historic briefing of comets club international also som einsights on some athletes




Home
Eve 1
Eve 2
Eve 3
Eve 4
message
News &Features
photo
Members
	Historic Briefing of Comets Club International The Comets Club International (CCI) was established in 1991 as a division of the Montego Bay ‘Comets’ Athletics Club.The Montego Bay Comets Athletics Club was founded in October 1977, by a Science Teacher and a group of student athletes at Cornwall College, Montego Bay, Jamaica.The group included Aubrey ‘Lacy’Campbell, Clement ‘Tino’ Bowen, Paul ‘Fishy’ East, and later on, Audrey Blake, Paul Tomlinson, Barrington ‘Boca’ Campbell and Clive ‘Cornbread’Walters. The core mission of the club was to provide an avenue for student athletes to continue track & field athletics after graduating from the many High Schools in Montego Bay in particular and western Jamaica in general. It is interesting to note then, that Montego Bay and western Jamaica was regarded as a hotbed for soccer with no fewer that four of the top five soccer clubs in the island being from the western region. The Club started the Comets Relays in 1978, as a warm up to the Gibson (Memorial) Relays. The relay event was renamed the Coca-Cola Comets Relays to better identify the sponsorship role of Coca Cola. Today, those relays are now called the MiloWestern Relays, named in accordance with the title sponsorship from Nestle Jamaica Ltd. Membership to the Comets Club organization is ‘open’. CCI now provides that vital link between the past and present. Its charitable endeavours support a rigorous regional training and athletics development program as well as a scholarship fund. Your support for our program is greatly appreciated and will be publicly acknowledged. To contact us please call 646-280-6470 Aubrey L. Campbell, Founder/Executive Director. MoBay Comets Athletics Club & Comets Club Int’l. 128-10 161 Street, Jamaica, NY 11434. E-mail:cometsathletics@aol.com www.cometsclubinternational.com September 07, 2009 Dear Patron, Thank you for your support – directly or indirectly - of the soccer festival staged by the Comets Club International (CCI) of Queens, NY. CCI is a division of the Montego Bay Comets Athletics Club, founded in 1977 by myself, then a Sixth Form student and Deputy Headboy at Cornwall College, Montego Bay, Jamaica. For the past 32 years, the Montego Bay Comets Athletics Club has provided an avenue for meaningful after school activity to hundreds of youth in the western half of the island through participation in track & field athletics, from its base in Montego Bay, Jamaica. As a support group based here in New York City, the CCI is empowered to raise funds to benefit the organization’s core programs including athletics development and a scholarship fund. The soccer festival is one such fundraising initiative from which part proceeds will benefit charities here in the USA and Jamaica. Your support of this and other such initiatives is a support for the personal development of our youth, community empowerment and national pride. Respectfully, Aubrey L. Campbell Founder/Executive Director c. 646-280-6470 *“the mission, not the recognition”* Executive Committee: Aubrey L. Campbell/Executive Director, Judith Hutchinson/President, Mitzie Morris/Secretary, Ameryia Thomas-Campbell/Financial Secretary, Martin Stubbs-Errol Evans/IT Coordinators. Today's elite athletes are bigger, taller - study Monday, July 20, 2009 The world's greatest athletes aren't just getting faster - they are also gaining in height, scientists say. Today's record-breaking sprinters are now six inches taller than their Edwardian counterparts, while the best swimmers have gained four inches in the last 100 years. In contrast, the average adult has grown just two inches in height since 1900. Scientists say height gives sportsmen such an advantage that the world's swimming and athletics bodies may soon have to introduce boxing-style weight classes. The ever growing size of elite athletes was highlighted last year when Usain Bolt - the 6ft 5in-tall Jamaican - became the fastest man in the world, winning gold in the 100 and 200 metres sprint at the Beijing Olympics. Bolt is such a towering figure, he was once considered "too tall" for sprinting. American Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals at Beijing, is another giant. At 6ft 4in, he is four inches taller than Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics. According to the Duke study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, Bolt is part of a trend for taller sportsmen. The researchers collected heights and weights of world record 100-metre runners and 100-metre swimmers since 1900.In 1930, the 100 metres dash world record was beaten by Canadia Percy Williams. Williams was just 5ft 6in tall - nearly a foot shorter than Usain Bolt. In the 1980s, Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson won a string of records between them. Both men were 6ft 2in. In the last few years, the world record has been shared by Jamaicans Asafa Powell (6ft 3in) and Bolt (6ft 5in).(Reprinted from the Daily Mail) They found that the swiftest runners were 6.4 inches taller than they were in 1900, while the best swimmers had gained 4.5 inches."In the future, the fastest athletes can be predicted to be heavier and taller," said Dr Adrian Bejan, an engineer at Duke University, North Carolina."If the winners' podium is to include athletes of all sizes, then speed competitions might have to be divided into weight categories."Larger athletes lift, push and punch harder than smaller athletes, and this led to the stablishment of weight classes in certain sports like boxing, wrestling and weightlifting." The average height of adults has increased over the last 100 years because of mproved diet. Elite athletes have grown disproportionately in height because of the fiercely competitive nature of modern sport. In Victorian and Edwardian England, athletics and swimming were amateur, part-time activities in which even a tiny sportsman had a chance to shine on the world stage. But as sport became more professional and competitive, athletes needed every advantage - including height and build - if they were to reach the top. Engineering student Jordan Charles, who led the study, said: "The trends revealed by our analysis suggest that speed records will continue to be dominated by heavier and taller athletes." The researchers used their findings to develop a mathematical model that predicts an athlete's speed based on their height and weight. Using the model, they worked out how modern-day stars would fare against the sprinters of the original Olympic Games of ancient Greece. Charles said: "In antiquity, body weights were roughly 70 per cent less than they are today. Using our theory, a 100-metre dash that is won in 13 seconds would have taken about 14 seconds back then." To create their model, the scientists used two types of motion - lifting weight vertically and overcoming drag horizontally - to describe running and swimming. Charles said his new way of looking at locomotion and size validated a technique in swim training, although for a different reason. Swimmers are urged by their coaches to raise their body as far as they can out of the water with each stroke as a means of increasing their speed."It was thought the swimmer would experience less friction drag in the air than in the water. However, when the body is higher above the water, it falls faster and more forward when it hits the water."The larger wave that occurs is faster and propels the body forward. A larger swimmer would get a heightened effect. Right advice, wrong reason," said Charles. In 1930, the 100 metres dash world record was beaten by Canadian Percy Williams. Williams was just 5ft 6in tall - nearly a foot shorter than Usain Bolt. In the 1980s, Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson won a string of records between them. Both men were 6ft 2in. In the last few years, the world record has been shared by Jamaicans Asafa Powell (6ft 3in) and Bolt (6ft 5in) BOLT . was once considered 'too tall' for sprinting . Usain Bolt (born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter and reigning Olympic champion over 100 m. He is the current world record holder in the 100 m (9.69 s), world junior record holder in the 200 metres (19.93 s), and Jamaican record holder in the 200 m (19.67 s). His name and achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt". Bolt was born in Trelawny, Jamaica and educated at the William Knibb Memorial High School. At the age of 15 he won a gold and two silver medals at the 2002 World Junior Championships in front of a home crowd in Kingston, becoming the youngest world junior gold medalist ever. He won another gold medal at the 2003 World Youth Championships, running the 200 m in 20.40 seconds. Usain Bolt and retired Jamaican sprinter Michael Green are the past Students of William Knibb. In 2004 Bolt ran the 200 m in 19.93 seconds, becoming the first junior to break the 20-second mark; breaking Lorenzo Daniel's world junior record. At the 2007 Jamaican Championships, Bolt ran 19.75, breaking the 36-year-old national record held by Don Quarrie by 0.11 seconds. At the World Championships in Osaka, Bolt won a silver medal in the 200 m behind American Tyson Gay. On 3 May 2008, Bolt ran 9.76 (+1.8 m/s) in the 100 m at the Jamaica Invitational, then the second fastest legal performance in the history of the event, behind compatriot Asafa Powell. Later that month, on 31 May 2008, Bolt ran 9.72 (+1.7 m/s), establishing a new worldrecord in the 100 m at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, breaking the 9.74-second record of Powell. This was only his 5th senior run over the distance. On the 13 July 2008 in Athens, Greece Usain once again broke the 200 m national record by running 19.67. As the new 100m world record holder, Bolt arrived at the Beijing Summer Olympics as the favorite in both the 100 m and 200 m. After finishing his quarterfinals and semifinals in 9.92 and 9.85, on 16 August 2008, Bolt won the Olympic 100 m final in 9.69 (+0.0 m/s), far ahead of second place finisher Richard Thompson (who finished in 9.89), and shattering his own world record. Not only was his mark made with no tailwind, indicating the quality of his performance, but amazingly he appeared to slow down and celebrate near the finish line after realizing he had secured the gold medal. Bolt warmed up wearing shorts, in contrast to conventional wisdom to keep the athelete's legs warm before a race, indicating his relaxed demeanor and confidence. Curiosly, during the final, his right shoelace have come undone He is coached by Glen Mills and currently attends the University of Technology A value is required.Asafa Powell (born 23 November 1982) is a Jamaican sprinter, and is currently the 100m co-world record holder with Justin Gatlin, with a time of 9.77 seconds. Asafa Powell was going to be an electrical engineer before he decided to start running. His elder brother Donovan was a 100 m semi-finalist in the 1999 world championships. Unlike many of his compatriots, Powell decided against moving to the USA to further his career and continues to train in Kingston, Jamaica where he often runs on grass wearing "flats" (non spiked running Shoes Powell first came to the attention of the athletics world at the 2003 world championships when he suffered the ignominy of being the 'other' athlete disqualified for a false start in the semi-final where Jon Drummond memorably refused to leave the track having suffered the same fate (Drummond was later proved to have not false started). The following season Powell was one of the gold medal favorites for 2004 Olympic 100 m, after clocking sub-10 second times a record-equaling 9 times in a season. However, Powell finished a disappointing fifth in the Athens final. The following year, he gained some consolation by breaking the 100 m world record, in Athens on June 14, 2005, setting a time of 9.77 s. This beat American Tim Montgomery's 2002 record of 9.78 s (which was later annulled due to BALCO doping allegations against Montgomery) by just one one-hundredth of a second. Coincidentally, Powell achieved the feat on the same track as Maurice Greene's 1999 world record of 9.79 s. Wind assistance for Powell was measured at 1.6 m/s - a gentle breeze - within the IAAF legal limit of 2.0 m/s. Asafa won the 2006 Commonwealth Games title easily but had to get through a drama-filled semi-final which saw two disqualifications, three false starts and Powell himself running into another competitor's lane while looking at the scoreboard (he was held not to have impeded the other runner Powell's world record appeared to be broken on May 12, 2006 by Justin Gatlin's mark of 9.76 s +1.7m/s wind. However, according to IAAF rules, his unofficial time of 9.7660 should have been rounded to an official time of 9.77, not 9.76. Gatlin and Powell currently share the record of 9.77 seconds. Gatlin has since tested positive for drugs, so his record is currently under review by the IAAF. Powell then equaled his world record time on June 11, 2006 at Gateshead As a biography,Veronica Brown was born on May 15, 1982 in Trelaway, Jamaica .She has 9 siblings Veronica attended Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas. She was a track star while there and set several records for the school. She graduated from Barton County in 2002 with an Associates Degree and went on to the University of Arkansas, where she once again was a track star. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, she won gold in the 200 m and 4×100 m relay. She received a bronze medal in the 100 meters. At the 2005 World Championships, Veronica won the silver in the 100 meters and won silver again in the 4×100 m relay. She won three medals at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan - gold in the 100 meters, a silver medal in the 200 meters, and another silver medal in the 4×100 meter relay. Veronica married Jamaican sprinter Omar Brown in late 2007. He attended the University of Arkansas as well. Olympic rookie Kerron Stewart will make her Olympic debut for Jamaica this summer in Beijing, where she hopes to contend for a medal in the women's 100m and 200m. Eric Feferberg/Getty Images Kerron Stewart competes in the 200m at the World Championships in Osaka. Strong season Stewart is an emerging star in the sprints, and flashed her potential during the 2007 season. Prior to finishing seventh at the World Championships in Osaka, she ran her fastest time of the season, 11.03, in finishing runner-up to Veronica Campbell at the Jamaican Championships. She also finished second to Campbell in the 200m. Collegiate success While running as a senior at Auburn University in 2007, Stewart won 100m races at the Auburn Invitational in 11.10 seconds, at the Penn Relays in 11.15, and the Southeastern Conference championship in 11.10. She was equally impressive over 200m, winning the SEC and NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. She was named the nation's top female track and field athlete. Slow to gain As an up-and-coming athlete in a sprint-rich nation, it would be easy for Stewart to feel overwhelmed by her competition. But by taking a realistic approach to her training and development, she has avoided becoming awestruck. "They're great athletes and I'm a great athlete," Stewart told the Jamaica Star. "I am not scared of the challenge. I'm taking it one step at a time. This game can bring you up and take you down." Bolt \|Bolt2\| Comets\| Powell A value is required. www.jamaicaobserver.com