KARATE

Taekwondo Federation Registers Clubs

The St. Christopher-Nevis Taekwondo Federation (SCNTF) wishes to advise all member Clubs and prospective members Clubs, that registration is now opened and will close on Friday 30th April, at 6.00 pm.

All members Clubs of the SCNTF and Clubs wishing to become members are reminded that registration must be done on the forms provided by the SCNTF, and interested parties are asked to contact the President Mr Andy Otto at 669-1333 or Troy Bif Mills at 669-2055 to collect registration forms.

Clubs and prospective Clubs are reminded that the Annual General Meeting of, and Elections of Officers for, the SCNTF will be held shortly, and only registered members will be able to participate in the AGM and the Elections.

For any clarification and/or further information please contact the aforementioned persons.

Table Tennis

St.Kitts-Nevis Table Tennis Association to hold general Meeting

1. All Clubs and prospective member Clubs of the St. Kitts-Nevis Table Tennis Association (SKNTTA) are reminded of the General Meeting on Saturday 24th April at 6pm at the NEMA Conference Room.

The Agenda includes the Calendar of Events for the second (2nd) quarter of 2010 as well as other very important topics.

For any clarification and/or further information, persons may contact the President Ms Laverne Merritt at 669-6004 or the Secretary General Mr Troy Bif Mills at 668-2055.

All are asked to be present and punctual.

2. The General Public is invited to watch and play Table Tennis at the Conaree Community Centre every Friday night commencing this coming Friday 23rd April at 7pm.

CRICKET

Cricketers requested to contact CSS Sports Committee

As the Sports committee of the CSS 6oth anniversary celebrations continues to plan for the event, the members have arrived at a hitch in finalizing teams for the Cricket competition which will be a part of the sports day slated for Monday May 3rd 2010.
The dilemma of the committee is based in the fact that a number of cricketers have been recommended for the games but quite a lot of them are yet to be confirmed and their respective houses in terms of representation are yet to be ascertained.
The following Cricketers are therefore kindly asked to contact any member of the sports committee to firstly confirm their participation in the event and secondly to confirm which house team they would be representing:

Malcolm Ramsey, Kelvin Archibald, Lincoln Barry, Eustace Johnson, Bernette Thompson, Sylvester Browne, Fabian Cranston, Nigel Browne, Nigel Powell, Frank Monzac, Nigel Hanley, Phil Hobson, Elton Forbes, Robert Hanley, Errol Walwyn, Cedric Duporte, Brian Claxton, Eustace Wallace, Alexis Browne, Jennerson France, Ernie France, Livingstone Powell, Oscar Browne, Anthony Smithen, Teddy 'Blackman' Liburd, Oneil Walters, Oscar Walters, Prince Williams, Lincoln Barry, Ronald Powell, Merit Herbert, Evered Herbert, Stuart Williams, Kurt Claxton, Daynason Browne, Duane Phillip and Joseph Claxton.

Members of the committee to be contacted are: Hazel Manners, Curleanne Parris, Fayola Browne-Tross, Lydia Claxton, Earla Dyer or Orvis Tyson.

ICC prepares to airlift teams to Caribbean
Cricinfo

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday it was preparing to fly teams participating in the ICC World Twenty20 Tournament directly from Dubai to the Caribbean. The move followed air travel restrictions in Europe due to volcanic ash following last week's eruption in Iceland. Two of the visiting teams - Zimbabwe and Ireland - are already in the region. Ireland is in Trinidad for warm-up matches and Zimbabwe are in Grenada playing warm-up matches against the West Indies A Team.

"We are doing everything possible to overcome the airline logistical challenges and we are extremely grateful to our commercial partner Emirates for putting forward a charter-flight option. The ICC Board endorsed the contingency plans being made by the ICC Executive Team to ensure that all players, team management, match officials, support staff and television crews and equipment can reach the Caribbean despite the ongoing disruption to air travel in Europe. The Board heard that arrangements were being made so that seven of the remaining eight affected men's teams - New Zealand are travelling via the United States - could be airlifted direct to the West Indies from Dubai with the aid of ICC partners Emirates," the ICC chairman Haroon Lorgat said in a statement, following the ICC's Board Meeting in Dubai.

The ICC T20 World Cup will be played at the Guyana National Stadium, Kensington Oval, Barbados and Beausejour, St Lucia from April 30 to May 16. Group A includes - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia. Group B - Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Zimbabwe; Group C - South Africa, India and Afghanistan; and Group D - West Indies, England and Ireland.

Ireland slump in Twenty20 warm-up
Cricinfo staff

Ireland suffered a setback in their preparations for the World Twenty20 as they slumped to a nine-wicket thrashing at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago. Ireland fell to 90 all out and the home side raced to their target in just 7.1 overs ten days before the start of the tournament.

Gary Wilson top-scored for Ireland with 37 in a poor batting display, but the next best was Trent Johnston's 16 as the spinners proved too much to handle. Legspinner Samuel Badree opened the bowling as he often does in Twenty20 and removed Paul Stirling, while Sherwin Ganga's off spin collected three lower-order scalps as the innings fell away with 17 ball unused.

Trinidad and Tobago wasted no time in knocking off the runs as William Perkins and Lendl Simmons sped to an opening stand of 88. Boyd Rankin, feeling his way back after injury, was dispatched for 40 from his two overs as the openers cleared the boundary seven times between them.

Ireland will have a chance to make amends when the two teams meet again on Friday. Their first match of the World Twenty20 is on the opening day of the tournament against West Indies in Guyana.

Trinidad & Tobago 96 for 1 (Simmons 46*, Perkins 42) beat Ireland 90 (Wilson 37, S Ganga 3-12) by nine wickets

Ruthless Mumbai march into final
Cricinfo

Everything changed in the last five overs of the Mumbai Indians' innings. The game was in a deadlock at the end of 15 overs with Mumbai on 107 for 4 - some might have even felt that Royal Challengers Bangalore held the edge - but things took a dramatic turn from there on. Saurabh Tiwary hit an enterprising half-century and Kieron Pollard played a delightful cameo to charge Mumbai to 184 for 5 at the DY Patil Stadium. It was a bridge too far even for the batting-heavy Bangalore and they never really threatened to get anywhere close to the target. The 35-run win took Mumbai to the final, and sealed their qualification for the Champions League Twenty20 to be held in September.

Mumbai Indians 184 for 5 (Tiwary 52*, Rayudu 40, Pollard 33*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore149 for 9 (Taylor 31*, Pollard 3-17) by 35 runs.

There is one scheduled game for tonight as the youthful CSS team comes up against the might of the CG Rebels. The Schoolboys have however vowed that they will be making a match of it.

Officials at desk in tense basketball game

Basketballers in action

Basketballers in action

CRICKET

General election causes change to fixtures
Cricinfo staff

South Africa's tour to West Indies after the World Twenty20 faces changes after a general election was called in Trinidad and Tobago for May 24 when the teams are due to be playing their one-day series.

Port of Spain was set to host two Twenty20 internationals on May 19 and 20 followed by the first two ODIs on May 23 and 25, but now these matches will be shifted to alternative islands to avoid a clash with the election.

The West Indies board is currently in discussions with ICC, Cricket South Africa and the relevant island boards and will announce the adjusted schedule shortly.
South Africa's tour comprises the two match Twenty20 series, a five-match ODI contest followed by three Tests.

Sri Lanka ladies Square series

The Sri Lanka Women's cricket team managed to level their series of practice matches versus their West Indies counterparts yesterday at St.Paul's.

The Sri Lanka team batted first and scored an impressive 198 all out in 49.5 overs.
AC Jayangani 38; Seneviratna 33 and Surangika 26 not out, were the main scorers. For the Windies, Pamela Lavine starred with the ball to bag 4 for 17 from 7.5 overs. Taylor and Mohammed picked up 2 wickets each.

The Windies were off to a bad start with star bat Pamela Lavine run out for a duck but played well in parts Taylor top scoring with 38; Daley got 28 and Mohammed was 23 not out. However, they could only manage a total of 160 all out in 47.3 overs.
Sp de Alwis bagged 3 for 33.

Cricket

According to Nevis' Cricket Chief Ronald Powell, a very important meeting of his executive will be held at the Elquemedo Willet Park pavilion this coming Thursday 22nd April.

The meeting which is set to commence promptly at 4.30 pm will focus on the following:

**The present Digicel first division league
** The upcoming Female Cricket league
** Matters related to the upcoming T20 world cup
** Any other business

Powell is urging all of the executive members to make a concerted effort to attend and to be punctual as he requires the input of the general body to make some very important decisions.

Brathwaite, Edwards star in six-wicket victory
Cricinfo staff

Half-centuries from Kirk Edwards and Kraigg Brathwaite gave West Indies A an easy six-wicket win against Zimbabwe in the four-day game at St. George's.

Zimbabwe had made a strong comeback into the match on the third day, but Andy Blignaut's dismissal off the first ball of the final day was the beginning of the end of their resistance. They lost their remaining two wickets for the addition of 29 runs, leaving the hosts a target of 255.

Justin Guillen and Brathwaite kicked off the chase, adding 36 for the opening wicket before Guillen drove straight to cover. Thereafter Brathwaite put his side on course with substantial partnerships for the second and third wickets. Jason Haynes struck a 71-ball 30 in a stand of 69, before offering a catch to midwicket of Graeme Cremer. Travis Dowlin who walked in next, weighed in with a 38-ball 31. . Brathwaite contributed a patient 62 off 166 balls before nicking Chris Mpofu behind, and setting the stage for Edwards to take the side home.

Edwards stepped on the gas, bustling along to 72 off 96 balls, with seven fours and a six. Shane Dowrich was with him at the end, having contributed 33 to a stand that fetched 94.

West Indies A will now clash with Zimbabwe in two Twenty20 matches on Thursday and Saturday.

West Indies A 280 and 257 for 4 (Edwards 72*, Brathwaite 62) beat Zimbabwe 183 and 351 (Blignaut 72, Ervine 58, Taibu 59, Shillingford 4-109) by six wickets

Boat Racing

'Round Booby Island race Upcoming

The Nevis Yacht club is in the final preparation stage for the hosting of its second annual 'round Booby island race. The race is set for Sunday 2nd May commencing at 12.00 noon. The course will be set somewhere in the Narrows and will be finalized shortly but Boaters will be expected to run a course from 1.5 to 2 hours in duration.
Registration will commence at 11 am on the morning of the race

There will be music and a cash bar with barbeque afterwards at the Nevis Yacht Club, Oualie Bay for the participants and spectators from 2pm until 7pm.

The club is inviting as many persons as possible to get involved and all yacht captains are kindly asked to inform of the availability for guests on board. Priority for these spots will be given to Nevis Yacht Club Members with the remaining going to the general public.

The 'Caona' will be running as a spectator yacht and interested persons can contact Lennox directly at 765 8677. The Oualie Beach Hotel is also offering a discount on room
rates. Interested persons can contact Mrs. Faith Bertie at 469 9735.

Netball Notice

All Executive Members of the Nevis Netball Association are cordially invited to the Nevis Netball Association General Meeting to be held at the Netball Secretariat on Thursday April 22nd, 2010 at 5 p.m. All are kindly asked to make a special effort to attend and to be punctual.

Basketball

After the initial break in the A1 Technology Basketball league on Saturday night last, due to rain, the action continued at the Old Manor court on the evening of Sunday 18th April.

In the first game of the evening, hometown favourites Ghetto Starz were beaten to the tape by the Champion team CG Rebels.

In game two which turned out to be a crowd pleaser, Church Ground Massives just
barely managed to wriggle out of the handcuffs of a determined Police team.

Final scores in the two games played were:
GHETTO STARZ (home team) 50
v
COTTON GROUND REBELS 77

CHURCH GROUND MASSIVE 59
v
POLSTARS (police) 55

The two games rescheduled from Saturday night will be played this evening-- Tuesday 20th April:

POLSTARS (police)
v
COTTON GROUND REBELS

The second game:

CHURCH GROUND MASSIVE
v
GINGERLAND GHETTO STARZ

Timothy Caines--Presdident of Titans

Maxim Issiah --Patron and starter

Banner of main sponsor A1 Technology

Some of the athletes on show

Athletes

CRICKET

World T20 warm-up fixtures revealed

World Twenty20 2010 - Warm-up Schedule

April 27
Windward XI v Pakistan, Beausejour Cricket Ground, St Lucia, 9.30am local time
Barbados XI v Bangladesh, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 1.30pm
Australia v Zimbabwe, Beausejour Cricket Ground, St Lucia, 1.30pm
Ireland v New Zealand, Guyana National Stadium, Guyana, 1.30pm
West Indies v Afghanistan, Guyana National Stadium, Guyana, 5pm

April 28
Sri Lanka v South Africa, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 9.30am
Bangladesh v England, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 1.30pm
Ireland v Afghanistan, Guyana National Stadium, Guyana, 1.30pm
West Indies v New Zealand, Guyana National Stadium, Guyana, 5pm

April 29
Windward XI v Australia, Beausejour Cricket Ground, St Lucia, 9.30am
England v South Africa, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 1.30pm
Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Beausejour Cricket Ground, St Lucia, 1.30pm
Women's World Twenty20 2010 - Warm-up Schedule

May 2
West Indies v Pakistan, St Paul's, St Kitts, 10am
Australia v New Zealand, Molineux, St Kitts, 10am
England v India, St Paul's, St Kitts, 2pm
South Africa v Sri Lanka, Molineux, St Kitts, 2pm

May 3
England v Sri Lanka, St Paul's, St Kitts, 10am
India v South Africa, Cayon, St Kitts, 10am
Australia v Pakistan, St Paul's, St Kitts, 2pm
New Zealand v West Indies, Cayon, St Kitts, 2pm

'The Claw'

The defending 2009 St.Kitts Amateur Basketball Association SKABA Champions the Horsfords Ghetto Roots have officially given notice of it's intention to mount a legal challenge on the ban of one of its players, Mr. Dale Rochester.

They will not be participating in this year's season until a conflict over the religious rights of Mr Rochester is settled.

During the first half of the 2009 season the player was informed by SKABA officials that he could no longer play with his religious head-wrap. The Officials stated that the religious head dress worn by the followers of Bobo Shanti is in violation of F.I.B.A. international rules which govern the rules of the local division. It is against the religious doctrine of Bobo Shanti to display one's head in public and as such it is a religious practice to wrap ones head in a turban.

"I and I come from the Bobo Shanti tribe really and within the law of Bobo Shanti I and I really ain't supposed to take off I and I headgear unless I and I going to wash off or tend to it in a different way, but to just take it off in the public like that is not a part of it," Rochester told the media at the SKABA League opening on Sunday night.
He had been playing in said wrap for at least 2 seasons prior with the Cayon Lions Basketball team during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Head Coach of the Ghetto Roots team Dr. Garfeild Alexander gave notice to the SKABA via legal documents that the team intends to challenge the ban on Rochester on the following grounds:

1. The rule essentially was created to prevent players from wearing equipment that would cause injury to other players on the Court, as can be gleaned from the first line of the rule. The religious head covering of Mr. Rochester if properly worn would not be equipment that would cause injury, and as such should not be interpreted to fall within the definition of headgear, which clearly goes against the intention of the rule makers.

2. Mr. Rochester was never given the opportunity to be heard by the Association before the making of the decision, which clearly violates the rules of Natural Justice which must prevail in all situations.

3. To prevent Mr. Rochester from playing in the Association's league as a result of his religious practices would result in discrimination against Rochester.

"Everyone has the constitutional right to practice their religious beliefs and the actions taken against this player are highly discriminatory", said Ghetto Roots Head Coach Dr. Garfeild Alexander. "The head dress does not in any way give the player an unfair advantage over opposing players nor does it obstruct opposing players or officials (hence there is no violation of the?F.I.B.A. rules). In fact his head dress disallows his hair from becoming a projectile and obstructing or causing physical damage," the head coach continued.

Coach Alexander went on to say " Would you prefer to see your son be a Bobo Dread or a Blood or a Crip?"

Alexander said, "Freedom of religion is considered by many people and nations to be a fundamental human right.?

Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance,

"I can only say that I am very much disappointed in this action and I don't understand why it was taken…. This goes beyond F.I.B.A. This goes beyond SKABA. This goes beyond Dale Rochester. This is about the constitutional right of each person to practice their religion freely."

Members of this sect can be seen through out St.Kitts-Nevis selling sugar cane and other products.

The document informed SKABA of the intention of Dr. Alexander on behalf of the Ghetto Roots Basketball Club to proceed to make application to the court for an interpretation of the rule relating to headgear, and to prevent the league from moving forward until the resolution of the issue.

Ghetto Roots won their 6th SKABA title in 2009 and are favorites to repeat and win a 7th Championship in 2010.

St.Kitts Basketballer Nashorn Maynard Leads the Way as University of
Alaska Nanooks Ends Season on High Note

Nashorn Maynard goes up for 2 of his 20 plus points at the season-ending game

Alaska turned a 10-point second half deficit into a two point win on senior night in Fairbanks on Saturday afternoon. St. Pauls Tuff Knots Forward and 2007 SKABA MVP Nashorn Maynard led the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks to a narrow 77-75 win.

The Nanooks used 20 points and eight rebounds from the junior forward Nashorn and 18 points, five rebounds from senior guard Emmanuel Jenkins to give them their second straight win.

Northwest Nazarene got 23 points, eight rebounds from Louie Beech as the Crusaders shot only 37% (24-of-65) from the field and hit 8-of-23 three-point chances.

The Nanooks held the lead most of the first half, by as many as seven, before the Crusaders went on a 23-8 run to end the half and take an eight point lead into the locker room.

Alaska was able to regain their lead at the 10:59 mark on a Clayton Edwin jump shot, which was followed by two free throws by the 6'-5" Maynard. The Maynard free throws capped off a 15-3 run for Alaska that slashed a 10 point Crusaders lead in six minutes.

The game came down to the wire, with the lead changing four times in the final two minutes, with the Nanooks finally coming out on top.

Beech hit two free throws with 49 seconds left that gave Northwest Nazarene a one point lead, but Jenkins countered to give Alaska the lead for good with a layup a possession later. Maynard made an acrobatic steal and hit two free throws to clinch the win.

Alaska out-rebounded the Crusaders 48-41 with Joe Powell pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. Alaska also pulled down 16 offensive rebounds, three each by Powell and Maynard to pace the Nanooks.

Maynard leads the Nanooks in rebounds and blocked shots and is the 2nd leading scorer on the team averaging almost 18 ppg. The Tuff Knots forward is also the Alaska Conference 3 rd leading scorer and rebounder.

Alaska started the season 1-11 in conference play before winning three of their last four contests to finish 4-12 in the league.

Federations Cyclists Off to Training Camps

Reggie Douglas and James Weekes

Easter has proved to be a busy week for some of the Cycling Federations top athletes, as current junior champion Assim Chapman has headed off to Anguilla to train with the youth cycling squad, who were on Nevis recently for the 'Major' Taylor race weekend. This is Assim's first opportunity to train abroad with other athletes of his calibre, and his trainer and mentor Reggie Douglas is hopeful that this type of exposure will be of great benefit as his talents develop.

Reggie Douglas meanwhile is joined by James Weekes on their own training adventure; they left for Tucson, Arizona for a two week training program with Carmichael Training Systems (CTS). Founder Chris Carmichael is the coach that took Lance Armstrong to 7 Tour De France wins, and now runs one of the most prestigious cycle & triathlon training programs in the world.

This has been made possible due to the sponsorship of a couple who have been visiting Nevis for the last 7 years, Graham and Mary Hallward, Graham is a very keen cyclist himself and has got to know Reggie and the team over the years and follows their weekly exploits via the clubs website www.neviscycleclub.com.

Following the success of the troupes visit to the World Championships in 2009 Graham and Mary approached Winston Crooke and offered to sponsor the trip to Tucson which includes 6 months online coaching and various tests, plus 2 Power Tap wheels and monitors which enable their coach to assess their development using the latest online technology.

The other bonus is that they will be hosted by fellow team member and SKN pro cyclist Kathryn Bertine, who lives and trains in Tucson, so the guys will be right at home, in fact they will be joining Kathryn in a race on 10/11th April, the Colossal Cave Stage Race: http://presteza.homestead.com/CCRR.html.

The Presidents of both Cycling and Triathlon Federations Greg Phillip and Winston Crooke, are very pleased with this opportunity, they see it as a chance to learn new training methods and techniques that can be passed onto the younger cyclists. At the same time Reggie and James will get the benefit of the best coaching available as they prepare for the season ahead.