T&T beach volleyballers Malika Davidson, left, and Ayana Dyette. Top T&T men’s beach volleyball pair Fabien Whitfield and Daneil Williams made it 12 straight local tournaments wins on the trot when they topped the second T&T Volleyball Federation national team selection qualifiers for the second round of NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifiers on Monday night.

Following their victory in the eight-team first set of qualifiers a week ago with a 6-0 record, Whitfield and Williams again played unbeaten at the National Beach Volleyball Developmental Centre in Saith Park, Chaguanas, this time ending with a 3-0 record against the three other pairs that showed up.

With the matches being contested on a one set basis and first to 25 points, Whitfield and Williams, who claimed a second ever bronze medal finish on the NORCECA Tour when they placed third at the fifth stop of the Hickory Point Beach Sand Volleyball Complex in Tavares, Florida last month, brushed aside Hakeem Hernandez and Stephon Valley 25-6, Kareem Thomas and Tevin Edwards 25-15 and then battled past main rivals, Christian Francois and Kevin Rivers, 25-20.

Francois and Rivers took second with victories over Thomas and Edwards 25-23, and Hernandez and Valley 25-16. In the other match to avoid a 0-3 record, Thomas and Edwards defeated Hernandez and Valley 25-14.

Earlier in the semifinals, Whitfield and Williams overcame first round T&T Olympic qualifiers team-mates Josiah Abraham Eccles and Tevin Joseph 21-15 while Francois and Rivers battled past Thomas/Edwards 21-18.

Williams and Whitfield began the eight-team tournament by playing unbeaten in their four-team Pool A round-robin qualifiers with wins over Thomas/Edwards  21-19; Adriel Roberts/Hakeem Hernandez 21-6 and Marcus Moore and Nathaniel Noreiga 21-11 before earning a default quarterfinal win over David Thomas Jr and Colin Bernard

21-0.

In the other Pool B, Francois and Rivers were equally as impressive by disposing off youngsters Josima Timothy/Dante Stewart by default (21-0); Thomas Jr/Bernard 21-15 and Eccles/Joseph 21-14 in the pool decider followed by a 21-12 defeat of  Roberts/Hernandez in their quarterfinal.

Thomas and Edwards overcame Timothy/Stewart 21-15 while Eccles/Joseph ousted Moore/Noreiga 21-14.

The third and final qualifying tournament will be held next week, at the end of which the top two teams will be selected to represent T&T in the second round of Olympic Qualifiers carded for St Lucia later this year.

Today, the top T&T men’s pair leave for the St Lucia where they will contest the sixth stop of this year’s Norceca Beach Circuit.

Pan American Games participants, Ayana Dyette and Malika Davidson secured yet another win when the Women’s qualifying Tournament took place at Chaguanas also on Monday night.

With only three teams registered Dyette and Davidson, first year team-mates overcame Elki Phillip and Shenelle Gordon 21-18, 21-8, and Apphia Glasgow and La Teisha Joseph 21-14, 21-18 to end 2-0.

Josepht and Glasgow got second with a 1-1 mark via their 21-7, 21-10 defeat of Phillip/Gordon.

Today, Dyette/Davidson and Phillip/Gordon will also leave for St Lucia where they will contest the sixth stop of this year’s Norceca Beach Circuit.

The second qualifying event will be held at the same venue on Monday, and the third and final, next Thursday, also at Chaguanas at the end of which the top two teams will represent T&T at the second round of Women's Olympic Qualifiers carded for Jamaica.

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This country’s Soca Warriors were held to a dull 0-0 by visiting Nicaragua in their final friendly encounter before kicking off its 2018 Concacaf Semifinal Round World Cup Group C qualifying campaign away to Guatemala on November 13, before returning home for clash with USA on November 17.

Athletes seeking to raise funding for  Olympic Games qualification without the knowledge and expressed permission of the TTOC and the relevant National Sport Organisation will be called in by the TTOC .
Members of the public and Corporate entities in receipt of solicitations for Olympic related activities are advised  to ensure that a request is legitimate.
The TTOC has sole and exclusive authority for the Olympic Games. Final
Selection for the Olympic Games is the remit of the TTOC.
The selection policy is guided by the IOC and International Federations agreed qualification standards along with the process agreed to between the TTOC and the respective National Sport Organisations.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach joined youngsters from Lausanne and other Swiss regions in participating in a range of activities to mark Olympic Week.

The initiative, established by the Olympic Museum based in the Swiss city, offers 40 free sporting and cultural activities to eight to 15-year-olds and their families.

The event is now in its 35th year and the 2014 edition reportedly attracted around 6,500 participants.

Bach took part in a range of sports, including basketball and korfball, and he also interacted with members of the public during his appearance.

Several of the sports on the Summer Olympic programme will be exhibited during the week, such as archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, fencing, gymnastics, golf, handball, judo, rowing, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and weightlifting.

Participants can also take part in biathlon and bobsleigh, two sports on the Winter Olympic programme, as well as billiards, climbing, orienteering and roller sports, which are all recognised by the IOC.

Attendees will also get the chance to try out non-recognised sports such as broomball, cheerleading, diabolo, American football, Nordic walking, inline hockey and slackline, similar to rope walking.

These activities will all continue throughout Olympic Week, which is due to conclude on Thursday (October 15).

Those who attend the event in Lausanne, considered the worldwide capital of the Olympic Movement, will also get the chance to meet an athlete and get involved in sessions outside of sport, such as road prevention and a Get Active! Interactive exhibition aimed at increasing the amount of exercise young people do.

Since the opening of the Olympic Museum in 1993, Olympic Week has grown each year and now offers a host of sporting activities to young people free of charge.

It was originally purely a presentation of Lausanne’s various sports clubs when it was first set up in 1980.

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International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has warned how FIFA must act "swiftly to regain credibility" amid a claim that their problems are "structural" in nature, requiring more changes than simply the election of a new President.

In what marks by far his strongest criticism yet concerning the problems engulfing football's world governing body, Bach told the organisation to take measures complying with themes of accountability, transparency and good governance prioritised in the IOC's own Agenda 2020 reform process.

This follows today's announcement that FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA counterpart Michel Platini have both been provisionally suspended for 90 days by the adjudictory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, while former vice-president Chung Mong-joon has been banned for six years.

Dan Reed, head of global sports partnerships at Facebook, claimed here that social media companies such as his, as well as Instagram and Snapchat, are going to be “vital” for the future business models of sporting bodies and clubs.

Reed, who was speaking at the Leaders Sport Business Summit 2015, urged organisations to utilise the tools in order to tap into sports fans already using social media and stated that “Facebook has the biggest community of fans in the world”.

Talking to a packed room as part of a session titled “A Winning Combination: Technology Partnerships at the Highest Levels” Reed reflected on the relationships the company have with major sporting leagues around the world.