Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sport

A number of the leading Caribbean sports stars, past and present, will be in the spotlight next Friday, November 7, at the inaugural Caribbean Awards Sports Icons (CASI) which will be held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

The gala event, brainchild of Jamaican-born, London-based Al Hamilton, will honour outstanding sports stars from the region.

At a press briefing held at the Jamaica Pegasus yesterday Hamilton, the founder of the now world famous Commonwealth Sports Awards held annually in London, said the whole idea of this new award is to look at the contribution that sports persons have made within the region at the highest level.

Awards lacking

"It dawned on me, when I researched the situation, that there were no awards of this kind in the Caribbean. So, I felt that this was something I would like to do before I depart this earth," Hamilton said. "We had a nomination committee which looked at people since 1948. The criteria for selection was that you must have performed at the highest level over the past 60 years."

Hamilton added that they also wanted to ensure that the legacy of the athletes is recognised when they are alive rather than when they are gone.

Five leading regional sports will be highlighted - athletics (male and female), boxing, cricket, football and netball. Top regional administrators will also be honoured. The nominees for each sport are:

Athletics: Female - Deon Hemmings, Merlene Ottey, Veronica Campbell-Brown (Jamaica) Chandra Sturrup and Debbie Ferguson (Bahamas); Male - Don Quarrie and Bert Cameron (Jamaica); Hasely Crawford (Trinidad and Tobago), Alberto Juantoreno (Cuba), Avard Moncur (Bahamas).

Football: Theodore Whitmore, Lindy Delapenha and Robbie Earle (Jamaica); Clyde Best (Bermuda), Dwight Yorke (Trinidad and Tobago).

Boxing: Mike McCallum (Jamaica), Teofilo Stevenson (Cuba), Leslie Stewart and Claude Noel (Trinidad and Tobago); Elisha Obed (Bahamas), Andrew Lewis (Guyana).

Cricket: Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh (Jamaica); Sir Vivian Richards (Antigua and Barbuda), Brian Lara (Trinidad and Tobago), Sir Garfield Sobers (Barbados), Clive Lloyd (Guyana).

Netball: Janet Johnson and Patricia McDonald (Jamaica); Jennifer Frank (Trinidad and Tobago).

Administrators/coaches: Molly Rhone, Mike Fennell, Teddy McCook (Jamaica); Jack Warner (Trinidad and Tobago) and Gloria Ballentine (Barbados).

Selection committee

On the night of the event there will also be a special spotlight on the Beijing Olympics. The nominees in this section will not be known until next Friday.

The winners in each sport will be selected by a committee chaired by former Gleaner sports editor and top Caribbean cricket writer, Tony Becca.

Major sponsor for the event is local telecommunication giant Digicel, with associate sponsorship being provided by Virgin Atlantic Airline, Wray and Nephew, Lascelles, Euro Star Motors and The Jamaica Pegasus hotel.