Set a modest 74 to win, the team from the east won the game with three balls to spare, in the last over, to win the inaugural tournament.

Playing under lights at the Pierre Road Recreation Ground, Charlieville, Iere won the toss and elected to bat. San Juan Captain Tyrel Job led the attack and were rewarded in the first over with the wicket of the opening batsman.

There was a steady fall of wickets thereafter and at one time the Iere boys seemed like they would capitulate for a meagre score. However, some loose bowling and fielding by the San Juan side gave them a reprieve and they pushed the score to 73 for nine. Justin Baldath top scored with 30 not out.

San Juan started slowly with captain Tyrel Job and heavy hitter Ronaldo Huggins opening the innings.

The east side stumbled when they lost their captain who was clean bowled at the end of the second over. At one stage they were 16 for one in the fourth over but Huggins picked up the pace in the fifth and sixth.

The two overs yielded 38 runs and the San Juan boys were well on their way to victory. Isaiah James and Daniel Osouna also added to the score.

Tight bowling by Iere in the ninth over saw the fall of three quick wickets and it came down to the last over where San Juan held its nerve and Umari Lara brought the game home with a boundary much to the delight of his teammates and supporters.

Huggins, for his hard work, was adjudged the Player of the Match, proving the best bowler with his three wickets for 12 runs and best batsman on the night (36 runs).

Head coach Stephanie Power expressed her pride in the team and the hard work the boys put in over the season.

The former Trinidad and Tobago coach and West Indies wicket keeper was overjoyed at the victory in her last week at the school.

The players deemed it a fitting retirement gift to her. Under her coaching, the team captured the East T10 title, reached the semi-final of the Powergen T20 won the East Zone 50 over competition and are awaiting a playoff which will put them into the national league.

The EAAP is an initiative by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago that provides financial assistance to outstanding athletes in support of their preparation for and participation in international competitions.

Athletes who benefit from this programme include those who have medalled in the Olympic Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Senior Pan American Games, Senior Central American Games and Caribbean Games.

This initiative is done in two parts where the athletes are given funding biannually. The Ministry, in a press release yesterday, said it is currently processing applications of the other Elite Athletes and cheque distributions will follow.

Walcott, a gold medallist at the London Olympics in 2012, followed up that performance with a bronze medal at the Rio Games last year.

At just 24 years old, Walcott is viewed as the present and future of sport locally and this country’s main athlete on the world stage.

The competition, called “The Caribbean Classic 2017” registered 350 enthusiastic gymnasts from local and regional teams.

They will perform for USA international judges in various levels from pre-comp to level nine (Trinidad and Tobago’s highest level), including Preschools and Primary schools in both individual and all-around categories.

The tournament officially begins with an opening ceremony on May 5 at 6 pm with stiff competition on May 6 and 7 from 8.30 am daily. The entrance fee is $25 for adults, while children Under- 12 pay $15.

The partners of the event include Bare Fruit, Massy Group, First Citizens Bank Limited, Classic Awards Limited, Vemco Limited, Solo Beverages, Exotic Flavours, Atlantic LNG and Ecotox Limited.

Competitors will participate on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor. For tickets contact 754-1841 or visit Facebook – Olympia Gymnastics Club or www.ogctt.com

Sagicor views this event as a chance for personal rejuvenation for participants, while providing an opportunity to support the Down Syndrome Family Network and The Dyslexia Association of Trinidad and Tobago.

Corporate Communications Manager of Sagicor, Marlene Chin, is inviting citizens to have fun, while contributing to two worthy charities by being part of the event.

Cathryn Kelshall of The Dyslexia Association, stated, “We’re pleased to be one of the chosen charities selected by Sagicor. Dyslexia affects many children and adults in the country. The more awareness we can bring to the cause will help in understanding of the specific methods for teaching dyslexics that are offered by the Association.” Lisa Ghany of the Down Syndrome Family Network thanked Sagicor for its support and noted that associations rely on long-term relationships like the one with Sagicor to support their growth and development.

A special feature of this year’s race is the Sub-20 category where elite runners will vie for the title of fastest person around the Savannah.

It is expected that several persons will complete the course in under 20 minutes.

Race participants can look forward to tassa, a rhythm section and other fun surprises along the Savannah lap. Participants will receive a medal, a t-shirt and a water bottle. Race registration is $70 and will be exclusively online at raceroster.

com and will close today.

As the meet came to a close on Tuesday evening, team TT improved on their 2016 fifth place finish to place fourth overall on the medal standings. Bahamas and Guadeloupe reversed their 2016 final ranking as Bahamas emerged the champion team with Guadeloupe second. Cayman Islands placed third.

Donahue, who won the 50-metre and 200m breaststroke, 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke, added the 100m breaststroke to her vault, winning the event in one minute, 16.45 seconds (1:16.45). Will-Insha Marie Jules-Marthe of Martinique earned silver (1:17.79), while Guadeloupe’s Farah Sheikhboudhou took bronze (1:17.92). Donahue continued to show her versatility as she was just behind Ali Jackson of Bahamas in the 50m freestyle as Jackson took gold in 26.97 to Donahue’s personal best 27.13. Jamaica’s Gabrianna Banks was third (27.35).

Jada Chatoor (TT ) added a second gold to her name as she won the 13-14 girls 400m freestyle in a personal best 4:34.41, ahead of Marie- Lorella Capolini of Guadeloupe (4:39.01) and Ria Plunkett of Cayman Islands (4:42.59). Chatoor also won gold in the 800m freestyle on opening night, and bronze in the 200m freestyle.

TT won both the 15-17 girls and boys 50m freestyle events, through victories from captains Amira Pilgrim and Jeron Thompson. Pilgrim won the girls race in a personal best 26.73 ahead of Elinah Phillip of the British Virgin Islands (26.77) and Madelyn Moore of Bermuda (26.97). Danielle Williams of TT was seventh in 27.81. Pilgrim took her individual medal tally to three as she also took bronze in the 50m butterfly in a national record, and silver in the 100m freestyle.

Thompson sneaked a victory from the outside lane in his 50m freestyle, winning in a personal best 23.61 ahead of Isaak Bastian of the Bahamas (23.76) and Bermuda’s Jesse Washington (23.91). Thompson copped three individual medals in total as he won gold in the 50m breaststroke and a silver in the 50m butterfly.

Zoe Anthony ended the 11-12 girls medal drought for TT , claiming bronze in the 100m breaststroke in a personal best 1:24.09.

The event was won by Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson of Bahamas in 1:20.52., with the silver going to Elan Daley of Bermuda in 1:22.30.

Arielle Dickson of TT was fifth in a personal best 1:24.64.

Nikoli Blackman earned his first individual medal in the 11-12 boys 400m freestyle in a personal best of 4:38.48. The event was won by Stephen Mulongo of Guadeloupe (4:36.55), with silver going to Nigel Forbes of Bahamas (4:36.93).

Jahmia Harley added more metal to her collection as she collected silver in the girls 13-14 200m backstroke in a personal best 2:28.25.

Danielle Titus of Bahamas was the victrix in 2:26.66, while Laureen Foumann of Guadeloupe took bronze (2:30.58). Harley also won gold in the 200m butterfly and a bronze in the 100m backstroke.

TT had its best relay night with four medals. The 11-12 boys 200m freestyle relay team of Kadon Williams, Blackman, Zarek Wilson and Riquelio Joseph were golden in 1:50.59, ahead of Jamaica (1:53.80) and Guadeloupe (1:53.81).

The 13-14 girls had to settle for bronze this time around as Donahue, Harley, Regan Allen and Chatoor combined to clock 1:53.72 behind Jamaica (1:50.77) and Martinique (1:53.48).

The 15-17 girls achieved their first relay medal of the meet, snatching silver behind Jamaica (1:49.07). Danielle Williams, Jada Chai, Racine Ross and Pilgrim together registered a time of 1:50.33, ahead of Team Cayman (1:51.29).

Kael Yorke, Justin Samlalsingh, Gabriel Bynoe and Thompson got Team TT ’s first 15-17 boys relay medal with bronze in the 200m relay in 1:38.89. Suriname won gold in 1:36.41, while Bahamas were second in 1:37.49. This was TT ’s highest points accumulation since 2013 when the team placed second. TT last won the CARIFTA Swimming Championships in 2010 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Webster and Jangoo helped the Red Force finish the 2016/2017 season with two victories, ending the season in fourth position on the six-team standings. The Red Force defeated Barbados Pride by 130 runs in the penultimate round, before closing the season with a victory by an innings and 17 runs over Leeward Islands Hurricanes. Webster and Jangoo both made their debuts in the penultimate round against the Pride, before playing against the Hurricanes to end the season.

Medium pacer Webster took two wickets against Barbados, before scoring his maiden first class century against Hurricanes.

Webster, who plays for Queen’s Park, cracked 109 off 116 balls including nine fours and five sixes.

Jangoo, a wicketkeeper batsman, scored 32 and 71 against Barbados before contributing 46 in the last round. The Merry Boys player also took three catches behind the stumps in his first two matches.

Webster said, “The first game I played I was a little nervous to be honest, playing against one of the best teams (Barbados). For the second game I performed pretty good. I got a good batting wicket and I made use of the opportunity.” Jangoo was also satisfied with his performances. “I could not ask for more, to be honest at senior level, getting three good scores.

The only thing is I think I missed out on a half century in this game (against the Leeward Islands). I also missed out on a century against Barbados in the first game, but to be honest we ended up winning the two games and that’s what I could ask for, so I am pretty pleased.” Webster and Jangoo both praised the senior players for their support during the match.

Webster said, “Once everybody put their ingredients together, everything worked out good in our favour. Everyone backed each other and encouraged everyone.

Even though it is a young team, it still had players with the experience around us helping us and guiding us along the way. It is just for us to take the advice and work with it.” Akeil Cooper also made his debut for the TT Red Force against the Barbados Pride.

Jangoo said, “We handled the pressure well because coming into those two matches I made my debut, Tion made his debut, Ewart (Nicholson) only played one game before this, also Akeil Cooper (is inexperienced). All of us handled the pressure pretty well. That has to go down to management and the senior players as well, because they kept us calm all the time and they kept talking to us and at the end of the day we just went out there and backed our ability.”

Further, each parrot has a signature contact call that is used to identify the particular individual .

Yes, parrots have their own “names.” The call may be given when they have been separated and cannot see each other, or when they have been separated for some time and then come back into contact such as when the male returns with food for his mate during the incubation period. This definitely comes in handy when you are trying to locate your mate who looks like everyone else. So how exactly do parrots get their birth names? Are young parrots born knowing their “names” or do mom and dad parrots teach them their “names”? The adorable fit-inyour- pocket greenrumped parrotlet (Forpus passerinus) provided much-needed clarity on this question. Native to Trinidad but introduced to Tobago they are small green stocky parrots with short tails and is the only Forpus species with a green rump in both males and females. Males can be distinguished from females by their blue secondary wing feathers. Green-rumped parrotlets congregate in open or semi-open areas to feed on seeds on the ground or standing grasses. They live in open-forests, scrublands and even urban areas where they nest in empty cavities, termite nests and hollow pipes or utility poles .

To find out how parrots get their “names” researchers rigged artificial nests made out of PVC with audio-visual cameras. Soon after laying, the eggs from nine pairs of nesting green-rumped parrotlets were swapped (foster nestlings). Eight pairs were allowed to remain with their own eggs (biological nestlings). The distances among the pairs were wide enough for them not to hear each other .

After listening to countless hours of “cheet-it…cheet-it or chee-sup…chee-sup” from all the nests they found that parents had signature contact calls that were more similar to each other than other parent pairs. Parents began vocalising before the nestlings started calling. Soon after, the nestlings became familiar with their parents’ calls and would respond by opening their eyes or bobbing their heads. Interestingly this indicates that all nestlings, biological or foster, adopted contact calls vocalised to them by their parents during the first weeks of their lives and not the other way around. Nestling siblings had stronger similarities among their signature contact call structures than with their parents .

Altogether these findings indicate that nestling parrots are given “names” by their parents and they learn their “names” through social interaction rather than biological inheritance .

It takes about a month for them to learn and properly make their signature contact calls .

By this time they are ready to leave the nest .

Vocal recognition is probably important for restricting parental care to one’s own after parrot families begin moving to communal foraging and roosting sites .

Now consider how we use names. Instead of just saying “I’m Tracey” or “I’m Akilah” we can say “Hi, Akilah. Want to have breakfast?” Besides learning their own “names” parrots also learn the “names” of their brothers, sisters and parents and use them in conversation with each other as in “Cheet-cheet-it, is that you?” The parrot grabs the attention of another parrot when it imitates that parrot’s “name” and this allows for more exchanges of information .

It is unknown if parrots can identify family members after years of separation or if they truly have a concept of individuality. However, we do know that the annoying chattering in the trees is not all noise .

Their chatter is possibly rich with plans for nest renovations, disagreements over where to roost, predator whereabouts and romance .

For more information on our natural environment, you can contact

People turned out in their numbers to take part in the 45th annual Easter Monday celebrations at the Mt Pleasant Recreation Ground, some to compete in the races, others to support. Photographer Vindra Gopaul was present at the event and and captured these images.

An initiative of the Agriculture Ministry, bptt and CARIRI, the programme was divided into three workshops, during which participants were taught to make sauces, candied fruits and pickled vegetables.

The certificate presentation ceremony was held on April 7, at the BP Mayaro Resource Center, Mayaro, and Senator Rambharat asked the young people to share their most outstanding learning experience.

“I am extremely proud of you and I look forward to purchasing your processed products soon.” The Minister noted that CARIRI “is a very reputable organisation in Trinidad and Tobago in terms of hygiene, product testing; and they have done a lot of excellent work over the years so I was happy to have CARIRI offer their services.” Expressing public appreciation to the project’s main sponsor bptt, the Minister said he was not surprised that the energy company had partnered on a project such as this, which has the potential to increase revenues for households in rural communities.

Workshop training was provided with the intention of enhancing entrepreneurs’ awareness and application of agro-processing principles.

An amalgamation of 60 participants spent one day for each of the three courses understanding the theoretical and practical aspects of mastering each product line. The workshops were the precursor for entrants into CARIRI’s Business Hatchery Programme. Each workshop also featured a segment on good manufacturing practices.

Topics covered included introduction to local food regulations; developing a cleaning and sanitation programme; pest management and control strategies; proper storage; facility and equipment design considerations; and personal hygiene practices.

The objective of YEAP is to foster the development of entrepreneurship among the young people of the Rio Claro/Mayaro area, initially, through carefully planned interventions designed to create a more entrepreneurial- driven approach to development of the agri-food sector. The programme represents a cross-collaboration effort between CARIRI’s Business Hatchery Programme and its Biotechnology Unit, which is aimed at creating innovative, commercially viable startups that will improve the efficiency and sustainability of the agri-business sector in Trinidad and Tobago

During the 18th and 19th century when the cocoa crop was the chief produce, the bench trails were built to connect the various communities and plantations.

Along the route the highest elevation is 2225 feet or 678 metres and is located on top the hill at the passageway between Brasso Seco/Paria to the north and Lalaja to the south.

Wildlife is usually camouflaged but while walking through the valleys at an altitude of 200-600 metres the call of the bearded bellbird “tonk –tonk tonk” can be heard every few seconds. The a rasping “cheeow calla” call of the white– bearded manakin, usually perched on the forest floor, can also be heard. Overlooking Lalaja and Brasso Seco, the channel-billed toucan is sometimes seen high up in the treetops attracted to the date palms. They make a loud “ki-aarh” sound and pluck stone fruits with a hard shell. At Paria Beach one maybe lucky to see the first turtle hatchlings emerging from the sand. Unfortunately, the vultures are always present to massacre the hatchlings and even attack snakes.

On Saturday Fitness Walkers explore The Valleys of the Northern Range. This expedition is recommended for advanced hikers or trained athletic persons experienced in walking long distances.

Assembly: 6 am at Eric Williams Medical Complex, Mt Hope Rating: 8 – challenging and recommended for experienced hikers and training athletic persons.

Estimated hiking time: Six to eight hours For more info visit www.islandhikers.

com