Work begins February on new running track at G C Foster College

Thursday, January 15, 2015 | 4:53 AM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Work is set to begin next month on a new running track for the G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport in St Catherine.

General Manager of the Sports Development Foundation (SDF), Denzil Wilks made the disclosure recently.

“We are now finalising the contract and we are expected to begin work by mid- February,” he said.

The SDF head also informed that the new track, which has been contracted to the German company Berleburger Schaumstoffwerk, will cost some $168 million and should be completed by early May.

He explained that the contract will involve construction of a protective base.

“The base that is laid and for which the track will be placed is absolutely critical and that is dependent on the nature of the surface. In the case of G C Foster, what you have is a clay surface that tends to expand when wet and contract when dry, and so you cannot have a track, which is laid on a base that will do that, hence a protective base will have to be built to protect the track,” he outlined.

Work will also include the installation of a drainage system as well as surface conditioning.

The new track is set to receive Level II International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) certification when completed.

 “We expect that it (the track) will give us excellent service for a minimum of

10 years,” Wilks said.

Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserver

Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

View the original article here

Work begins February on new running track at G C Foster College

Westmoreland foster mom to get national recognition

MONDAY will be a special day for Miranda Judith Townsend.

The Holly Hill, Westmoreland, senior citizen will be presented with a Badge Of Honour For Long And Faithful Service to the Child Protection Sector at the National Honours and Awards ceremony, which will be held at King’s House.

Townsend, who worked as a basic school teacher and then as a member of the Post and Telegraph Department, has been a foster mother for over 45 years, during which she has nurtured and raised 18 wards of the State.

While caring for the children, she has also assisted hundreds of residents, both young and old, from the communities of Holly Hill, Dillon Bigwoods, Hopewell, Darliston, and other adjoining areas.

Affectionately called ‘Mama Sweetie’ by her foster children and members of the Holly Hill community, Townsend says despite doing this service for the nation for almost half a century, she has no plans to retire.

“I retired from the Post and Telegraph Department and have dedicated the last 20 years to the job of raising kids on behalf of the State. I truly enjoy this job and it has been really rewarding for me. I have watched these children who come to me, some even as infants, and they have matured and have grown into respectable, responsible citizens who are serving Jamaica in her development,” she says.

Born in Darliston, Westmoreland, Townsend says she will be a mother, friend and helper until she passes on.

She was honoured in 2006 by the Child Development Agency (CDA), under the national Foster Care Programme, as the most outstanding foster parent for the year.

Townsend began her role as a foster mother in 1965. “I was in church when I heard about a boy who was at one of the children’s homes and needed a home. I enquired and got the necessary information and documents, which enabled me to become a Foster Mother to the seven-year-old. My new ‘son’ quickly settled in the family and stayed until he became an adult,” she notes.

Reflecting on her life as a foster mother, Townsend says she could not have done what she did without the full support of the CDA, whose officers have been a tower of strength to her, even in times when things were not running smoothly.

She attributes her commitment to being a foster mother to her love for children and the energy she gets from seeing her “sons and daughters” thrive.

“I love to have children around me… even when they are noisy. I love to cook for them. I also enjoy when they get a good education, which prepares them for life. In other words, I love to see them ‘come to something,” she says.

A biological mother of three, two sons — a retired school principal and one currently in the classroom — and a daughter, who is a businesswoman — Townsend is also a farmer and an active member in the Moravian church.

She is very delighted about the national award. “I am truly thankful to the Government for this recognition. However, I am not doing this job for pay or for recognition… it’s for service. My payment and satisfaction come from seeing my children becoming responsible and respectable men and women in our society,” she adds.

The National Honours and Awards will be presented by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen on Monday, which will be observed as National Heroes Day.

– JIS

View the original article here

Westmoreland foster mom to get national recognition

Watson, Foster claim TT crowns

KANE Watson and Yvonne Foster successfully defended their Men’s and Women’s titles respectively as the prestigious National Table Tennis Tournament ended at the National Arena on Sunday following three days of action.

The inward hunger for table tennis as an indoor sporting contest was demonstrated as 250 entrants turned out for the unsponsored 2013 National Table Tennis Championships, held at the National Arena for the first time in more than 10 years. Twenty-four events were carded, and the return to that venue apparently brought out a number of former great exponents of the game and prominent sporting officials that included the eminent High Court Judge and former national women’s champion and national representative Ingrid Mangatal, Rudolph Muir, deputy Governor of the Central Bank, albeit as a player, and Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) President Mike Fennell, who presented Watson with his trophy.The last time the Nationals were held at the local table tennis mecca was in 2001 when defending national champion Christopher Marsh defeated overseas-based Hector Bennett in the final. Marsh defeated Peter Moo-Young in 2000 at the venue for the first of his three titles. Marsh, who took part in the 2013 rebirth and failed to advance beyond the last 16, won his third title in 2005.Watson, fresh from his sojourn at the recently concluded World Table Tennis Championship in France, completely annihilated the former many-time champion Joseph Dibbs, 4-0, in a roller-coaster victory with three small scores at 4, 3, 10 and 6. The women’s final was quite the contrast, as many-time champion Foster had to dig deep for her survival to recover from a two-set deficit to keep her unbeaten run intact with an emphatic 4-3 win over former champion and number one seed Kaydian Carney, 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7. It was the seventh national title for the 20-year-old Foster in nine years.She first became national champion at age 11. One year she did not play, and the tournament was not staged last year. En route to the final, Watson, the number one seed, defeated Simon Tomlinson, the number three seed, in straight sets, 11-6 11-9 11-6, 12-10.Dibbs, the number two seed, then overcame Phillip Drummonds, the number four seed, 12-10, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9, 11-5. In the women’s final, defending champion and number two seed Foster easily beat Ashli Alexander in straight sets, 11-9, 11-7, 13-11, 11-5, while Carney bettered Dadrian Lewis 4-1,11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7.The growing number of young players being once again attracted to the sport was quite evident as a record 200 juniors participated in events ranging from Under-9 through to Under-18, Men’s and Women’s Open, ‘C’ and ‘B’, along with Junior and Senior Doubles and Junior and Senior Mixed Doubles events.Another 50 adults contested the Senior Men’s and Women’s events that included Parishes events, men’s and women’s, Rural Singles, along with the Novice Open, Over-40, and Over-50 Open Singles.The tournament opened on Friday’s first day, which was devoted to Junior and Parish events, and reached the semi-final stages.Saturday’s second day opened with the Men’s and Women’s Open which progressed to the quarter-final round of eight that included defending National champion Kane Watson, overseas-based former national champion Keith Evans, former many-times national champion Ludlow Bailey, Simon Tomlinson, Don-Walker Petinaud, Phillip Drummonds, Rohan Schloss and Joseph Dibbs. Yvonne Foster returns the ball during action in the women’s singles play at the National Table Tennis Tournament at the National Arena on Sunday.Kane Watson is all concentration as he returns a ticklish serve that sent Joseph Dibbs packing 4-0 during the men’s singles final at the National Table Tennis Tournament at the National Arena on Sunday. (PHOTOS: HURBUN WILLIAMS)

View the original article here

Watson, Foster claim TT crowns