The St. Kitts-Nevis Observer :: The Federation's Poltically Independent News Source

Joining the club from Mexican Second Division team Indios de Cuidad Juarez, the central midfielder will be eligible to join the Union upon receiving his P-1 visa and International Transfer Certificate. As per MLS and Club policy, terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

Gomez, who developed within Sporting San Miguelito’s youth system, made his professional debut with Colombian First Division side Envigado Futbol Club in 2002. After 32 appearances with Envigado, he moved back and forth between his home country and Colombia for brief stints with Panamanian San Francisco FC and Tauro FC, and Colombian Deportivo Pasto between 2004 and 2005.

During the 2005 season, Gomez returned to Colombia’s Deportivo Pereira before transferring to Independiente Santa Fe in 2006.

“El Gavilan” made the jump to European soccer in 2007, signing with C.F. Os Belenenses (Portugal) for three years. Gomez appeared in 71 games.

In 2010, he moved to Cypriot First Division club Ermis Aradippou before returning to Colombia to play for La Equidad, followed by Mexican Indios.

A former Under-20 World Cup player, Gomez made his debut with Panama’s National Team against El Salvador on Feb. 9, 2003. Since then, the 27-year-old has been capped 74 times, scoring eight goals.

The 6-foot Gomez’s last five goals with the Red Tide came in 2011, helping Panama reach the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals. Gomez was one of Panama’s top players in the tournament, converting a penalty kick against the United States in a group stage upset.

Gomez is expected to be a key player for Panama in its run for the 2014 World Cup. Panama will play in the CONCACAF qualifying semifinals in the race to Brazil. 2014.

Panama will play in CONCACAF Group C along with Honduras, Canada and Cuba. The top two teams will qualify for the hexagonal in 2013.

Tropicgol.com

Dec. 22 -- The last three teams for the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship will decided in January when final round of Caribbean qualifying gets underway in the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

The Dominican Republic will host the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Haiti in Group E from Jan. 6-10 while Guyana, Puerto Rico and Trinidad & Tobago will travel to Havana in Group F from Jan. 7-11.

The group winners and the best second-place team among the two groups will qualify for the eight-team finals in Panama from March 1-11.

Dec. 21 -- It could very well happen if the political paralysis at the top of the confederation is not resolved soon, according to British journalist Keir Radnedge.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter discussed that possibility after a two-day FIFA executive committee meeting in Tokyo, www.KeirRadnedge.com reported.

In the wake of the scandal that forced former CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president Jack Warner out of the sport due to his alledged involvement in a bribery scandal during FIFA’s presidential election and that CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer will be stepping down from his position in a week, there is a void of leadership.

According to the website, deputy general secretary general Ted Howard is leading the process to identify a successor to Blazer.

Honduran Alfredo Hawit of Honduras is the interim acting president.

Blatter, asked about the fact that CONCACAF has not had a confirmed president in place for the past six months, said:

“This is a situation which is not comfortable and not acceptable,” Blatter told the website of the fact there is no true CONCACAF president. “But you have difficult problems besetting this confederation. CONCACAF has an acting president in Mr. Hawit from Honduras who possibly could intervene to organize something and bring this confederation back to the international scene but this has not been done.

“The main reason is that there is a court case pending in the Bahamas and while this court has yet to take a decision on whether to qualify or disqualify the acting president the entire activity of the confederation is blocked.

“Over the next few months FIFA may have no other solution but to intervene as we would if a national association were not working in accord with FIFA statutes. But there is a legal aspect: a confederation is not directly a member of FIFA so we will have to wait.”

Dec. 20 -- Kingston, Jamaica: Today, the Under-17s WICB Grassroots Cluster Games come to a close with participants from nine Caribbean countries taking part, all part of the West Indies Cricket Board Digicel Grassroots Cricket Programme which is reinvigorating youth cricket across the Caribbean.

Aspiring young cricketers in Grenada, BVI, St. Lucia, Anguilla, St. Vincent, Monserrat, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua played friendly games between their communities and clubs, brought together and hosted by the WICB and Digicel.

WICB Youth Development Project Officer, Fawwaz Baksh, spoke exclusively to www.digicelcricket.com about the Grassroots Cricket programme, its impact on youngsters across the Caribbean and why he believes the future of West Indian cricket lies in the pride and love of youngsters for the game.

What is the background to the WICB Digicel Grassroots Cricket programme?

“The programme is aimed at introducing cricket to absolutely any young boys or girls who would like to try it. There is no need for previous cricket experience or equipment, and the programme is entirely free for participants. We travel to communities in each of the countries and lay on training in the local area – making it very friendly and non-intimidating. The programme began by targeting the Under-15s, but popular interest meant we expanded to the Under-17s.

“This weekend marks the end of the year quarter and we are bringing together Under-17s cricket clusters from across each territory to a central location. The whole weekend was subsidised by the WICB and Digicel’s sponsorship – through which we provided travel, refreshments and equipment. The aim was to give the youngsters a taste of travelling and playing like a true West Indian cricketer and allowed them to go beyond the essentials they learn at home by playing real games. The various coaches who came also got a chance to meet and learn from each other, by sharing ideas and strategies.”

What has the reaction been like to the Grassroots Programme across the Caribbean?

“What we have seen is that a lot of these youngsters would love to try cricket but their background means they haven’t had the opportunity to do so before. By travelling to their communities and laying-on the training, we are widening the pool of young cricketers across the Caribbean. We have seen a growth in the awareness of these cricketing opportunities. For example, the Under-15 Leeward Cricket squad featured eight former participants of the Grassroots programme.”

What were you hoping to see from the young cricketers in the final games?

“I wanted to see true pride and love for the game from the youngsters. If they took it as an opportunity to meet other players, learn from them and mingle, they will go home better off. The most important thing is that they take pride in representing their communities in a bit of friendly rivalry and that they realise that they could be future West Indies cricketers. I always say to the youngsters that you may start small, but you can become very big.”

You also run a grants programme for communities. What does that consist of?

“As part of our commitment to developing cricket across the Caribbean, we offer monetary grants for any cricket club – it doesn’t have to necessarily be a youth club – to use for infrastructure, training or equipment. Anything which will strengthen the club’s ability to provide cricketing training and facilities to the community is eligible for funding, be it for a new practice net, an after-school club or simply, new bats and balls. The funding is open for any club and applications open in January.”

With this weekend’s games marking the end of the 2011 Grassroots activities, what lies ahead for 2012?

“From January to June, we run Under-15s training in all our territories. This consists of free after-school training and practice laid on in local communities and any youngster who meets the age criteria can join – they simply need permission from a parent or guardian to attend. All equipment is provided and there is no cost to the youngsters wanting to try their hand at cricket.”

The WICB Digicel Grassroots Cricket Programme catered to youth cricketers from the age of 12 to 17 and was hosted in Trinidad & Tobago, BVI, Antigua, St. Maarten, St. Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, St, Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Jamaica and Guyana from April to December 2011.

Dec. 19 -- Nigel Harrison, the former Barbados first-class umpire, has died aged 77 after a brief illness. He stood in Shell Shield and Red Stripe Cup matches through the 1980s. His last first-class game was a tour match during England's tour of the West Indies in 1990.

He also served as the president and treasurer of the Barbados Cricket Umpires Association (BCUA). He was also a former Managing Director of Corbin Compton, a leading local advertising company.

"He was a good umpire. I don't think he ever had a bad report. He knew the game and was always very involved in the training of new umpires," Lloyd Barker, a former international umpire, told the Barbados Cricket Association website.

Dec. 16 -- Kieron Pollard, the West Indies allrounder, has been ruled out of the inaugural edition of the Big Bash League due to a hamstring injury. Pollard, who was part of the Adelaide Strikers team, injured his right hamstring while fielding on Thursday and scans revealed a grade two strain. Alfonso Thomas is likely to take his place in the playing XI.

"Our plan was always to rotate the international players, and now with our additional signing, it means Alfonso Thomas is able to slot straight into the team," Darren Berry, the Strikers coach, said. "We are obviously disappointed to lose Polly and his firepower in our middle order, but we won last year's T20 competition (South Australia) and have proven we can win without him."

Pollard struck form with the bat recently, scoring his maiden international century, an innings that included 10 sixes, against India in Chennai. The South Africa offspinner Johan Botha is also part of the Strikers squad. "The arrival of Johan Botha from South Africa is great news for us, and we regard him as one of the finest T20 players in the world," Berry said. "The two international players [Botha and Thomas] we have already in the squad, along with the rest of our local stars who formed a large part of the winning team last year, will hold us in good stead."

The Strikers play their first game on December 18 against Melbourne Renegades.