Dominican athletes have been admonished to continue to ‘play true’ in keeping with the guidelines of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization (RADO) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Caribbean RADO’s representative Tessa Chaderton-Shaw commended the island for making progress in anti-doping at a press conference on Monday, 3rd June.

“Significant progress has been made in Dominica in anti-doping, particularly since my initial visit in January, 2011,” Mrs Shaw stated.

A local chapter, National Anti-Doping Agency (NADO) was formed in July 2012, following a recommendation from the Dominica Olympic Committee and confirmation from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs.

According to NADO’s chairman, Felix Wilson, no Dominican athlete has been found guilty of doping.

“Dominica continues to play its part in the global fight against doping in sports, I need you to know that it has complied with its annual dues to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), it also pays to the Caribbean RADO, the Caribbean Anti-Doping organization,” Mrs Shaw continued.

She also noted that Dominica is very responsive to requests to participate in general anti-doping activity and programs.

This she said is very important “to ensure that Dominica takes its place on the global stage to fight doping in sports in all of its forms”.

As part of compliance with RADO and WADA’s guidelines, three Dominicans have been trained as doping control officers.

“It’s important to highlight the critical role played by Dominica’s doping control officers; Marcus Blondel, Glenda Fagan and Felix Wilson,” Mrs Shaw indicated.

Mr Blondel and Ms Fagan were both recently retrained in February of this year during RADO’s annual board meeting hosted in St Lucia. The training was delivered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and sponsored by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

“The gender balance is very important because clearly if a female is being tested, that test needs to be observed by a female chaperone or a female doping control officer, likewise for a male athlete, the passage of urine has to be observed by males,” Mrs Shaw noted.

RADO, which is based in Barbados, plays a critical role in supporting anti-doping efforts in 15 member countries.

The Caribbean RADO’s membership includes Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago & the Turks & Caicos.

Dominica Vibes News

The Dominica Amateur Volleyball Association has selected a 12 man squad to represent the island for the second round of the 2014 Volleyball World Cup Qualifiers to be held in Guadeloupe from June 14 – 17.

New comer, Deon Vidal joins skipper Ray Robinson who will try to lead his squad into the 3rd round.

The rest of the team is as follows:

David Toussaint, Johnny Seraphine, Lincoln Riviere, Reginald Thomas, Kerwin George, Presley Telemaque, Shayne Guiste, Kenworth Bedminister, Germaine Ettienne and Kairann George.

The team has been in training for the past two months and stands a very good chance of advancing to the 3rd round.

Dominica took gold and copped several individual prizes after completing the pool with an unbeaten record last year in round 1 in the BVI.

Dominica’s is set to play host Guadeloupe at 11:00am on June 15th and Grenada at 6:00pm that same day.

They will battle Honduras, who topped their first round 1 qualifying leg with an identical record as Dominica’s. The top 2 teams will compete again that evening.

The team is coached by Robert Guiste with Jason Francis serving as manager.

Dominica Vibes News

Former elite cricket umpire Billy Doctrove has dismissed rumors that he will be contesting the next general elections here.

The Chronicle Newspaper in its Friday, 24th May edition under its ‘Is It True’ section stated “that a former elite umpire will be a candidate at the next elections?”

Mr Doctrove said in a live interview with state owned DBS Radio on Monday 27th May he has been approached by supporters and members of all three political parties here but he has no political ambition or interest in running for political office.

“I know it is supposed to be an honor and a privilege to serve as a member of the House of Parliament because basically all politicians try to make people’s life better, but really when you look at the hostile and unfriendly political atmosphere that exists in Dominica, I don’t think it is very encouraging for someone like me to enter politics,” he said.

He stated further that he therefore finds it almost impossible to embrace such hostile and unfriendly political environment.

Mr Doctrove also described the manner in which the newspaper handled the information they received as “unprofessional”.

He claims that they could have contacted him for comment, as they have done several times in the past with respect to other matters, instead of publishing this.

“When persons say that the media in Dominica is simply bent on sensationalism, well this is a classic example of such behavior,” he said.

Mr Doctrove, 57, announced his retirement from the Elite Cricket Panel in July 2012. He umpired 38 tests, 112 ODI’s and 17 T20’s.

He was promoted to the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires in 2004 before being elevated to the elite panel in April 2006.

Dominica Vibes News

Joslyn Prince, the lone survivor in a tragic accident last month, is the recipient of the first ever Heroism Award presented by the National Youth Council of Dominica (NYCD).

The award was presented to Prince during the 8th National Youth Awards ceremony at Krazy kokonuts on Saturday, 25th May.

National footballer Prince who was en route to the Melville Hall Airport along with former National football Coach Kirt Hector and former National player Norran Jno Hope were victims to nature’s undermining of the Pond Case Road, causing the vehicle in which they were travelling in to plunge into a 40 feet sink hole.

Prince was miraculously able to climb out of that sink hole and caution approaching vehicles of their impending doom.

According to the NYCD, Prince’s bravery under extreme conditions and care for fellow men on that day inspired the creation of the new award category.

Prince said in an interview with Dominica Vibes News that he was honored to receive such an award.

“While the citation was being read I was saying that I am about to receive something which is very good and I was quite happy too. I was a bit nervous at first but then I started to feel better and I want to thank God for making this possible and I feel really honored to receive such an award,” the NYCD hero said.

Prince who is still on sick leave said he is feeling “pretty much better” than before and he is thankful to God for that.

He noted however that he requires a lot of rest to ensure that his injuries are properly cured and he is still not sure if he will seek medical attention overseas, but for now he will just have to “wait and see”.

The other awards presented were as follows;

•Academic and Extra-Curricular Excellence – Phibisha Joseph
•Agriculture – Kervin Vidal
•Cultural and Heritage – Janae Jackson
•Sports – Josh Toussaint
•Visual Arts – Bert Shankar Paul
•Entrepreneurship – Burton Jon Baptiste
•Esteemed Challenge – Loik Charles
•Esteemed Volunteer – Kirk Dumas
•Outstanding Youth in Media – Kimara Hutault
•Community Youth Organization – Lescalier Motivators
•Outstanding Youth in Music – Melinda Chevon Ulysses

Dominica Vibes News

The Dominica Cricket Association (DCA) has hired a certified cricket coach to train its Under 19 team ahead of the Windward Island Cricket Tournament scheduled to commence in June of this year.

Sam Kirnon, 51, of England, will coach the 30 member training squad for the tournament which will take place from 30th June to 7th July in Grenada.

Following the training sessions, the DCA’s selection panel chaired by Charles Walters will select a final team of 13 players to participate in the tournament.

Since his arrival here in January, 2013, Mr Kirnon has been providing free coaching sessions in Portsmouth and commenced a grassroots cricket program there every Saturday.

From that program, he began coaching the Nagico Team of Portsmouth in March. He also started a training program for women cricketers in Portsmouth every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays. Nine students of the Portsmouth Secondary School also attend these training sessions.

“It has been a challenge to coach adults who have not had a proper foundation in cricket. So I’ve been trying to focus on team work and team building,” Mr Kirnon said in an interview with Dominica Vibes.

He also provides voluntary training to the women’s team of Portsmouth on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“It’s promoting cricket and putting something back in the sport that I never got when I was growing up. I find it rewarding; if you are passionate about doing something, after a while it becomes rewarding,” he said.

Mr Kirnon was a physical training instructor in the British Army for six years, a player of the Glamorgan County Cricket Club for two years, coach at the Montserrat Sports Department for eight years, was the club captain of the Chingford Cricket Club in England for two years and then became a certified cricket coach of the Chingford Cricket Club for nine years.

Dominica Vibes News