分类： sports

A new chapter of youth regional football competition kicked off this weekend for Barbados, as the nation’s under-14 national squad left their home island Friday bound for the Dominican Republic, where they will compete in the 2024 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) U-14 Challenge Series.

Drawn into the top-tier Tier 1 competition’s Group A, the young Barbadian side, nicknamed the Young Tridents, will face a tough test against three regional opponents across the group stage. Their first match of the tournament is scheduled for Monday, when they will take on Bermuda to open their campaign. Following the opening fixture, they will go head-to-head with host nation Dominican Republic and Martinique to round out group play.

Team officials have confirmed the full 18-player roster for the series, with Tajheri Watkins selected to serve as team captain. Joining Watkins on the squad are Nalani Gulstone, Terrique Jordan, Andre Spencer, Ratévion Marques, Amar Kirton-Phillips, Keshon Atkins, Lashaun Small, Zion Greene, Jayden Sealy, Malachi Sargeant, Brent Lashley, Dylan Headley, Demario Hewitt, Roshaé Edwards, Zavier Barker, Shaeshawn Hinkson and Isaiah St Hill.

The delegation is led by an experienced support staff to guide the young athletes through the tournament. Dale Rudder serves as team manager, with Kerry Trotman taking on the role of head coach. Morrison Taylor has been appointed assistant coach, while Orlando Mapp will handle equipment management duties and Khadijah Williams will serve as the team’s on-site medic for the duration of the competition. (Photo Credit: Barbados Football Association)

Barbados is set to make history for women’s football with the launch of its first-ever women’s Prime Minister’s Cup, and organizers have locked in the full lineup of participating teams after extending the registration deadline to last weekend. A total of ten squads will compete for the $100,000 first place prize, headlined by all eight teams from the Barbados Football Association (BFA) Kotex Women’s League: Paradise, Empire, RF Prime, Mavericks, Technique, Whitehall, FVFC Femeni and Police. Two additional outside squads, Kickstart Rush Women and Weymouth Wales, round out the inaugural tournament field.

Omari Eastmond, chair of the Prime Minister’s Cup Organising Committee, shared that the event’s planning team had initially set a target of 12 teams for the first women’s edition, but confirmed that ten will be the maximum final entry count this cycle. He added that one additional side had expressed interest in joining, but was unable to assemble a complete roster. Rather than dropping out entirely, the interested players opted to merge with existing competing squads to deepen their rosters ahead of kickoff.

The women’s tournament operates as a parallel competition to the men’s Prime Minister’s Cup, which is already in its third consecutive year and is scheduled to get underway on September 7 at the Friendship Playing Field in St Michael. To date, 21 men’s teams have been confirmed for the 2024 tournament, with organizers working to finalize the final three spots by the end of next week, when the group stage draw will be held to reveal each team’s placement. A transfer window for the men’s competition opened August 10 and will close August 19, allowing player moves between participating squads, and players from teams that did not qualify for the cup are also eligible to sign with competing sides for the duration of the tournament. Eastmond noted that planning for the men’s event is moving forward without significant issues.

However, the upcoming women’s cup has drawn discussion around competitive balance, following a string of lopsided results in the ongoing eight-team BFA Women’s League. Fans and football analysts have warned that the competitive gap between teams could be even more extreme in the cup competition, and have put forward a proposal to restructure the format: implementing a seeded player draft to create franchise-based teams that would create a more level playing field for all participants.

Eastmond confirmed that organizers have taken note of the feedback, and have already held preliminary discussions with representatives from the competing women’s teams. The full organizing committee will meet in the coming weeks to review all submitted suggestions and finalize a way forward, with a further public update expected once a decision is reached. The committee remains open to adjusting format rules to address concerns about competitive imbalance as it works to launch a successful first edition of the women’s tournament.

One of Barbados’ most promising chess players, Ronaldo Rochester, has capped off a dominant run of play to take the top prize at the 2024 Dr Philip Corbin Open Chess Tournament, which wrapped its preliminary rounds recently at the Barbados Football Association headquarters. The tournament, which drew 28 competitive players from across the island, built to a tense final round that saw the top rankings hold steady despite late surges from lower-seeded competitors.

Heading into the final day of play, Rochester held a clear edge over the field, having accumulated 5.5 points through his first six matches. This gave him a half-point lead over second-ranked Justin Kirton, who in turn held a half-point advantage over third-place contender Julissa Figueroa on 4.5 points. The tight standings left the door cracked open for five other competitors sitting on four points, all of whom still carried a mathematical chance to crack the top three and advance with a strong final round performance.

When the final matchups concluded, however, the pre-round hierarchy held firm, with all three top contenders securing results good enough to protect their positions. Rochester, playing with the black pieces, forced a draw against Charis Stuart to lock in his overall lead, while Kirton and Figueroa battled to an even draw in their head-to-head matchup. When final points were tallied, Rochester finished the tournament with six total points to claim the championship title, while Kirton landed in second place with 5.5 points. Figueroa secured the third and final automatic qualifying spot with five points, edging out Loki Clarke and Aidan Singh on tiebreaks. Both Clarke and Singh posted strong late comebacks, defeating higher-rated opponents Mileke Sinckler and Adam Roachford respectively to climb to five points and force the tiebreaker decision.

Notably, Figueroa makes history as the only female player to qualify for the National Open Championship finals in several years, marking a milestone for women’s chess participation in Barbados. Rochester, Kirton, and Figueroa will join six already qualified competitors, along with defending national champion Martyn Del-Castilho, for the national finals, scheduled to kick off August 21 at the Fine Arts Gallery of the Barbados Community College.

Alongside the open competitive division, the tournament also hosted a novice section for emerging local players. In that bracket, Kevin St Hill turned in a near-perfect performance, claiming the novice title with an outstanding 6.5 points across his seven matches. Tanish Chaturvedi finished as runner-up in the novice division with six points, while Liam Martin rounded out the top three with four points.

Barbadian Premier League side Bagatelle is now in the market for a new senior leader ahead of the upcoming third edition of the Prime Minister’s Cup, following the voluntary departure of head coach Norman Forde. A former Barbados national team star, Forde engineered a stunning turnaround for the club in his tenure, delivering promotion from Division One to the top flight and successfully keeping Bagatelle in the Premier League last season. Now, the coach says he has decided to move on after feeling he had taken the squad as far as he could in his current role.

In an exclusive conversation with Barbados TODAY, Forde emphasized that the split was entirely amicable, with no unresolved tension or major disputes driving his exit. “It was an absolute privilege to work with everyone at Bagatelle,” he explained. “I’ve achieved everything I set out to do here, and now I’m ready to seek out new challenges. Right now, my priority is stepping back to rest and recharge, with an eye toward potentially joining a new side next year for a fresh opportunity.”

Forde went on to reflect on his surprisingly successful stint with the club, noting that even he did not anticipate how far the team would go during his time in charge. In his first season at the helm, Bagatelle finished second in Division One to secure promotion to the Premier League, then managed to avoid relegation in their first top-flight campaign the following year. “I don’t carry a single bad memory from my time at Bagatelle,” he said. “Like any football club, we had small growing pains and minor challenges along the way, but none of those were ever serious enough to make me want to leave. This was always a positive environment for me and the squad.”

With the Prime Minister’s Cup set to kick off in just over a month, speculation has already begun about whether Forde could jump into a new coaching role in time for the competition. The coach remained noncommittal, however, saying he plans to step away from the game entirely for the immediate future. “I’m traveling out this weekend for a couple of weeks, and my only plan right now is to rest,” he said. “Last season took a huge physical and mental toll from all the preparation and training, so I need that time to recharge. I can’t say yes or no to a new role right now — I’m just going to wait and see what opportunities come my way once my break is over.”

This departure marks the end of Forde’s second major coaching stint in Barbadian club football. He previously spent several years leading his old youth club Youth Milan, though that tenure ended with the club being relegated from the top flight. Looking back on his career, Forde said he considers his work at Bagatelle a resounding success, even compared to his earlier role. “I was far more prepared and knowledgeable when I took this job, so I’d definitely give myself a passing grade for what we accomplished here,” he noted.

Forde also highlighted the unique challenge of leading Bagatelle, which ranks among the smaller clubs in the Premier League and lacks the depth of elite talent that sides like Wales and Paradise boast. Despite that gap in resources, Forde and his squad managed to exceed all expectations by building a cohesive, disciplined group committed to executing the game plan week in and week out. That culture-building achievement is something he remains particularly proud of as he moves on to the next phase of his career.