first time we have been to Youth Parapan Games. She went to Paralympic Games in London last year...this is the start of her journey to Rio 2016, so we just have to keep on improving her time.”

Minister of Sport Anil Roberts was thrilled with the young swimmer’s performance.

“As Shanntol’s former coach, I could not be happier for this extremely dedicated athlete. She has worked so very hard over the years to improve in the sport she loves. Her extremely supportive family and faith in God undoubtedly played an important part in her victory today. I hope Shanntol basks in the glow of this latest achievement for herself, her family and for Trinidad and Tobago. She thoroughly deserves it!”

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There is a reason that the Olympic Games is often described as the "Greatest Show on Earth" and I think that anyone who saw London 2012 last year knows exactly why that is.

I was one of the lucky ones who actually got to compete at the Olympics.

Less than a month before the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, it was announced that Shauna Mullin and I would represent Team GB in the sport of beach volleyball.

It was a huge honour for us because it marked the first time ever that a British pair have featured in an Olympic beach volleyball tournament since the event made its debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

The London 2012 beach volleyball setting at the iconic Horse Guards Parade was absolutely stunning and after thinking about the Olympic Games for so long, it was unbelievable to step out onto the sand in front of our home fans.

We simply couldn't believe the support from the crowds and competing there was truly a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, we missed out on a medal but the whole experience of being part of the Olympic Games was a reward in itself for years of dedication, hard work and training.

Having been part of an Olympic Games that promised to "Inspire a Generation", I am now looking to do exactly that in my role as one of Sport England's Sporting Champions.

One of my key roles as a Sporting Champion involves supporting Sportivate projects across the country.

Sportivate is the £56 million ($85 million/€65 million) National Lottery funded Olympic and Paralympic legacy initiative run by Sport England that gives 11 to 25 year olds who aren't particularly sporty six to eight weeks' free coaching in a new sport and then helps them find low cost ways to continue to play.

Next up for me later this month is a return to a great Sportivate volleyball project at Richard Huish College in the county of Somerset.

The project is looking to get young people into the sport of volleyball and more importantly, keep them there once they are hooked.

As a Sporting Champion, I hope to use the magic of London 2012 to inspire all the young people in attendance to make sport a big part of their life.

My goal has always been to compete at the Olympics and I am now training hard with Lucy Boulton, also a Sporting Champion, to make it to the next Games in Rio in 2016. But for many children out there, the goal is simply to take part and have fun. That's the brilliant thing about sport - it can be played and enjoyed by all different people at all different levels from the elite right down to the grassroots.

And if athletes like me who competed at the "Greatest Show on Earth" can inspire young people to keep going out there to have fun and stay healthy and active, then that is yet another fantastic legacy from London 2012.

Zara Dampney is a beach volleyball player who represented Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games. She is now aiming to compete at her second Olympic Games at Rio 2016. Zara is also one of Sport England's Sporting Champions, which you can find out more about here.

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Top Jamaican martial artist, Kenneth Edwards has confirmed reports that he has tested positive for the banned substance hydrochlorothiazide.

The taekwondoist returned the positive test for the banned diuretic during an out-of-competition test carried out by the Jamaica Anti-doping Commission (JADCO).

“This is to officially indicate that I was notified of a positive test for a banned substance on September 18, 2013. I have since asked that the B sample be tested, and I am awaiting that result,” he said in a statement released on Monday night.

“I have not competed since July 16 and was in preparation for international competition in October. It means that there is no practical reason to use a diuretic for any kind of preparation. I have every intention of challenging these findings.”

Edwards, who bagged heavyweight bronze at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in 2010, is the eighth Jamaican to test positive for a banned substance in 2013. One footballer, Jermaine Hue, and six track and field athletes–Veronica Campbell-Brown, Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson, Traves Smikle, Allison Randall and Damar Robinson–are the others.

–CMC

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Sebastian Coe has several messages for Carlos Nuzman, his counterpart heading up the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Visiting Olympic construction sites yesterday, the head of the 2012 London Olympics warned that the games will draw lots of attention—some of it unwanted.

And even the best organised Olympics like London or Beijing in 2008 require last-minute work. Rio has already been criticised for delays with questions about costs, legacy and planning.

“We were still mowing lawns in the Olympic village the day before the opening ceremony,” Coe said. “These will be fantastic games, but don’t be surprised that this is a challenge.”

Nuzman and Rio organisers have been under pressure to speed up construction. They’ve acknowledged getting off to a late start after being awarded the games in 2009, and have yet to present an operating budget—the budget to operate the games.

The original bid document called for an operating budget of US$2.8 billion, but the number is expected to rise to US$3.5 billion to US$4 billion.

Nuzman has taken much of the criticism.

Brazilian media have questioned why he’s both the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) and the head of the local organising committee. They have also wondered about his long tenure at the head of the BOC.

Last month, at an IOC meeting in Buenos Aires, Nuzman was sharply questioned about preparations by fellow IOC member Kevan Gosper of Australia.

“He asked to have more communication, and we agreed,” Nuzman said.

Asked yesterday if preparations were on schedule, Nuzman replied: “Yes.”

He said former IOC President Jacques Rogge tacitly approved that he handle both positions—unprecedented in recent Olympics.

“The day after we won to host the Olympic Games, I met with the IOC president and asked him what was his opinion about keeping both hats or not,” Nuzman said.

Coe, who is friendly with Nuzman, said the most important lesson from London was explaining to local citizens how money is being spent, and on what.

In Rio and all across Brazil, spending on next year’s World Cup and the Olympics was among many issues that sparked violent street protests four months ago during the Confederations Cup, a warm-up for next year’s World Cup.

The protests have continued across the country, much of them centring on Brazil’s high taxes, soaring costs, and poor schools and hospitals.

FIFA, which runs the World Cup, has acknowledged protests may happen. The IOC has said it has reached out to experts in Britain and Australia to help train Brazilian police.

“The most sophisticated stakeholders you have are local people,” Coe said. “You do need to explain to them all the time what you are doing, why you’re doing it, where you’re doing it and what are the benefits. You can never do that enough.”

Coe described the athletes’ village, which is to be handed over to organisers in March 2016, as “very, very impressive” and said problems facing Rio were similar to those faced in London.

“You’re never going to walk through this without groups of people occasionally using the games—the extraordinary penetration that the brand has around the world—as a backdrop to all sorts of issues,” Coe said.

Asked if he wanted to step in for Nuzman, Coe replied: “I’m rather happy that Carlos is doing this now and not me.”

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If you run away from problems, your problems will run after you. National sport organisations are discovering that problems don’t go away by simply ignoring them. Problems, issues, concerns, setbacks and failures must be addressed and confronted.

Finger pointing and the blame game is the most prevalent form of running away. National sport organisations and their stakeholders should not adopt the approach that ignoring the problem will make it go away. As difficult as it may be, accepting responsibility is the best course of action.

The blame game is a losers strategy and counterproductive at best. People think by running away from a negative situation, they will get rid of it, but the same situation confronts them wherever they go. They will meet the same experiences until they have learned their lessons.

The big question for many national sport organisations is not so much what goals and objectives should they set but where will the resources come from.

It’s easy to simply say that once a goal is a top priority the required resources ought to be found. We all know and accept that there are resource limitations but that acknowledgement ought not to mean that all is lost.

When you don’t put resources toward a goal, it suggests that achieving the goal or objective is not a priority. But how can you organise resources if they aren’t there in the first place? What do you do if the resources aren’t available? Do you change your goals and objectives or find a way to obtain the resources?

The challenge facing national sport organisations is how to put process and discipline around what really matters in the face of lack or limitation?

How do you create a culture different to the one that currently exists? It must be built deliberately. It’s the role and responsibility of every single person in the national sport organisation to create a positive culture.

Choosing the right people is important because people must fit the culture. National sport organisations should constantly ask how we get people to share our core values.

What is the belief and value system that drives the national sport organisation? What guides the decision making and actions of a national sport organisation? How many national sport organisations can clearly articulate what they stand for?

In the absence of a clear and collective understanding, dysfunction is the order of the day. A positive environment goes a long way toward helping people to want to succeed, as opposed to just going through the motions.

Culture impacts how national sport organisations relate to others, how open it is to new ideas. Having a culture that puts people first doesn’t mean low standards or mediocrity.

I keep saying times have changed. There is a clear need for a different approach to many things and issues that surround sport here in T&T. For many people their first reaction and attitude is always it can’t be done. The response to such declarations should be: what would you do to solve the problem?

Doing nothing is not the answer; instead we should work together to find solutions. Positive energy is needed not negative energy. Positive energy will provide the motivation and inspiration that drives sustainable achievement and excellence.

The challenges facing sport in T&T aren’t insurmountable. As many as the challenges maybe, there is no shortage of opportunities.

Sport matters and whatever can be done to make sure sport lives up to its full potential must be done.

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Jamaica's drug-testing practices are to be audited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) amid claims of worrying gaps in screening.

A former director of the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (Jadco) says out-of-competition testing was insufficient ahead of the 2012 Olympics in London.

A number of Jamaican stars, including sprinter Asafa Powell, have since tested positive for banned substances.

Wada plans to visit Jamaica next year in order to examine Jadco's practices.

"Wada has accepted an invitation from the Prime Minister of Jamaica to visit and inspect Jadco," said the agency.

"Wada was unhappy to learn that Jadco cannot accommodate this visit until 2014."

The IAAF, the body that governs world athletics, insists it has extensively tested elite Jamaican athletes.

But the country's reputation has been tarnished in recent months with news of positive tests by Powell, Sherone Simpson and three-time Olympic gold medal winner Veronica Campbell-Brown.

Former Jadco director Renee Anne Shirley alleged in August that athletes were not tested outside of competition for five of the seven months before last year's Olympics.

While the organisation's chairman Herbert Elliot has dismissed her claims, Wada director-general David Howman believes there is an issue.

"There was a period of - and forgive me if I don't have the number of months right - but maybe five to six months during the beginning part of 2012 where there was no effective operation," Howman told the Associated Press news agency.

"There might have been one or two, but there was no testing. So we were worried about it, obviously.''

Jadco is not the only body carrying out drug tests on Jamaican athletes.

An IAAF spokesman told the Associated Press that its own out-of-competition programme was "robust and comprehensive", with tests carried out at Jamaican training camps.

In addition, all athletes finishing in the top five places at the London Games were tested by the International Olympic Committee.

Jamaica's sprinters won eight individual medals in London, with Usain Bolt defending his 100m and 200m sprint titles as well as winning gold in the 4x100m relay.

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The World Anti-Doping Agency says "there was no effective operation" of drugs testing in Jamaica in the run-up to London 2012

The World Anti-Doping Agency is to investigate anti-doping procedures in Jamaica following claims that out-of-competition drug-testing was virtually non-existent on the Caribbean island in the run-up to the London Olympic Games.

Wada has confirmed that it will be carrying out an “extraordinary” audit of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (Jadco) after its former executive director Renee Anne Shirley went public with her concerns about the near breakdown of the commission’s out-of-competition testing programme between January and July last year.

David Howman, the Wada director general, said that there was “a significant gap of no testing” in the months leading up to the London Games and that the Wada was sufficiently concerned to launch an investigation.

In an interview with the Associated Press news agency, Howman said: “There was a period of – and forgive me if I don’t have the number of months right – but maybe five to six months during the beginning part of 2012 where there was no effective operation. No testing. There might have been one or two, but there was no testing. So we were worried about it, obviously.”

Howman’s comments appear to corroborate claims made by Shirley that the number of drug tests carried out on Jamaican athletes was woefully inadequate.

Shirley, who took over at Jadco in July 2012 and left in February this year, said that the commission conducted 96 in-competition tests in 2012 in the build-up to the Olympics, all of them in May and June at the Kingston Invitational meeting and at the Jamaican trials.

However, out-of-competition tests, which are considered a far more effective anti-doping weapon because they contain the element of surprise, took place in only two out of the first seven months of 2012, with 10 tests being carried out in February and a solitary test in April.

Howman that said the long periods without any testing at all clearly raised alarm bells with the world agency.

“No testing,” he said. “There might have been one or two, but there was no testing. So we were worried about it, obviously.”

He added that although Wada had audited Jamaica’s drug-testing systems in the past, the latest planned audit was in direct response to Shirley’s revelations.

He admitted that Wada had been unaware of the testing voids until Shirley went public with her allegations in a letter to The Gleaner newspaper in Jamaica and an interview with the American magazine, Sports Illustrated.

Describing the case as “high ­priority”, Howman said that Wada officials would be paying Jadco an “extraordinary visit” either at the end of this year or the start of 2014, though he also expressed frustration that a request by Wada to begin its inspection sooner had been turned down. “It doesn’t over-impress us,” Howman said.

Wada’s intervention is a further blow to Jamaica’s reputation as a sprinting powerhouse, which has been rocked by the positive drug tests recorded by stars such as Veronica Campbell-Brown, Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson this year.

Campbell-Brown, the three-times Olympic gold medallist, was found guilty this month of taking a banned diuretic but was let off with a warning by her Jamaican disciplinary panel.

The International Association of Athletics Federations has yet to decide whether it will appeal against the leniency of the sanction. Powell and Simpson face disciplinary hearings in January.

Despite the inadequacies of Jadco’s out-of-competition testing programme, leading Jamaican athletes such as Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake would still have been subject to announced drug tests by the IAAF as they are in the world governing body’s international testing pool.

The IAAF confirmed that there was a “robust and comprehensive” drug-testing system for Jamaica’s elite athletes and that Bolt was tested more than a dozen times in 2012.

This summer, the entire Jamaican squad was drug-tested en masse when IAAF officials descended on their preparation camp ahead of the World Championships in Moscow.

Herbert Elliott, the Jadco chairman, said that Jamaican athletes were also subjected to intensive testing before the London Olympics at the country’s training camp in Birmingham, ­claiming drug-testers descended “in droves every day”.

Elliott has rejected the allegations made by Shirley as an exaggeration of the truth, claiming that she was fired by the Jadco board and that she had an axe to grind.

However, he did admit that Jadco had no cash when he was appointed chairman in February 2012 and that 400 of its testing kits were out of date and unusable.

He added that out-of-competition testing was also not feasible in many cases because athletes were preparing overseas for the Olympics.

Jamaica’s doping cases

Veronica Campbell-Brown: Tested positive for a banned diuretic in May and was found guilty of a doping violation this month, though she escaped with public reprimand by her Jamaican disciplinary panel. The International Association of Athletics Federations’ doping review board will examine her case within a week to consider whether to appeal against the leniency of the punishment.

Asafa Powell: Tested positive for the stimulant oxilofrine at the Jamaican trials in June and will face a disciplinary hearing in Kingston on Jan 14-15. The former 100m world record-holder has blamed the positive test on a new brand of supplements given to him by a Canadian trainer brought in by his agent, Paul Doyle.

Sherone Simpson: A training partner of Powell, Simpson tested positive for the same substance, oxilofrine, and also put the blame on supplements supplied by the Canadian trainer. Simpson’s hearing is on Jan 7-8. Since the failed drug test, she has parted company with her coach, Stephen Francis, and is currently training in Florida.

Allison Randall, Traves Smikle and Demar Robinson: Randall (discus) and Smikle (discus) are believed to have ingested a banned diuretic while Robinson (high jump) is thought to have tested positive for a steroid. The three lesser-known Jamaican athletes will all face disciplinary hearings in December.

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October 14 - Belgium's Charline Van Snick, a London 2012 bronze medallist, has tested positive for cocaine at this year's World Judo Championships, she has announced.

The 23-year-old from Liège, who also won a bronze at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro in August, beating Argentinian Paula Pareto, revealed the news during an interview with Belgian public radio station RTBF.

"I received a letter informing me that a banned substance had been found in one of my urine samples, metabolites of cocaine," said Van Snick, who also won a silver medal at this year's European Championships in Budapest.

"The news stunned me, because I am very careful with this, and I really have a perfect lifestyle.

"I have never taken any substance that can improve my performance.

"Not intentionally anyway."

Van Snick faces a two-year suspension and the loss of her medal in the under 48 kilogram category from Rio is now awaiting the results of the B sample.

"With my lawyer, we are building a case to prove my innocence," she said.

"I've always tried to be as professional as possible and meet all my doping obligations and I don't understand how such a thing could have happened."

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The Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT) issued a total of $870,750 to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), last Thursday, thereby facilitating the staging of an international friendly between the senior men’s football team and their New Zealand counterparts.

The Ministry of Sport was also a key contributor, providing assistance with airfare and accommodation for the Kiwi and foreign-based national footballers. The T&T/New Zealand match will be played at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain today, and is expected to draw several thousand Soca Warriors fans. Kick-off time is 7.15 p.m.

The friendly also serves as a benefit for and honour to fallen national defender, Akeem Adams, who is battling for his life in Hungary following a massive heart attack and the partial amputation of his left leg. Proceeds from the gate receipts in the $125 Akeem Adams section and contributions to collection boxes on the day will be used to help the 22-year-old footballer.

According to Minister of Sport, Anil Roberts, the game is a significant opportunity for sports fans to contribute to the recovery of a national player who showed tremendous potential but had his playing days tragically cut short.

“It is at these times that the country needs to pull together and pray for the athlete’s full recovery. I understand that Akeem has awakened from his coma and is responding to the doctors and family around him. This is encouraging news and we will continue to do all we can to support him returning home.”

TTFA General Secretary, Sheldon Phillips expressed his gratitude to SporTT.

“The TTFA is truly grateful to SporTT’s contribution as the game would not have been possible without it.  We look forward to a continued partnership with the company and encourage all citizens to follow suit and lend as much as possible to both the Soca Warriors team and young Akeem.”

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