Affiliate News

• World No2 says it is wrong to take a drug just for performance
• Murray also criticises his sponsor, Head, for extending Sharapova’s contract

• Mladenovic: ‘She has been taking this for 10 years and it is a serious drug’
• Simona Halep: ‘I didn’t speak to her before, so there is no reason to speak now’

President Anthony Carmona was among those who attended the funeral service of former T&T tennis coach and umpire Carlos Taylor at the Covenant House of Praise in Diego Martin, yesterday.

The modern sport of tennis finds its origins in 12th century France. Monks began playing a crude handball against their monastery walls or over a rope strung across a courtyard.

As the game became more popular, courtyard playing areas began to be modified into indoor courts, where the ball was still played off the walls. After bare hands were found too uncomfortable, players began using a glove, then either a glove with webbing between the fingers or a solid paddle, followed by webbing attached to a handle–essentially a racquet. Rubber balls were still centuries away, so the ball was a wad of hair, wool, or cork wrapped in string and cloth or leather, then in later years, hand-stitched in felt to look something like a modern baseball.

The nobility learned the game from the monks, and some accounts report as many as 1800 courts in France by the 13th century. The game became such a popular diversion, both the Pope and Louis IV tried unsuccessfully to ban it. It soon spread to England, where both Henry VII and Henry VIII were avid players who promoted the building of more courts. Today the game is as popular around the world. It has been part of the first Olympic Games in 1896 and continued until 1924. It was then discontinued until it returned as a demonstration sport in Guadalajara, Mexico 1968 and 1984 Los Angeles, California, USA Olympic Games. It wasn’t until the 1988 Seoul, South Korea Olympic Games it returned a full medal sport and has been since.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the world governing body of tennis. Tennis Association of Trinidad and Tobago is the ITF affiliate in this country.

KAREN ARAUJO has been elected president of the Trinidad and Tobago Triathlon Federation (TTTF).

TT Triathlon Federation (TTTF) executive member Karen Araujo has been elected to one of two positions available on the Association of Commonwealth Triathlon (ACT) board.

This was revealed in a statement issued by the TTTF on Saturday.

At the ACT meeting, on Thursday, Araujo received more votes (14) than Austalia’s Michelle Cooper (12), Great Britain’s Debbie Clark (11) and Rwanda’s Joie Lea Biosketch (nine).

ACT members were all asked to vote before the meeting.

The statement read, “Karen has worked tirelessly over the past ten years in our beloved sport and deserves all of the recognition that she is being afforded.

"Her dedication to the sport of triathlon in the region and her drive to see further development is unmeasurable. This is a win not just for Trinidad and Tobago but the wider Caribbean as well. We take this time to congratulate Karen on this landmark achievement!”

Source

DEREK Daniel has been elected as president of the TT Triathlon Federation (TTTF), with Karen Araujo as his deputy, Mandisa Leacock taking on the role as secretary and Colin Hosein as treasurer.

Also on the TTTF executive committee is Lara Baden-Semper, who will serve as past executive member.

Daniel brings with him a wealth of knowledge as an administrator, coach and athlete. A founding member, president and coach of XO Multi-Sport Club, Daniel is a British Triathlon Federation Level 2 and IRONMAN certified coach. He has also competed in a variety of races, at age group levels, locally, regionally and internationally.

Araujo is a long-serving member of the TTTF. She is the president of CAC Triathlon, an executive member of the regional governing body Pan American Triathlon Confederation (PATCO) and is a member of the World Triathlon Women’s Committee. She is a development swim coach, and a World Triathlon Level 1 technical official.

Leacock is a qualified sports administrator and event coordinator with over a decade of experience in both swimming and triathlon. She has served in various positions at the 2010 and 2011 Goodwill Swimming Games, the 2017 CCCAN and at the 2018 Triathlon CARIFTA Games. She is an executive member of the RJR Triathlon Club.

Hosein has been on the executive of the TTTF for the past two years. He has been in sports administration for over 25 years having served previously as president of the Alescon Comets Sports Club. He is also the vice chairman of an NGO (Non-Government Organisation) supporting young entrepreneurs - Youth Business TT for the past ten years. He is a career banker with over 25 years’ experience.

The TTTF issued a media release, in which they stated, "The new committee seeks to expand the talent pool of both youths and juniors in the sport through working closely with schools to develop school teams that would start by participating in the Federation’s school series, as well as attract more adults to the sport through the hosting of education programmes and more frequently held multi-sport events.

The election of the new executive comes on the heels of a new brand identity by World Triathlon, formerly the International Triathlon Union (ITU). As a new era in triathlon is ushered in globally, the TTTF seeks to continue to develop the sport of triathlon, creating pathways for the nation’s athletes, coaches and administrators locally, regionally and internationally.

Source

Paul Hee Houng was on Sunday, elected the new president of the T&T Triathlon Federation (TTTF) at its annual general meeting (AGM) at the Cycling Velodrome in Couva.