Seven bouts are on the card, as the boxers continue their preparations for upcoming regional and international tournaments. The bouts are being filmed for regional and international markets. Admission is only $30.

Some of the tournaments local boxers are hoping to compete in are the Caribbean School Boys/Girls and Junior Tournament in Georgetown, Guyana, which will be held from April 29 to 30, while the tentative dates for the Elite Continental Championships in Honduras are from June 1 to July 15.

Later on this year, the Youth Commonwealth Games will be held in Nassau, Bahamas from July 19 to 23, while the World Championships in Hamburg, Germany will be held from August 25 to September 3.

FIGHT CARD:
Tyrique Hosein (Biomel Boxing Gym) vs Kevin Ramdeo (Cosmic Boxing Club)
Blessing Waldropt (Biomel Boxing Gym) vs Kevin Persadie (YTC Conquerors)
Akiel Outram (Biomel Boxing Gym) vs Jesse Beckles (Cosmic Boxing Club)
Akiel Thomas (SEPOS) vs Kyleron Ruiz (Potential Boxing Gym)
Mike Inniss (Biomel Boxing Gym) vs Anthony Ravello (YTC Conquerors)
Jamal Hinds (TT BA) vs Sherkeem Hernandez (YTC Conquerors)
Levi Richardson (YTC Conquerors) vs Denzil Massey (Biomel Boxing Gym)

Phillip and De Silva have 65 caps between them with the Morvant/ Caledonia United custodian playing 59 games and the Central FC midfielder playing six games for the national team. Jones, the younger brother of Seattle Sounders player Joevin Jones, has five international caps and is back home from a recent trial with MLS club Minnesota United Phillip was ruled out of the recent Caribbean Cup qualifiers due to injury but is back to full fitness and has been involved in the current sessions alongside fellow goalkeepers Jan Michael Williams, Glenroy Samuel, Adrian Foncette, Andre Marchan and TT Under 20 Montell Joseph who joined the training yesterday along with U-20 defender Taryk Sampson. “Things are going great thus far. Dennis is getting familiar with us since taking over, trying to instil and implement his style and the way he wants us to play,” Phillip told TT FA Media yesterday.

“For some of us as senior players, we understood Dennis as a player when we played with him so it’s for us to now transfer what we learned from Dennis to the younger players and give him that respect now as a coach as we look ahead to March 24th and 28th.” Phillip spoke about the team getting the Carnival Monday and Tuesday off before resuming training on Ash Wednesday morning at Larry Gomes Stadium.

“I think it was not a bad idea.

We are professionals so we definitely know what needed to be done. It was not a big issue. It actually had guys who came out to training with Dennis over the two days,” he added.

“Now we have to focus on building the team spirit and focusing on the games coming up.” De Silva stated: “So far the training sessions have been fantastic.

The intensity has been really good every day and it’s been good getting to know some of the new faces around the team and working under Dennis. Everything we do right now has been geared towards the two upcoming games. Coach Dennis has made it clear that the only thing that should be on our minds right now is that Panama game and then Mexico to follow.” Ahead of the friendly away to Suriname on March 10, the former National U-17 and U-20 midfielder added: “It is going to be crucial for him to have an idea of what players he sees playing in what positions or what he thinks certain players can bring to the game and how he wants to play.

I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for the local players to show themselves and maybe show they deserve a chance or not.”

Billed as a team-building exercise, the event is expected to begin at 5 pm and features a historical overview of the school and contributions by past students from specific year groupings.

It is hoped that by the end of the reception, those in attendance would form an umbrella association mainly to absorb the various alumni groups that have developed over the years. Oliver Roopsingh, one of the driving forces behind the event, said the school’s strength has always been its reputation as a family institution.

“We (students) knew everybody. It was a family and that was good,” said Roopsingh, who entered the school in 1964. “In those days, the population was small. But, today, a lot of children at the school do not really know each other.” Saying that discipline also was at an optimum, Roopsingh noted that the school, during its early years, also offered a range of extra-curricular activities, including chess, photography and naturalist clubs.

“We had lots of sports and drama. We also had an active debating team and we used to come up against Queen’s Royal College and cut their tails,” he joked. He said all of the alumni groups needed to become one unit.

Nichelle Farrell- Windsor, who has been a prominent member of one of the alumni bodies, agreed. She said for too long, groups of students have been operating in an individualistic fashion.

“There is need for a more unified approach.

With this cocktail event, we are hoping to reconnect in a more meaningful way so as to bring structure and formalise the alumni officially,” Farrell-Windsor told Newsday.

“This, of course, will enable us to do more as an organisation which, in turn, will help our school and bring some of the positive feelings we left with to the present school population.

Our goal is to create a database and to register officially the alumni to move forward.” Farrell-Windsor acknowledged that other groups also have been attempting to establish a fully-operational alumni association.

“In 2013, I came together with Hermoine James, Jamila Draper, Rondon Thomas, Lue-Ann Henry, Usha Garib and Nicholin Brathwaite,” she said.

“We created a group on Facebook for all years which to date is the largest group thus far of 1,228 past students.” Farrell-Windsor added: “We have two events, one of which was more of a success that the other. One was a sport and family day at the school and the other a backyard Dutch party.

“We also created a tag line, Liming with a Purpose, and sold polos to help us achieve our events and database goals.

Farrell-Windsor said the group also collaborated with another past student, Beverly Baptiste, on Unite, an all-inclusive Carnival party which was held in 2014.

With the motto, A Pleasant Seat of Sweet Learning, North Eastern College is widely regarded as the mecca of education in east Trinidad.

Since opening its doors in 1961, the seven-year institution, known for its impressive folk choir, has produced students who have distinguished themselves in various fields, both locally and internationally.

These include Energy Minister Franklin Khan, late Brig General Roland Maunday, late Assistant Commissioner of Police Winston Cooper and retired school teacher Maura Cooseelal, the school’s first head prefect.

During the 1980’s, North Eastern College grew in prominence when student Delia De Silva led the school to an overwhelming win against Providence Girls in the first ever National Secondary Girls’ Football Tournament.

Hermoine James who attended the school in the mid-1980s recalled the quirky habits of some of the teachers.

James said the school, now led by principal Juslyn Ramlal, prepared her for life. Lamenting the violence and indiscipline that is prevalent in many schools, James added: “I see kids today and it makes me want to let them know it’s not about fighting or misbehaving. There were times that we had fun with football, drama club, music and even calypso competitions during Carnival. They don’t do those things anymore and I think we want them to know that and experience it as well.” James said the school gatherings she attended over the years were very enjoyable. “Just meeting old friends and reconnecting was quite enjoyable,” she said.

The play did not run on March 2 and 3 as was previously advertised.

Tickets purchased for the cancelled shows can be refunded or exchanged at the Little Carib Theatre Box Office, White and Robert Streets, Woodbrook, between noon and 6 pm daily.

In a media release, the Lordstreet Theatre Company said it, “sincerely apologises for this inconvenience and thanks the public, patrons and supporters for their understanding.” For more info: www.carnivalmedea. wordpress.com, find them on Facebook at Carnival Medea – a bacchanal.

Written by the late Freddie Kissoon, award-winning founder of the company 60 years ago, one of the longest running repertory theatre companies in TT which has performed abroad.

The one-hour long play is based on the Crucifixion of Jesus Chris and is directed by Pamela Allsop.

Under the guidance of Canadian-Jamaican film professional, Annmarie Morais, ten to 15 participants will be given the opportunity to develop the craft of screenwriting to international standards.

Bruce Paddington, founder and festival director of the ttff said in a media release: “The overall aim of the workshop is to provide support in an area that has been identified by local film-makers, and to strengthen the capacity of Caribbean films to hold their own in an international market.” Also commenting on the project, Canadian High Commissioner Carla Hogan Rufelds said: “As an exponent of social and economic development through culture and knowledge exchange, Canada has a long history of supporting initiatives that encourage closer people-to-people ties. This training workshop provides another opportunity to help bring Canada and Trinidad and Tobago closer together, and to support the development of high quality screenplays that explore a variety of issues impacting Caribbean and world communities.” While there is no fee for participation, film-makers must submit their CV to submit@ttfilmfestival. com no later than March 13. Selected participants will be notified within three days of the close of submissions.

Most teachers are trying their best, but unfortunately they may lack the requisite skills to deal with the language problems in their classes.

This may be due to the training they have received, to the teacher trainers they were exposed to, or to the strategies they employ in their teaching.

Firstly, many teachers who have taken English at the university level may have been exposed largely to literatures in English, and not to language courses or the teaching of English. They are therefore not quite equipped to deal with the severe language problems, emanating not only from our bilingual situation but from our lack of reading.

Secondly, many teacher trainers might be under the impression that student-teachers who have passed English at the Caribbean Examinations Council and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations levels have no need for any further grounding in the mechanics of the language.

But my own observation of student- teachers has revealed that they have serious problems with the basics of the language, eg punctuation — use of full stops, commas, capitals, and apostrophes.

Other grammar problems such as subject-verb agreement, modifiers, and sentence fragments are quite common throughout the system.

Finally, we may need to examine the strategies employed by teachers in the teaching of English.

Many teachers teach students the way they themselves were taught — through the textbook.

Language studies have therefore been removed from everyday communicative experience and from the notion that we need language in order to survive.

It is only when teachers see language as the tool we use in understanding and expressing ourselves that it will become meaningful to them and their students.

Dr Patrick Quan Kep via email

That is inaccurate and I have written several letters to the press over the years to correct it. Despite this, journalists who should know better repeat it over and over again.

The title change came in 1976 not 1978. Chalkdust was the first Calypso Monarch and successfully defended the title in 1977.

The reason for the name change in 1976 was simply because Singing Francine almost won the competition in 1975 with just one point separating herself and Kitchener, the eventual winner.

Singing Francine, therefore, became the first female to come closest to winning the title Calypso King. In this way she broke her own record having placed third in 1972 and 1973.

Francine went on to win the coveted Calypso King of the World title in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, in April 1975. It was a competition that brought together the finest bards in the Caribbean.

Sparrow won this title on several occasions and so began his adoption of the said title as part of his persona.

Given Francine’s achievement in 1975, the CDC decided to change the name Calypso King in 1976. Simple reference to the newspapers in our archives would verify all this.

Let us give credit where credit is due. Saying that another female pioneer in the calypso arena was responsible for the change would not take away from Calypso Rose’s contribution in any way.

Both women stand as icons in the calypso arena. They have different styles and vocal ranges but both have made sterling contributions in pioneering the female voice in the calypso arena.

The narrative has gone as far as being repeated in the citation given by the University of the West Indies when it conferred an honorary doctorate on Calypso Rose two years ago.

Can you imagine an inaccurate narrative being repeated at the highly respected bastion of research in the region? It just goes to show the power of repetition even when what is being repeated is flawed.

It is high time that the media as well as the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation itself set the record straight once and for all so that this inaccuracy will not find its way into the annals of our calypso history.

Miguel Browne Woodbrook, PoS

There were controversies from the varying bodies that managed the events but that is Carnival.

My concern is the so-called picong that is customary in calypso and which has been with us throughout the years. With the birth of cyberspace, everything is now seen and heard throughout the world.

Picong has outlived its purpose and has become a means of devaluating one’s pocket and degrading our artistes to the world.

Some of the remarks made between artistes is no longer jovial but to a few. They however can do devastating damage to artistes in this cyberspace. So Mr Kaisonian, behave in cyberspace.

Athelston Clinton Arima

In terms of message she did not disappoint, for the issue of how language is used to make people of African descent develop a negative mindset about themselves, as in her classic example of the stereotype of “black and ugly,” is as real, relevant and pervasive as any, and would have been telling in its impact on an audience which, if not publicly, would have been quietly nodding their heads in endorsement.

In terms of her style of rendition, it seemed less subtle and more direct due no doubt to the urgency of the message which needed to be told in a language little cluttered by ambiguity and subtlety lest the message be lost and not hit home directly.

And hit home it must have, reinforced by her unmistakable energy and passion of which the flinging off of her wig was ample demonstration, and her finale with the option of black being truly beautiful.

For me the theme could have broadened into using other stereotypes such as the back bird as an evil omen as against the white dove as a symbol of beauty and peace, and Black Friday equally stereotyped as a day of misgivings as against Good Friday as a day of redemption, with each being explored in a stanza to reinforce the main theme of “back and ugly,” and asking the audience in the final stanza to reflect on the original colour of a refined diamond or refined oil (black), as her final retort to the stereotype of “black and ugly” with the tenet, “black is beautiful.” But Lyons could have only done so much in the limited space available.

Still it was a moment to remember, and calypso in this song had achieved one of its finest moments.

At the other end many may commend Chalkdust for his “originality” in conveying his message about the negative of child marriages but for me the calypso seemed flawed in terms of message and style.

As to the first, the central mathematical impossibility of 75 not being able to “go into”14 with its overt sexual overtone seemed an oversimplification of a complex age-old cultural practice to merely its physical/ sexual component.

What of child marriage between children or child marriages entered into for economic considerations, some bordering on sheer survival? Granted this calypso was not a thesis and could not have been as comprehensive, is it not severely myopic in pandering merely to the sexual appetite, albeit in the spirit of Carnival? In terms of rendition, what seemed intended to be sexual innuendo, 75 not being able to “go into” 14, turned out to be much less so in its explicitness, reducing its subtlety, exacerbated further by references to “margarine” and “oil” with their obvious sexual connotations.

This seems in sharp contrast to Sparrow’s highly sexually suggestive calypso Congo Man and “Ah never eat a white meat yet,” which in essence is a sexual pursuit linguistically, but beautifully camouflaged by the authentic metaphor of the Congo Man “cooking his meat” for final consumption/consummation.

At the end of Chalkie’s calypso I got a distinct sense of an explicit conversation on the block in which the participants are salivating over the impossibility of a 75-year-old attempting to “go into” a 14-year-old, “margarine”, “oil” and all, and that was a turn-off.

But maybe the judges liked it so.

Dr Errol Benjamin Chalkie’s former university colleague