Tropical Storm Bret wreaked havoc throughout the country with several roofs blown off while there was no respite when the rain and strong winds ended with flooding taking place throughout most of the country.

Training resumes today at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva from 3.30pm. Organisers are stressing that only players already summoned are invited to take part.

TTFA Technical Director Muhammad Isa said the sessions are the start of a process to select a national Under-13 boys team to prepare for future competitions such as the CONCACAF Under 15 championship leading to Under 17 and Under World Cup qualification in the next four to six years.

Players will be screened, entered into a database and carefully assessed by coaches over a period of sessions as the selection process is continued towards preparations for future assignments both on the local and international stage.

“We are pleased to be starting the Under 13 boys programme on Monday with screening sessions at the Ato Boldon Stadium,” Isa told TTFA Media.

“This is not for immediate selection on a national under 13 team but moreso a programme that will be overseen by the TTFA geared towards national team selection and preparation at the youth level.

We already have a National Under 15 and Under 17 team in training and now we have commenced the process for an earlier age groups,” Isa added.

The men, Miguel Angel Matillo, 24, of the Dominican Republic; Alfredo Malchan, 24, of Venezuela and Moruga resident Dillon Lewis, 28, were gunned down near a basketball court.

Police believe the three were conducting an illegal transaction when they were killed. Police believe Lewis took the two foreign nationals into John John to collect money when they were killed.

Shortly after 6 pm on Monday, police were alerted to reports of gunshots being heard near an apartment complex. When police responded they found the bodies outside a house. Each man was shot in the head. The three were missing their shoes while one was missing a belt, which first led police to believe the three men were victims of a robbery.

An autopsy done yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, confirmed that all three men died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head. Relatives yesterday refused to comment when approached by reporters at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.

Relatives of Andy ‘Channa’ Maynard denied reports that he died when he fell from scaffolding while repairing the roof of his house which was damaged by Bret. They said that he slipped while walking on a sheet of galvanize which was propped on the wall outside his home and is the access to the top floor of the building.

It is believed that when he fell, Maynard broke his neck. His wife spotted his body in the yard at 3 am when she peeped outside.

Maynard was a DJ. He left home at 8 pm on Monday night with his brother. Hours later, his body was found. A relative said he heard a loud bang at 2 am but through nothing as such noises were being heard all night as the storm raged.

When Newsday visited relatives yesterday, Maynard’s wife was inconsolable. Other family members described the deceased as a friendly and family-oriented

Even though the skies threatened for most of the evening, weather conditions were cool and calm, setting up ideal racing conditions.

Campbell (PSL) continued her dominance in the elite women’s category as she showed her strength to pedal away from the bunch and cross the line with another national title. Alexi Costa (Heatwave) closely followed the PSL cyclist, while Tonya Sun Kow (The Braves) was third.

The main event of the day saw a Heatwave sweep in the elite men’s category with Pogson and James Hadeed breaking free early in the race.

After falling and rejoining the race, the indelible Guy Costa emerged out of the bunch and eventually joined his two teammates. The trio would go ahead to lap the bunch with Pogson riding away in the last few minutes for the win. Hadeed earned silver, while Costa grabbed bronze. Earlier in the racing programme, Pat Nelson (Breakaway) won the masters 70+ category, while Stephen Aboud (Unattached) rode away with the masters 60-69 category.

The masters 50-59 was highly contested as a sprint to the line was won by Rodney Woods (Team Woods), pipping Wayne Samuel (Hummingbirds) on the line.

Breakaway Cycling Club swept the masters 40-49 category with David Tardieu, Raphael Figueira and Mark Hosein taking the top three spots respectively took the top three spots.

Ryan D’Abreau (Arima Wheelers) won the tinymite men’s category.

Makayla Hernandez (Madonna Wheelers) completed her trifecta of road wins in the tinymite female category, as she defeated Keira Ellis (Team Woods) in their three-lap event. Enrique De Comarmond (Heatwave) followed suit to win his third national road title for the juvenile boys this year. Jabari Whiteman snatched the grueling junior male category, ahead of Kemp Orosco (Team DPS) and Michael Ackee (Southclaine) in yet another sprint for the line.

Now this is not a new football approach, it is just a player using his awareness and skills to beat goalkeepers — outside the box. He did so against Mexico and Costa Rica in the recent World Cup qualifiers.

What made his goals outstanding is that both keepers were beaten from outside the box, which means Molino made the goalkeepers “eat grass” in football terms.

The underlying fact is that a player must hit the ball from outside the box when the opportunity arises. You never know, he may hit the jackpot.

There are many national players who, over the years, have built legendary reputations on making goalkeepers eat grass. I will name a few, past and present, who easily come to mind: Kerry Jamerson, Paul Elliot Alleyne, Dwight Yorke, Russell Latapy, Leroy Spann, Stern John, Everard “Gally” Cummings, Leroy De Leon, Vivian Manswell, Victor Gamaldo, Christian “Bugs” Mendez, Libert Duncan, Jan Steadman, Ron La Forest, Ray Raymond, Dennis Turton, Delbert Charleau, Bertrand Grell, David Mc Deigan, Kelvin Berassa, Tim Lambkin, Chalkie Hamelsmith, and Chris Knaggs.

Players need to stop pussyfooting and let it fly from outside the box.

In other words, they must think, and kick, outside the box.

KEITH ANDERSON via email

“The affected schools in the Victoria Education District are: The Debe Hindu SDMS Primary School which experienced flooding on the ground floor of the compound.

The Penal/Debe Regional Corporation was on hand to assist with restorative works and the Mayo RC Primary School whose roof was partially damaged. The Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation is working closely with Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) with roof repairs,” the release stated.

According to the release, both the Fyzabad Anglican Secondary and Fyzabad Secondary schools will remain closed today following flooding and a loss of power that occurred on Monday evening. In addition, the roof of the Rousillac Hindu Primary school was badly damaged and the ceiling soaked, following strong winds early yesterday morning.

Newsday understands that three schools remain closed as they are currently being used as shelters to accommodate families displaced during the storm’s passing.

Valencia South Government Primary, Manzanilla/Nariva Government Primary and the Matura Government Primary schools are all closed until further notice, as the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management is managing them as shelters.

So said Works Minister Rohan Sinanan in the Senate yesterday in reply to a listed question by Opposition Senator Rodger Samuel.

Sinanan said in August 2015, Cabinet (under the former People’s Partnership) gave approval for Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc of Houston Texas to stack/layup six deepwater drill ships in the gulf on behalf of the owners for a period of five years at a cost of US$80,000 per ship per annum, that is, US$220 per day.

He said that after the 2015 General Election his ministry (under the People’s National Movement) re-negotiated with Transocean to stack/layup six deepwater drill ships for three years at US$750 per vessel per day, with an option for a fourth and fifth year for US$1,000 per ship per day.

The three-year period runs from October 2015. In March 2016, three more ships were approved to anchor in the gulf, at newly re-negotiated fees of US$1,000 per ship per day for three years with an option to renew for a fourth and fifth year at US$1,250 per day, he added.

“To date, no funds have been collected,” Sinanan said.

“A decision has been taken for the development of a framework for the expansion of layups before further action is taken on the matter.” This framework is now ready to go to Cabinet.

Opposition Senator Gerard Ramdeen asked why no fees were yet collected? Sinanan replied, “The Government has to be careful what we allow in the Gulf.” He said that in the past, for just a US$250 fee, foreign ships have been left in the gulf, creating wrecks which the Government must then spend millions of dollars to remove.

India will be looking to rebound after being crushed by perennial rivals Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy final last Sunday.

Law is expecting India to come out eager for victory to appease their cricket-mad fans still angry and disappointed in their Champions Trophy performance.

“They will be hurting, they went through the (Champions Trophy) tournament playing great cricket but they were undone by Pakistan on the day. The guy that leads them Virat Kohli, is a very passionate Indian and he loves to see his team having success. He will be driving them a lot harder during this series which we got to be ready for,” Law said.

West Indies lost to Pakistan 2-1 in a 50-over series earlier this year, and Law believes the regional side is close to competing with and beating the best teams in the world.

“Pakistan are now the Champions Trophy world champions.

We pushed them in a number of games, we beat them in a game; we are not too far from competing with those guys. It is just consistently (competing) on a day in, day out basis. India provides a great challenge not only for the West Indies, but any other team playing against them in this day and age. Looking forward to hosting them here,” he said.

West Indies have named the uncapped medium pacer Kesrick Williams in the squad, but the regional team will be without fast bowler Shannon Gabriel due to injury. Law said missing Gabriel will be a huge blow.

“It is a huge (loss), he has been an integral part of our success that we have had. He has been bowling beautifully as well, it is a shame the big man is not available.

We have very important tours coming up, this (series) is very important as well to us.

With England coming up, a Test tour over there, it will be nice to have him fully fit for the remainder of this series and also that Test series. A big loss but an opportunity for someone else.” Law said the batsmen must start producing because the bowlers have been holding their own.

Contacted yesterday for information on how long Shirui and Yanli were living in Trinidad and whether their bodies would be buried locally or returned to China for burial, director of political affairs at the embassy Lu Eing said he was unable to comment because what was being requested was “personal information.” “That case is under investigation and we will keep in contact with the relevant authorities,” Eing said. “We at the embassy hope for peace and peacefulness for all the people of this great country.” The double murder, which left people and police puzzled as to why anyone would unload over 60 bullets in taking Shirui and Yanli’s lives, is being closely investigated by an inter-agency team of police. A team comprising police from the Homicide Bureau Region III, the Criminal Investigations Division, the Criminal Gang Intelligence Unit, and Task Force are collaborating to investigate the killings as well as that of Everton Moses, Kimroy Maharaj, Jabari Etienne, and Wendell Pierre which occurred in the San Fernando region over the last two weeks.

Possible links between Moses’ murder and those of Shirui and Yanli are being explored as both occurred only two days apart with similar degrees of gruesomeness.

Special mention must be made of Dr Lezama for her understanding and great bedside manner.

Well done team, keep up the great job.

K SEON (and family) Chaguanas