Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 5, 2023 (ZIZ Newsroom): The performance of Akanye Samuel-Francis during the recently concluded 50th Carifta Games held in the Bahamas was celebrated on Friday morning (May 5, 2023)with the unveiling of a billboard along Cayon Street near the Dr. William Connor Primary School.
Akanye Samuel-Francis took first place in the Men’s Under-17 400 metre hurdles clocking a time of 54.14 seconds.
During the ceremony, Samuel-Francis thanked everyone who supported him and vowed to continue making country proud.
“I would like to say thanks to everybody for the support. I appreciate it very much and I hope that this continue as I go on a journey and that I will continue to do more things for the community and for the country and make the country I’m at the country proud.”
Parliamentary Representative for Constituency #3, Hon. Konris Maynard was also present for the unveiling and congratulated Akanye for his achievement at the games.
“I want to take this opportunity to publicly once again congratulate Akanye on your remarkable achievement. Mr. Amory referenced that this is the sort of beginning of a journey in understanding, cause I heard you in an interview, said you weren’t intending to gold medal, you wanted to medal, but you weren’t necessarily intending to gold medal.
But I think what this experience shows that it is possible and now the entire world is ahead of you. All level of achievement is available to you because of your age and because of your talent. And if you hone that you’re not only going to be a success for yourself, but a success for our country of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
He used the opportunity to encourage Akanye to stay focused, grounded and keep the positive reinforcements around him.
Minister Maynard also repeated the government’s commitment in facilitating the upward mobility of the nation’s athletes.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 11, 2023 (ZIZ Sports): St. Kitts Nevis Athletics is commending athlete Jaylen Bennett for his performance at the just concluded CARIFTA games in the Bahamas following controversy surrounding his Under 17 200m race.
According to a post on the SKNA Facebook page Bennett was not included in the original start list provided by the games but received a DNS (did not start) in the Men’s 200m finals.
The SKNA filed an official appeal and won. Bennett was given the opportunity to run an individual Men’s U-17 200 m final. The SKNA said he ran an “impressive time of 22.06 seconds..
However this time did not sit well with many of the fans as they said the timer on the race showed that he crossed the finish line before the 22 second mark.
In an exclusive interview with ZIZ President of SKNA, Delwayne Delaney explained that the time that viewers see is not regarded as the official time.
“When the clock is stopped, when we see the time, it’s usually manually,” he said. “And then it is corrected to the exact. So you might give or take, because of how the brain works and reaction time you might stop, generally, you might stop the clock late, manually. Until the technical persons are given a few seconds to adjust the time and you would have seen the photo finish image with a line coming across Jaylen’s torso and that’s where times are collected. That’s where the data is collected. From the torso.”
In a follow up post on its Facebook page, the SKNA said “We have confirmed by way of photo finish that Jaylen Bennett did run 22.06 seconds in his individual timed final. Although we are heartbroken by the difficulties surrounding this event we are extremely proud of Mr Bennett for not only capturing a silver medal in the U17 400m final but also for all of his contributions towards the success of team #unstoppableskn for the 50th Carifta Games.”
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 10th, 2021 (ZIZ News) The community of Sandy Point and surrounding areas gathered on Tuesday evening at the New Recreation Ground in Sandy Point to pay tribute to the life of the late Llewelyn Pyke who served as science teacher and coach at the Charles E Mills Secondary School.
Several community members, coworkers, government and sporting officials paid tribute to Coach Pyke in speech, song or poetry.
Among them was Parliamentary Representative for Sandy Point Hon. Shawn Richards who said Pyke made an indelible mark on teachers, students and the sporting fraternity in particular.
He encouraged the athletes Pyke trained to continue to make him proud through their performances.
Principal at the Sandy Point High School Eisha Jackson said his dedication and enthusiasm as a coach was undeniable.
Coach Pyke was described as a highly respected coach on the national level. It has been reported that between 2015 to 2018 all of the top medallists of Team SKN at the CARIFTA Games were trained by Coach Pyke. Coach Pyke also paved the way for several national athletes who then went on to perform outstandingly at the USA collegiate level and even in global events such as the CAC Games and PAN AM Games.
The Funeral Service for the late Llewellyn Pyke will be held on Saturday 13th March 2021 at the New Recreation Ground in Sandy Point. Viewing starts at 12:30pm. Funeral begins at 2pm.
]]>Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 10, 2021 (SKNIS): March 9, 2021, marked the official opening of the St. Kitts Pioneering Women’s Gallery within the Ministry of Social Development and Gender Affairs where six ground-breaking women were inducted. The event took place at the building of the Ministry of Social Development and Gender Affairs on Victoria Road, Basseterre.
These women include Mercelyn Hughes, the first female chief immigration officer; Dr. Naudica Philip, first female pathologist; Dr. Marissa Grant-Tate, first female oncologist; Mrs. Sonia Boddie-Thompson, the first female clerk of the National Assembly; Karisia Willett, first female senior calypso monarch; and Meritza Williams, the first female to receive a medal at the Carifta Games.
Speaking at the ceremony, Janelle Lewis-Tafari, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development and Gender Affairs, said that as the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day focuses on leadership, it was an opportune time to display to the Federation those women who have been trailblazers.
She added that these women have shown the nation that women are capable of anything that they set their mind and talent to.
“These are women who broke the proverbial glass ceiling,” she said. “They are an inspiration to others.”
Permanent Secretary Lewis-Tafari said that women who achieve firsts in the Federation must be acknowledged and celebrated.
“This is important. Our children who are coming up, both our boys and our girls, need to see strong women,” she said. “Women who are from similar circumstances, the same country. This is so that our little girls can understand that regardless of what challenges they are experiencing, there is hope, you can accomplish, you can achieve.”
Minister of Social Development and Gender Affairs, the Honourable Eugene Hamilton, who also spoke at the event, said that the event showcases the immense talent and skills of women and how far they have come in St. Kitts and Nevis.
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