分类： sports

The fifth annual Aloysius “Loloy” Daniel Youth Basketball Tournament is heating up after two full days of competitive play at St. Lucia’s Beausejour Gymnasium, with two teams holding flawless records and a high-stakes showdown set to tip off on Wednesday evening. East Coast Academy (ECA) Lions kicked off Tuesday’s action with a dominant, lopsided victory that stretched their perfect start to the tournament, crushing Basketball For The Future (BFTF) Pitbulls by a final score of 115-28. The Lions controlled the pace of play from the opening jump, jumping out to a commanding 58-17 halftime lead before closing out the win with a 40-point outburst in the fourth quarter. Leading the charge for ECA were standout performers Sage Lewis and Riquelmi Pierre, who combined for 49 total points to anchor the blowout. Lewis turned in another all-around commanding performance, notching 23 points, seven steals and four rebounds, while Pierre posted a game-high 26 points to go with seven rebounds and seven steals. Earlier in the day, Antigua & Barbuda’s Pitbulls bounced back from an opening-round defeat to secure their first win of the tournament, delivering a 145-23 rout of the ECA Tigers. Elijah Charles led the Antiguan side with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Noah Messiah contributed 19 points and two steals to the lopsided win. Jadyn Gabriel put up the best performance for the young ECA Tigers squad, finishing with four points and eight rebounds in the losing effort. Defending tournament champions New Chapter Academy (NCA) Warriors, hailing from Trinidad & Tobago, also kept their unbeaten streak alive on Day 2, rolling past Guyana’s D-Up Academy 119-31. Josiah John-Andrew led the Warriors with a 20-point outing, while D-Up’s Eli Archer turned in a 10-point, five-rebound, four-steal performance that stood out as the highlight for the Guyanese team. After two days of round-robin play, the tournament standings are led by two tied unbeaten squads at the top. Both the Warriors (2-0, 4 points) and ECA Lions (2-0, 4 points) have yet to drop a game, with the Warriors holding a +121 point differential and the Lions boasting the tournament’s tightest defense and a stronger +128 point differential. Antigua Pitbulls (1-1, 3 points) sit in third place, followed by BFTF Pitbulls (1-1, 3 points) in fourth. D-Up Academy (0-2, 2 points) and ECA Tigers (0-2, 2 points) round out the six-team field. All eyes will turn to Beausejour Gymnasium Wednesday at 6:00 p.m., when the two unbeaten contenders will not clash — a marquee match-up between ECA Lions and the surging Antigua Pitbulls that carries major implications for the tournament’s championship race.

One of the Caribbean’s most anticipated cross-border amateur cricket competitions, the Saint Lucia/Dominica Tapeball Cricket Series, wrapped up in a celebration of sport and community last Sunday at Dominica’s Jolly John Playing Field, located in the Kalinago Territory. After a full week of fast-paced, high-energy matches across multiple divisions, the tournament concluded with five heart-pounding final-day encounters that crowned Saint Lucia Youth as champions of the flagship T10 Blast competition. The victory capped off a dramatic run of play that kept cricket fans across both islands on the edge of their seats from opening day to the final delivery.

The road to the T10 final began on Sunday morning with two opening knockout clashes. In the first fixture, Dominica’s Dynamic Stars got off to a strong start, overcoming Saint Lucia Veterans B to secure their spot in the next round. The second match saw Saint Lucia Youth dominate hosts Kalinago Veterans, earning a convincing win that pushed them directly into the tournament final. Local side Kalinago Youth claimed victory in the third preliminary match, but their run ended in the semifinal, where Dynamic Stars pulled off a solid win to book their place against Saint Lucia Youth in the title decider.

Weather and time constraints forced a slight adjustment to the final, cutting the contest from 10 overs per side to seven. Choosing to bat first after winning the toss, Saint Lucia Youth put on an explosive batting display, posting an imposing total of 124 runs for the loss of five wickets — a score that put significant pressure on the Dynamic Stars batting line-up. The Dominica side fought back hard, reaching 75 runs after eight completed overs and hitting the 100-run mark in the second-to-last over, setting up a tense finale off the final six balls. But Saint Lucia’s bowlers held their nerve under pressure, restricting Dynamic Stars to just 109 runs by the final delivery and securing a memorable 15-run victory to lift the T10 trophy.

The final day of action capped off a week of competition that began with earlier divisional matches on Thursday. In that 20-over full-length fixture, the Saint Lucia national side bounced back from two opening-game defeats to secure a convincing six-wicket consolation win against the home side Kalinago Nationals. Kalinago Nationals posted a solid total of 161 runs for 8 wickets after batting first, with top contributions from Neo Davis (46 runs) and Frederick Paris (32 runs). Saint Lucia’s bowlers Magaran Shoulette and Atanus Alberson each claimed two wickets to keep the home side’s total within reach. The Saint Lucian chase was seamless: the visitors reached the target of 162 for the loss of four wickets in just 16.3 overs, led by a man-of-the-match innings of 74 runs from Alvin Lafeuille. Supporting contributions from Jason Simon (30 runs) and Orey Changoo (24 runs) anchored the run chase, despite strong bowling from Kalinago’s Jason Paris, who took two wickets, and Keenan Paris and Abbisha Etienne, who took one wicket each.

Following the conclusion of all matches, the closing ceremony featured an awards presentation to recognize top performers and divisional champions across the tournament. In the T20 divisions, Kalinago Youth (Dominica) took home the youth championship title, while Saint Lucia Veterans A claimed the veterans crown. Additional honours went to Saint Lucia Mixed Team, who won the invitational trophy, and Saint Lucia Veterans B, who took home the Division 2 title.

Individual awards also highlighted the tournament’s standout players. Jason Simon of Saint Lucia topped the tournament’s run-scoring charts in the youth division, while Sean Auguste was the leading run-getter among veterans. Keenan Paris of Dominica finished as the top wicket-taker in youth cricket, with Glen Eurysthee claiming the same honour in the veterans division. Wicketkeeping awards went to Orey Changoo (Saint Lucia, youth) and Abbot Lucien (Dominica, veterans). Rounding out the individual honours, Neo Davis was named youth Most Valuable Player, and Glen Eurysthee earned the veterans MVP award.

As 14 young footballers from across Saint Lucia prepare to compete in the Caribbean Football Union Boys Under-14 Challenge Series in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, following months of rigorous training, one of their coaching staff is sounding the alarm about unmet funding needs that threaten to derail the island nation’s promising youth football development pipeline.

Assistant coach Earl “Ball Hog” Jean, a former top striker who rose through Saint Lucia’s own youth system to play professionally in the Trinidad & Tobago Professional Football League, is urging local private businesses to step up with financial backing to strengthen the country’s grassroots coaching and development programs. Jean’s appeal comes as Saint Lucia’s senior national men’s football team has increasingly relied on talent cultivated through its youth academy system in recent years. Star standouts including goalkeeper Vino Barclett, defender Melvin Doxilly, and striker Kegan Caull all earned their first opportunities in the sport through the country’s under-15 and under-19 youth frameworks, proving the system’s potential to produce elite talent.

Jean says the current group of under-14 prospects holds just as much promise as the cohort that produced those senior team stars, but structural gaps in funding are holding the program back from unlocking their full potential. Over the past several years, the Saint Lucia Football Association (SLFA) has built out local youth competition infrastructure, launching annual under-12 and under-14 tournaments, adding under-19 events this year, and expanding club football opportunities for players up to age 16. Jean welcomes the growth of organized youth football across the island, but argues that targeted corporate support is still needed to amplify the work of local leagues and community clubs.

“The biggest challenge we face right now in Saint Lucia football is building a sustainable, consistent development program that can keep young players engaged from their first training session,” Jean explained in an interview with St Lucia Times. “That means covering basic needs: reliable transportation to get players to and from practice, daily meals for athletes who commit to full-time training schedules. These are the foundational pieces we are missing.”

Jean notes that youth interest in the sport has surged since the SLFA launched its primary school and national youth programs for under-12 and under-14 age groups, with visible, measurable improvements in the quality of play across all youth divisions. “What we need now is for the private sector to partner with the SLFA to turn that interest into results,” he said. “This group is the next generation of national talent, and with the right support, we can help these players earn professional contracts in Europe or athletic scholarships at top international programs. None of that is possible without consistent financial backing.”

Jean is joined on the current under-14 coaching staff by head coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier, another Saint Lucia native who cut his teeth in the country’s youth system before a successful professional and coaching career. Both coaches say that regional youth tournaments such as the CFU Under-14 Challenge Series and the Concacaf Under-15 Championship are irreplaceable for driving player development, giving young prospects the chance to test their skills against top regional competition and gain international match experience.

“These tournaments are not just one-off events — they are core to our long-term progress as a football nation,” Jean explained. “Our entire national development strategy is built around cultivating talent from the earliest levels, starting in primary school and building up to the senior team. Right now, we are already seeing that plan pay off: SLFA president Lyndon Cooper has prioritized launching the new High Performance Centre, and we now have a dedicated FIFA Talent ID Coach working alongside Stuart and I to identify and nurture top prospects. We already have a talented crop of young players coming through the pipeline. All we need is the support to help them reach their full potential, for the future of Saint Lucia football.”