FIFA INSTRUCTOR Patrick Beckles was impressed with the FIFA Members Association Administrative and Management Course, which concluded on Friday at the VIP Lounge, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

A total of 44 persons attended the four-day course, including club officials and match commissioners.

Beckles, a former general secretary of the Barbados Football Association, stated, “for me, the course was a pleasure. I think the wonderful thing about it was the tremendous amount of interaction and discussion between the participants. That, in itself, set the tone for the course.”

Beckles continued, “and we had a wide cross-section of persons of both ages, interests and experiences. And the discussions formulated allowed us to be able to present some proposals to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) executive for them to be able to consider.

“It was not just a course which was theoretical but some very practical solutions to some challenges, both for the TTFA at the level of the executive, but also the regional leagues, and some of the other interest groups - women’s football, beach football, futsal.

“We were able to generate some proposals, which now the football family has to consider to work with, and to be able to see where we can take them,” he added.

Asked about his role in the global game, Beckles responded, “I’m a consultant in football. I do consultancy for both FIFA and the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). I have been since 2009.”

He continued, “I’m also a match official. I have worked extensively at World Cups. I have functioned as a security officer. One thing I would wish to say is that a lot of my training took place right here in Trinidad and Tobago. Therefore, this was an opportunity for me to give back.

“Yes, I have travelled extensively. I worked throughout the Caribbean (and the Americas), Asia, Europe, the Middle East. But they always say there is no place like home. For me, the Caribbean is home,” he ended.

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JOSEPH RAHAEL, developer of SouthPark near Tarouba Link Road in San Fernando, is calling for the completion of the Brian Lara Cricket Academy and the San Fernando waterfront project. Rahael said the completion of those two mega projects will add to the development of the southern city.

Rahael was speaking during the opening of the SouthPark Cinemas 10 on Tuesday. SouthPark Cinemas 10 is owned by Caribbean Cinemas and is the second phase of the SouthPark development, Rahael said. Also attending the opening was San Fernando’s Deputy Mayor Junia Regrello.

Rahael said: “We are proud to be a part of all the new and exciting projects in San Fernando, The University of the West Indies (UWI) South Campus, the San Fernando Teaching Hospital, the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts, to name a few. Mr Mayor, we would like to see the real development of the San Fernando Waterfront and the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.”

He said phase one of the SouthPark development was already completed with the new Toyota headquarters. Phase three was under construction and will include retail shopping and services, fine and casual dining and other forms of entertainment. Some of the tenants will include TGI Fridays, Subway, Yogurt Land, Hallmark Cards, RIK Services Ltd, Bhagan’s Drugs and Woodford Cafe.

Republic Bank will also be constructing another regional headquarters, he said. Rahael said: “The final phase of this development will include a 125-room brand name hotel and more shopping and entertainment options. SouthPark is really a lifestyle centre, a regional destination of shopping, fine dining and entertainment located right here in San Fernando.”

Consultations relating to the Waterfront project continue to take place with the latest being held last week. Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie said if it were to become a reality, 174 families will have to be relocated. In May, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said no work will be done on the Brian Lara Stadium until the national budget is delivered. He said at least $190 million was needed for its completion. The budget is expected to be read in Parliament on September 8.

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Trinidad and Tobago junior swimmer Dylan Carter closed off his Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games campaign with his second medal  when he won silver in the Men's 50m butterfly. Carter sped to a new PR of 23.81 in a race he lead for 49 metres. After another great start, Carter held a quarter body length lead over China's  Hexin Yu, who won the Men's 50m free in world junior record time on Wednesday, at the 15 metre mark. However, Yu clawed back into the two-man contest with every stroke and was closing at the wall when Carter lunged for the finish.
Yu, who had 19 minutes earlier competed in the Men's 100m free semifinal and successfully advanced to tomorrow's final, timed his final stroke better and won in 23.69 seconds to Carter's 23.81. Carter's silver followed on his bronze from the day before in the Men's 50m free, his teammate Johnnya Ferdinand placed 30th in the Women's 50m free event in a time of 27.31. The swimmers including David Mc Leod have now concluded their competitive participation at YOG.

In Athletics, both Anduwelle Wright (Men's long jump-6.92metres) and Chelsea James (women's shot putt-15.15 m) finished in 9th place and will contest the B finals of their event Sunday.

In beach volleyball,  the T&T team of Chelsi Ward and Malika Davidson went under 2-0 to China (21-4, 21-14) and will have to defeat Bolivia tomorrow to advance to the round of 24.

In Sailing, TT's Abigail Affoo's progress was stymied again by the lack of wind as there were no races at Jinniu Lake yesterday. Weather permitting. Affoo will race  tomorrow.

Trinidad and Tobago beach volleyballers Chelsi Ward and Malika Davidson advanced to the round of 24 while  athlete Akanni Hislop qualified for the Men's 200m A final when the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games continued in the southern Chinese city yesterday.
Despite losing their last group E game against Bolivia in two straight sets (2-0-21-14, 21-12),  the T&T pair finished in fourth spot in their grouping, after China lost to Germany in straight sets to qualify for the next stage of the competition at the Youth Olympic Sports Park.
At the Nanjing Olympic Sport Stadium, Hislop was third in heat one of three of  the Men's 200m event,  crossing the line in 21.42 seconds behind the USA's Noah Lyles 20.71 and Japan's Jun Yamashita (21.11),  both recording personal bests.
Hislop bolted from lane five and was on pace but Lyles and Yamashita handle the bend better and held their form and stride to the finish. Hislop occupied the eighth and final qualifying position for the Men's 200 m A final which will run off Sunday.
It was another day of no races for Trinidad and Tobago's young sailor Abigail Affoo at Jinniu Lake,  plagued by no winds.

Also today,  Memphis Pioneer hurdler Jeminise Parris,  currently ranked fourth, will vy for precious metal in the A finals of the Women' 100​m hurdles.

Trinidad and Tobago' s top junior swimmer Dylan Carter splashed to this country's first medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing yesterday.
Carter grabbed bronze in the Men's 50 m freestyle at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Natatorium.
And Carter will also splash for a medal today when he contests the finals of the Men's 50 m butterfly today after he qualified second. Female T&T hurdler Jeminise Parris will also run for a medal in the Women's 100 m hurdles A finals on Saturday after she qualified with the fourth fastest time in  yesterday's prelims. Back at the Natatorium, with his customary great start,  Carter led up to 20 metres in the Men's 50m free final but China's Hexin Yu proved too strong and reeled him back in before surging past to post a new junior world record of 22.00. Brazilian Matheus de Santana was second in 22.43 and Carter third in 22.53.
Carter had qualified for the final in 22.49 in the semifinals.
Carter also secured his spot in the Men's 50 m butterfly final today when he won semifinal two in 24.04 seconds. He will be hoping to reverse fortunes with his  Chinese rival Yu today who had the fastest qualifying time in semifinal one in 24.03 seconds.
Carter earlier qualified for the semifinals with a 24.01 timing,  the fastest out of the heats.  But the Men's 50m butterfly semifinals came 50 minutes after the Men's 50m free final.
At the Olympic Sports Center Stadium, the Memphis Pioneer athlete Parris posted a new PR of 13.62 to finish second in her heat and advance to the A final Saturday.  Her teammate Kashief King ran a 48.66 second clocking for the Men's 400m event,  finishing third in his heat but not good enough for a spot in the A final.  King will compete in the B final Saturday.

At the  Jinniu Lake yesterday, T&T sailor Abigail Affoo competed in three races , placing 29th , 30th and a much improved 15th respectively.
Today,  Chelsea James will launch her YOG campaign  in the Women's shot putt while swimmer Johnnya Ferdinand will dive into action in the Women's 50m free.
And the beach volleyball pair of Chelsi Ward and Malika Davidson will look to book their spot in the next round of 24 with a win against Bolivia at the Youth Olympic Sports Park.

Trinidad and Tobago swimmer Dylan Carter will compete for gold from 6pm. (6 a.m TT time) tomorrow in the Men's 50m freestyle at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
The women's volleyball team of Chelsi Ward and Malika Davidson earned their first points of the campaign when they defeated Congo 2-0 (21-19, 21-9)
at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre Natatorium yesterday,  the World Junior silver medallist Carter secured a final spot in swimming's blue riband event when he won semifinal one in a PR of 22.49 seconds.
Carter had the quickest reaction off the blocks in 0.59 seconds but his hands became separated in his streamline underwater and the 18-year old University of Southern California sophomore broke roughly to the surface. His class shone through as he was still able to be the first to the 15m mark and drew away from the rest of the field to touch the Omega time pad first.
After the second semifinal which was won by home crowd favourite Hexin Lu in a new junior world record time of 22.01 ahead of Brazilian Matheus de Santana (22.48), Carter will swim out of lane three in the final as the third fastest seed.
In the morning preliminaries, Carter won heat six of seven in a then new PR of 22.65, which bettered his previous mark of 23.01 from last year's FINA  World Junior Championships in Dubai. He was also ranked second out of the heats behind heat seven winner de Santana (22.55) while Lu won heat four in 22.79.
His teammate David Mc Leod missed out on a semifinal spot in the Men's 50m backstroke (26.78) by five hundredths of a second,  placing 17th.
At the Youth Olympic Sport Park,  Ward and Davidson overcame a slow start to run over Congo.
The pair were down 16-19 but rattled off five straight uncontested points to seal the set.
The T&T team got off to a fast start, up 8-0 and played a serve and defend game to see out the set and earn the victory.
After a rest day today, T&T play the winless China then Bolivia Friday.

At the Jinniu Lake yesterday , young sailor Abigail Affoo and the rest of youth sailors were left stranded as low winds prevented any races from being run at the course. Conditions permitting, racing resumes today.
In Athletics,  Jeminise Parris tackles the Women's 100m hurdles while Kashief King runs in the Men's 400m.