分类： sports

The opening matchups of the Barbados Football Association’s Kotex Women’s League have already produced a tightly contested battle for the early lead, with RF Prime emerging as the early pace-setters after the first two rounds of fixtures. What makes the early table particularly compelling is the logjam at the top of the standings: all three of the top-performing squads have already collected six points, leaving the rankings separated only by fine margins.

RF Prime has claimed the number one position thanks to a superior goal difference over the second-ranked Mavericks. The two teams have had different fixture schedules so far, with Mavericks already completing three matches compared to RF Prime’s two outings.

Holding down third place is Paradise, a side that has also played just two matches to this point. Paradise most recently took the pitch on Sunday at the BFA Technical Centre, where they secured a dominant 3-0 shutout victory against none other than second-placed Mavericks. Acacia Small emerged as the star of that match, finding the back of the net twice to pace her side, while Denea Payne contributed the third goal to lock in the comfortable win.

Heading into the new week’s slate of fixtures, Empire sits in fourth place with three points. They are followed closely by Technique, which also holds three points but drops to fifth place due to an inferior goal difference that leaves it trailing Empire. In the current mid-table, FVFC Femini sits in sixth place, with Whitehall taking seventh and the Police side slotting into eighth. The three teams at the bottom of the early standings have yet to collect their first points of the new league season, leaving them hungry for their first wins when they return to the pitch.

West Indies Women’s national cricket team will enter the decisive third One Day International (ODI) against Ireland at Bready on Wednesday with a clear goal: lock in a full series sweep. Leading the charge is captain Hayley Matthews, who recently etched her name into West Indies women’s cricket history over the weekend at the same ground.

In the second ODI on Sunday, Matthews put on a masterclass with the bat, smashing a 94-ball century to secure back-to-back hundreds — a first for any West Indies Women’s player in ODI history. She was joined at the crease by star all-rounder Stafanie Taylor, who notched an unbeaten century of her own. The pair’s historic batting partnership guided the Caribbean side to a six-wicket series-clinching win, putting the visitors 2-0 up in the three-match series ahead of Wednesday’s decider.

Speaking after the victory, Matthews expressed that while the series win was a critical early milestone, the team remains focused on collecting full points to climb the ICC ODI rankings. “Series win, obviously super important, so I’m glad we could get that out of the way. At the same time, I think we came here and the points were definitely a priority,” she said. “It’s really good that we were able to get four so far with the first two wins, but there are still really important points to play for in our last match. Hopefully we can get two more on the board, and get ourselves climbing up that ladder.”

Despite her red-hot form with both bat and ball, Matthews emphasized that team success takes priority over personal milestones ahead of the third match. When asked about the prospect of chasing a third consecutive century, the captain said she is focused on process rather than individual results. “Hopefully, look I try not to focus on the result too much, but just go through the process once again. I’m doing what I need to do and hopefully the result at the end of the day is something good,” she stated.

Taylor, who delivered the match-winning knock in the second ODI, echoed her captain’s team-first mindset and opened up about the camaraderie that has powered the side’s early success. “I always enjoy batting with Hayley. We both understand each other when we’re out there and we support each other, because we know how each other plays. It’s always easy to bat with her,” Taylor said.

During her unbeaten century, Taylor quietly passed a personal milestone: she became the first player to surpass 500 ODI runs against Ireland, a milestone she did not even realize she had hit until after the match. She also recalled the lighthearted moment that led to her pushing for a century in the final overs of the run chase, when West Indies needed just 11 runs to win and Taylor was stuck on 90.

“Well for me with 11 runs (for victory) and I needed ten, I just, I said to Minnie, I don’t care about 100, I just don’t want to train tomorrow. I need a break from training, so as long as we get over the line, it means that we’re not gonna train,” Taylor explained. “But she said to me, no, you have to get your 100… I said, all right, I’m gonna try and then I, I heard the players in the dugout, they were cheering and backing me to have a go. I said, all right, I’m just gonna have a go and if it comes off, it comes off. And yeah, it did.”

With momentum firmly on their side, the West Indies side will look to cap off their successful tour with a third straight win on Wednesday.

Barbados’s standout showing at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Championships has emerged as a defining marker of the small island nation’s rising athletic prowess across the regional competitive landscape. The Caribbean country’s delegation secured a total of 16 medals – three gold, six silver and seven bronze – during the tournament held in Mexico, a result head coach Jamal Grosvenor attributes to months of strategic preparation, unyielding athlete resilience and clutch performance when competition pressure peaked.

Returning to their home soil on Monday, the Under-18 and Under-23 NACAC squads were all smiles as they cleared customs at Grantley Adams International Airport, with photographers capturing the celebratory mood of the group. In comments to reporters following the team’s arrival, Grosvenor outlined the cohesive strategy that drove the squad’s success, noting that the team set a high competitive standard from the opening day of competition, carried that winning momentum through subsequent rounds, and closed out the championship with strong final-day performances.

“We also came away with a lot of personal bests and the focus was really on just keeping prepared, staying sharp and executing to the best of your ability. That really came through from the first day,” Grosvenor said. Four of the team’s medals came in relay events, a outcome Grosvenor says directly reflects the Athletics Association of Barbados’ renewed commitment to investing in relay training and development across all age-group programs. He emphasized that prioritizing relays not only accelerates the overall growth of the sport in Barbados but also gives emerging athletes critical experience competing at high-stakes regional meets.

The coach also extended praise to athletes who narrowly missed out on podium positions but still hit new personal best marks, noting that these breakthrough performances hold equal weight to medal wins for the long-term development of the country’s athletic program. While Grosvenor expressed widespread satisfaction with the overall result, he acknowledged that the team entered the championship with even higher medal ambitions. “We really wanted more medals, to be honest. In the Under-18 4x100m relay we were expecting to even get a national junior record. Unfortunately, there were some mishaps collectively as a team, but sometimes this is the nature of the sport,” he said, adding that the squad maintained excellent team spirit and strong camaraderie throughout the entire tournament despite minor setbacks.

One of the team’s standout gold medalists, US-based college middle-distance runner Layla Haynes, claimed top honors in the Under-23 Women’s 800 meters with a winning time of 2:07.86. “I’m just so happy to be able to represent Barbados at this level and to be able to come home with some hardware; that’s always the goal, so I’m just really happy I was able to execute that,” Haynes said. The runner shared that she plans to wrap up her 2024 competitive season after the NACAC win, marking her first full collegiate racing season that kicked off back in January. “I have pretty big goals over the next couple of years. This might be a really good time to take a little break before getting right back at it, to keep working on those bigger goals,” she explained.

Sprinter Jayden Green, who clocked a wind-assisted 20.17 seconds to take gold in the Under-23 Men’s 200 meters, called the win another key milestone in what has already been an extraordinary season for the young athlete. Green noted that his university training in windy conditions prepared him well for the NACAC meet, saying “It was quite comfortable with the conditions because of where I trained at university, and yeah, my body was good from the time I got there. Even though it was a little windy, I was still grateful that my body could get to that point.” Unlike Haynes, Green’s competitive season is far from over: he is already preparing to compete at the upcoming World Under-20 Championships, where he aims to clock an even faster personal best time.

The team’s breakout star was CARIFTA champion Jayden Walcott, who delivered a record-breaking performance in the Under-18 Boys’ Shot Put, shattering the previous championship record to set a new mark of 21.82 meters. The throw pushed Walcott’s personal best up by nearly a full meter and capped another dominant season for the young athlete, who now ranks as one of the top shot put throwers in his age group globally. “We had a really good competition and to throw almost an entire meter over my PR was really impressive. It’s a huge honor to be a world leader, especially from this side of the region where throws are not that big,” Walcott said.