Yardie Sports stages fourth Women in Sports Conference

The fourth annual Yardie Sports Women in Sports Conference will be held at Hotel Four Seasons today starting at 10 a.m., under the theme: 'Women Breaking Through Barriers'.

The conference highlights some of the performances of Jamaica's outstanding women in sports since the inaugural conference in 2020. These include individuals on the field of play, administration and several other areas.

Dwayne Richards, CEO of Yardie Sports, expects an explosive summer of sporting action that Jamaica will be part of and is backing the various teams to be successful.

"This year especially is anticipated to be a massive year in sport for women, as this summer, Jamaica will be making back-to-back appearances at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, challenging for top honours at the Netball World Cup in South Africa, as well as competing at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where we are once again expected to dominate in the sprints. All of this will be happening in the space of five weeks.

"We feel the need to give focus to our women in sport as they climb to higher heights and achieve even greater levels of success on their way to inspiring the next generation of Jamaica's female superstars in sport."

Shanieka Ricketts, last year's Commonwealth Games triple jump gold medallist and World Championships silver medallist; Karen Anderson, president of Jamaica Squash Association; and Tricia Robinson, president of Netball Jamaica, will be among the presenters at the conference.

"We think that we have a stellar line-up of women to present at this year's conference, and are certain that those who attend in person and those who watch online on our various platforms, including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, will be thoroughly entertained," Richards said.

Women who have been honoured include outstanding contributors to netball, Molly Rhone, Marva Bernard and Connie Francis, Alia Atkinson from swimming, Vilma Charlton from athletics and Sylvia Grant from Paralympics.

This year Lorna Bell of Special Olympics Jamaica and Carol Cuffley of swimming and athletics are the honourees.

In addition to the individual speakers, there will also be a panel discussion featuring some of the top junior athletes from various sports, including swimming, netball, football and track and field.

The sponsors of the conference are Sports Development Foundation, Excelsior Biscuit Company, Cumax Wealth Management, Ensure Max Protein, Recycling Partners of Jamaica, Tankweld Metals, Special Kreations, CityFusion Limited and WATA.