Country’s national sports policy ready

The country’s four-year national sports policy 2013-2017 is ready and has been presented to representatives of sports federations and associations.

Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton presented the document to the delegates and said that everyone should take ownership of the policy, adding that it will help guide the sports strategic plan 2013-2017 and beyond by ensuring that the aspirations, needs and perspectives of our sports community are taken into consideration.

Community development and sports principal secretary Denis Rose, National Sports Council (NSC) chairman Jean Larue and NSC chief executive Alain Volcère were also present.

In the policy’s foreword, the minister writes: “It (the policy) recognises that today’s generation of athletes and support personnel face new and unique challenges brought about by the rapidly changing technology, change of lifestyle, financing and the environmental changes.”

The minister notes that because sports remain a vector in the promotion of social cohesion and stability, this policy reaffirms the commitment shared by all to ensure that our children and young athletes continue to develop confidence, resilience and skills they need at all levels of the sports development continuum.

He also thanked all athletes, the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, sports federations and associations, sports officers, parents, sponsors and the Seychellois community for their valuable contributions towards the realisation of the national sports policy.

The policy’s vision is to have by 2017 a more active, cohesive and healthier Seychelles for the social well-being of its citizens; and a sustainable sporting environment which enhances international relations, national and international success, economic benefits and a bolstered sense of national identity and pride.

Some of the objectives of this policy are: ensure that quality education and school sports are further enhanced in all educational and sports institutions; provide an enabling environment that will motivate all Seychellois to become more active participants, and foster the development of healthy, active lifestyles and a culture of lifelong participation at all levels and across the sports spectrum; ensure gender balance with particular emphasis on girls and women in sports; create and facilitate career development opportunities in emerging fields and specialisation in sports; maximise the social benefit and economic potential of sports as an emerging industry and increase its contribution to the country’s development; develop and strengthen international cooperation and exchange between Seychelles and other national and international institutions; and provide competency-based education and training opportunities for a strong technical and human resource base.

The policy contains five statements – participation (physical education and school sports; sports for all; women and sports; leisure and recreation; and federations and associations), competitive sports (national competitions; sports clubs, federations and associations; coaches development), high level sports performance (talent identification and development; excellence pathways; long term athletes development programme; sports academy; science and medical support services; international competitions), sports development (sports federations; secretariat for federations; prioritising sports, volunteers; facilities, incentives and rewards; sports information centre; recording and archiving; ethical environment; use of prohibited substances and methods), and capacity building and service delivery (sports organisations support; financial resources; human resources development; international relations; marketing and media and information).

Basketball: Curtain-raiser tournament finals

MBU Rockers’ Nigel Sinon picked up the runners-up trophy and stared at the winners’ cup in Rodney Lozé’s hands, probably thinking this piece of silverware could have been theirs had they not let the Hawks beat them at the death.

PLS Hawks ran out lucky 96-91 winners in Saturday’s final at Victoria Gymnasium to retain the men’s Curtain-raiser title, while Anse Etoile Stars dethroned Mont Fleuri with a 53-45 win in the women’s game.

The winners and runners-up received their cups from National Sports Council chief executive Alain Volcère, who was himself a basketballer in his younger days and also coach of the country’s women’s team.

Mr Volcère was happy with what he saw on Saturday, describing the men’s match as “very entertaining”.

“MBU Rockers have surely made a lot of progress, but still have to work on their defence. I believe this year’s league competition will be very interesting to watch and follow,” added the NSC boss.

Stars dethrone Mont Fleuri

After finishing as league and cup double winners last year when the only title they did not win was the Curtain-raiser trophy, Anse Etoile Stars came into Saturday’s final wanting to start the 2013 season on a good note and they dictated the pace of the game, winning the first three quarters 13-11, 13-12 and 12-7.

Boasting an 8-point lead – 38-30 – going into the fourth quarter, the Stars only had to play safe and they tied Mont Fleuri 15-15 to run out 53-45 winners, dethroning the Mont Fleurians whose coach Tony Juliette was not on their bench.

Player of the year Jana Malbrook finished with a game-leading 13 points, including one 3-pointer, but she got help in offence from Geneviève Beaudouin who banked two treys for six of her 10 points, and Lucia Souffe who also finished in double figures with 10 points.

Speaking to Sports Nation, veteran captain and centre Simone Malbrook, who got eight points, said “my team will be all out to make a clean sweep of all the titles this year to get the opportunity to represent Seychelles at the Indian Ocean Club Championship”.

After netting four treys in the Stars’ 63-25 win against HotShots in the semifinal, Russian recruit Victoria Sochugova twice connected from behind the arc in the final.

Skipper Bernadette Songor led the Mont Fleurians in scoring with 10 points, but could do very little to help her team, who edged Anse Boileau-based HotShots 66-65 in last year’s final, retain the title.

Hawks steal victory from the jaws of defeat

The Rockers surely showed they have the will to win and the energy to play hard with the return of playmaker Sinon from a six-month suspension, but at the same time it is obvious that they lack depth and crunch-time experience as they let the Hawks steal a 96-91 victory from the jaws of defeat in the men’s final.

With player-coach Gonzague ‘Loupi’ Agrippine making the tactical switches, the Rockers looked like giving the Hawks a dose of their own medicine as their high tempo play gave the still rusty-looking Hawks, who usually win games with a tough defence, a tough time.

The Rockers led by 11 – 21-10 – on a Sinon layup with 2 minutes 58 seconds (2:58) left in the first quarter. When Bernard Bristol was called for goaltending on a Pascal Bibi layup with 2:48 on the clock in the second quarter, the Rockers were up by 15 – 45-30 –, but soon started running out of steam as the Hawks used a 12-0 run to close the score to 45-42 at half-time.

Nigerian Alao Solomon tied the score at 47-47 on a layup after a Mike Estico miss with 1:06 played in the third, but a Brian Morel 3-point play gave the Rockers back the lead at 50-47 and when he buried two treys inside 24 seconds his team regained their double-digit lead – 65-55 – with 4:16 to play. But the Hawks again trimmed the score and took the lead for the first time at 68-67 on two Bristol free-throws with 1:39 left and started the fourth quarter with a two-point advantage 71-69.

With big men Keven Morel and Daniel Hoareau fouling out with two minutes apart and with 6:33 left to play, many and including the Hawks bench thought the Rockers would just disintegrate but they stood firm and even led 83-77 on a Selwyn Tamboo layup (5:34 left) before the Hawks equalised again at 85-85 on Steve Allisop’s 3-point play.

After Solomon gave Hawks the lead at 93-91 with 44 seconds to play, Bibi made an eventful trip to the free-throw line missing two shots denying his team of a chance to tie the game once more, while Wilby Domingue and Bristol scored to give the Hawks a 96-91 victory.

Solomon led all scores with 37 points, while veteran power forward Jim Domingue, whose love for the game and winning mentally is still getting him more playing time than his younger teammates, added 17. Bristol contributed 12 and Rodney Lozé finished with 11 before fouling out.

Playmaker Bristol was happy with the win, but cautioned his teammates that “this season won’t be easy like the last when we made a clean sweep of all the titles”.
“The Rockers came out strong and proved to us that they have worked on their mistakes and we need to get down to some serious work if we want to win the other competitions,” added the 36-year-old.

Morel was the Rockers’ top scorer with 24 points, followed by Sinon with 20, Hoareau with 12 and Bibi with 11.

“We could have won the match but lost it! We have ourselves to blame for the loss and the mistakes we committed but even though many might not agree, the officials did not do us any favour,” lamented Sinon who caused the Hawks’ open defence also sorts of problems with his penetration game.

Saturday’s game gave an indication of what the 2013 season will look like as the Hawks, it seems, won’t have it easy as last year when they reached the century mark in almost every match, including the landslide 111-61 win against the same Rockers in the season-ending Seychelles basketball Federation Cup final.

Seychelles Volleyball Federation (SVF) Shields

The last time Arsu and Beau Vallon had won the Seychelles Volleyball Federation (SVF) Shields was in 2010 and on Saturday, they celebrated starting the 2013 season on a good note against tough opposition.

Arsu’s and Beau Vallon’s 3-2 SVF Shield victories on Saturday at the Palais des Sports have somehow proved that the level of the game here, especially the men’s, is still very good and this gives us all hope for an interesting 2013 season.

Arsu make it eight wins

Reigning SVF Cup winners Arsu were up against division one league champions Friends in the women’s match and they continued from where they left off last season.

After trading sets with Friends, Arsu fell behind 1-0 in the decisive fifth set and the last time the two teams were equal was at 3-3. From then on Arsu took the initiative and dictated the momentum to lead 6-3, 6-5, 11-5, 14-9 before Tina Agathine put all her strength behind setter Anzel Melanie pass to send a bullet-like attack into Friends’ half of the court to close the set at 15-9 and the match 3-2.

The set score: 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-11, 12-25, 15-9).

Despite the game going to five sets and 103 minutes of play, the level of play was not to the fans’ expectation although it is clear it is early in the season.

The two teams took turns to lose sets – third and fourth – in mistake-filled fashion and some of the players looked like trying to catch their breath – a clear sign of little preparation.

It is hoped that the coaches go back to the drawing boards and rethink not only tactics, but also do some endurance work to help the players, who have the ability and have proved in the past, compete to the level expected of them.

The win has helped Arsu, coached by David Denis, reclaim the SVF Shield which had been in Cascade’s possession for the past three years. They have now made it eight wins in 14 years after past wins in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, meaning Friends, under coach Jude Preira, will have to wait before claiming their first.

Cascade have won the title five times – in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2012.

Reigning young female athlete of the year Marie-Helen Rose, who captained Arsu to victory on Saturday, gave herself a nice 18th birthday present and told Sports Nation that the team deserved the victory.

“We deserved it. We played better than them although we also made a lot of mistakes. We need to stay united and train harder if we want to enjoy a good 2013 season,” Rose told Sports Nation after accepting the winners’ shield from community development and sports principal secretary Denis Rose.

Beau Vallon dethrone Spikers

Beau Vallon look more organised management-wise this year and on the court, the players delivered despite at times sending shivers down their fans’ back.

With former professional Ian Furneau back with the team, Beau Vallon countered what Premium Spikers could throw at them and took coach Bernard Denis’ team out of their rhythm and system.

Although Premium Spikers served tough through another former pro – Guy Valentin – and Kevin Sinon, Beau Vallon cleverly absorbed their opponents’ best before blasting away in the decisive fifth set, combining finesse and fire to down Premium Spikers who were gunning for a third consecutive SVF Shield win and a sixth after past victories in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

After some very entertaining volleyball where the two sets of players moved well in the middle, blocked well, changed up their patterns to get the better of the other, and stars Furneau (Beau Vallon) and Valentin and Sinon (Premium Spikers) using their vertical leap ability to the maximum to send cracking shots onto the court, the game ended on a simple mistake.

At game-point (16-15), Benjamin Bijoux, who had come off the bench to marshall his team’s defence at the net, went to the service line and considered not to be one of the best servers on his team, he floated his service into Premium Spikers’ half of the court. His teammates must have been happy he had been able to do that well, but little did he know that one of the best receptionists – Premium Spikers’ veteran skipper Jean-Paul Lepathy – would make a meal of what looked like an easy ball to receive. The ball skidded of Lepathy’s arms and flew in the blue yonder as Beau Vallon celebrated beating Spikers and giving coach Adolf Nalletamby a winning debut.

The final score: 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 20-25, 25-18, 17-15) after 118 minutes of play.

After dethroning Spikers, Beau Vallon have extended their number of wins in the SVF Shield to nine in 14 years – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013.

“We expected Premium Spikers to change their game plan after we won the first set. But still we could have won the match on a 3-1 score, but some players did not follow the instructions given. I’m happy we have won and I expect my team to play much better during the course of the year,” Nalletamby told Sports Nation.

UK Paralympic delegation on mission here

On a mission here, Rwanda National Paralympics Committee boss Dominique Bizimana will be involved in a sitting volleyball demonstration match during the ‘Get inspired festival’ on Saturday at Roche Caïman.

Other than sitting volleyball, there will also be goalball and boccia for everyone to see.

Mr Bizimana, who represented Rwanda at last year’s Paralympics Games in London, United Kingdom, has since retired from playing sitting volleyball but is committed to popularising the sport and helping Seychelles engage itself in joining the International Paralympics Committee.

A Tutsi who lost the lower half of his left leg fighting for the Rwandan Patriotic Front, Mr Bizimana is accompanying Elias Musangeya, senior development consultant at UK Sport, and yesterday morning they held talks with Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton, community development and sports principal secretary Denis Rose, National Sports Council chief executive Alain Volcère, and Dan Frichot, special adviser on community development to the Minister for Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports.

Speaking to Sports Nation, Musangeya, holder of a doctorate degree in education and is the former director general of Zimbabwe sports and recreation, said: “We are two on a mission and we are action-oriented.”

“We’ve had a very good meeting with Minister Meriton and his team. When the United Kingdom hosted the Paralympic Games last year, it wanted the games to have a legacy – supporting Paralympics movement in the world.

“We want to support the development of Paralympics in Seychelles. We have noticed that Seychelles has the capacity but needs strategic support,” said Mr Musangeya, who noted that they are here thanks to the Seychelles government and the British high commission.

The first thing Seychelles has to do is set up a local Paralympics association which will be affiliated to the International Paralympics Committee by September this year. This way the country will benefit from many opportunities and get to compete in the Paralympics Games.

Messrs Musangeya and Bizimana, who arrived here last Sunday and leave on March 30, stressed the need for a collaborated effort between all the ministries and departments.

“Alone one can’t do much. This is why we have already met representatives of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health,” stressed Mr Musangeya who added that “physical literacy is very important in sports.”

Yesterday afternoon, the two experts met representatives of the deaf, and blind associations, school of the exception child and the rehabilitation centre to explain the demands of the Paralympics, which Mr Musangeya said are very high level competitions.

Messrs Musangeya’s and Bizimana’s visit comes less than a year after Minister Meriton represented President James Michel, who had been invited by the UK government, at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics Games (from August 29 to September 9, 2012).

In his meeting with Henry Bellingham MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who has the ministerial portfolio for Africa, Minister Meriton discussed the possibility of working in partnership with the UK to develop sports and the social renaissance initiative here.

Minister Meriton used the occasion to present Minister Bellingham with two project proposals with the potential of strengthening bilateral ties. These were the Physical Education and School Sports (PESS) programme and the social renaissance initiative.

The Paralympic Games is a major international multi-sport event, involving athletes with a range of physical and intellectual disabilities, including mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy.

There are winter and summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee.

Classification is a unique element of Paralympic sports, intended to ensure fair competition. As each sport at the Paralympic Games requires different skills and competencies, the impact of impairment on the performance of the athletes varies. This is why it is important for each sport to have its own unique classification rules.

The sports that featured ion the last Paralympic Games in London last year are archery, athletics, boccia, road cycling, track cycling, equestrian, five-a-side football, seven-a-side football, goalball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, sailing, shooting, sitting, volleyball, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.