12/27/2023 0 Comments Jamaica lockdown 2022“It’s coming together well but there is always room for improvement so we thought we’d come down, use the great facilities here in Bath and try to refine our technique before we head to Beijing. “We’ve been here all week and fine-tuning things,” said Stephens. He and Turgott made international headlines during lockdown when, unable to train on the push-start track, they instead pushed a car up and down the streets of Peterborough. Stephens, a Lance Corporal in the Royal Air Force, is no stranger to the Bath push-start track having previously trained there with the RAF bobsleigh team. They have also qualified for the Olympic two-man event for the first time after a string of top-10 finishes during the North American Cup season. Jamaica will contest the four-man event at next month’s Olympic Games for the first time since 1998, having famously made their debut at Calgary 1988 in a race which inspired the Disney film Cool Runnings. Pilot Shanwayne Stephens and brakemen Nimroy Turgott, Ashley Watson and Matthew Wekpe have been honing their all-important start on the UK’s only outdoor push-start track, based on the University campus, and have also been working out in the Team Bath Gym & Fitness Centre. The Jamaican bobsleigh team have been at the University of Bath this week to finalise their preparations for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The team will play the group stages against Wales, Latvia, Uganda and Germany starting on July 1.Jamaican bobsleigh team training at University of Bath to fine-tune their preparations for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games He said although lacrosse has only been in Jamaica for about seven years, a number of Jamaican players have received scholarships for international colleges.Įighteen players are on the roster of the national women’s lacrosse team. “The traditional sports are over-saturated with players, therefore what non-traditional sports such as lacrosse do is to provide alternative means of engagement for youths, more opportunities for success and opportunities for tertiary education,” he said. He called for more investment in non-traditional sports and more players to join sports like lacrosse. “We have been asking (but) we have not received any (and) we understand the challenges but we still have to get our teams to these championships to represent Jamaica,” Hutchinson said. He said it has been challenging getting donations or sponsorships from local businesses because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “As it is right now our players who are based in the United States and Canada are expected to pay their own way and we are asking for funding through the Sports Development Foundation for the local players,” he said.” If we are successful in getting that funding, then we will be able to cover the cost per player for the local players and with our fundraising initiatives we are hoping to reduce the overall cost for the United States-based players.” Hutchinson said finding the funding for the championship has been challenging. “I think we are going to do quite well (and) we have some really strong players who have got the experience now to compete really really well,” she said. She said the team is relying on experience from players who would have competed internationally in competitions such as the World Lacrosse Women’s Under-19 World Championship before the COVID-19 lockdown in 2019. We did a winter camp at Christmas in Jamaica.” “All the training together has not happened as yet, so what we are going to do is come together a week before the world championship and have a week long training camp where we will really put all the pieces together. “We are not able to practice altogether as much as we should (because) we are a little bit spread out with players in Jamaica, Canada and the USA,” she said. Head coach and national player Karen Healy-Scott said she also expects the team to do well but preparations for the championship have been challenging. However, based on the world ranking, Jamaica is ranked at 34th of the 36 countries taking part,” he said.ĭespite this, Hutchinson expects the team to do well enough at the championship to move up in the world rankings. “We are going in with a good regional record. President of Jamaica Lacrosse Association, Calbert Hutchinson, said it feels good that the girls will be competing at the championship and he expects them to do well, especially after their third-place finish at the Pan American Lacrosse Association (PALA) Women’s Lacrosse World Qualifier in 2019. The championship will be held in Maryland, United States, June 29 to July 9. Jamaica will make history in international lacrosse next month when the country becomes the first Caribbean nation to compete at the World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship.
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