Baseball Clinic MLB-FCB
Havana's Latinoamericano became an academy on Wednesday to teach and learn in a workshop organized by the United States Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Cuban Baseball Federation.
Some 150 ball players under 12 years of age from Havana took over the stadium to share with actives players from the Major League Baseball and great Cuban baseball figures.
The children took turns in the different areas where expert athletes conducted the work on home plate, infielders, outfielders and pitching to provide the right tools to improve the children's skills.
The group of instructors included MLB players Dominican Nelson Cruz and Cubans José Dariel Abreu, Yasiel Puig, Alexei Ramírez and Brayan Peña as well as Cuban veterans Pedro Medina, Orestes Kindelán, Rey Vicente Anglada, Omar Ajete and Lourdes Gourriel.
The clinic initiative will also take place today at Matanzas' Victoria de Girón stadium as part of the program of a visit that began on Wednesday with a press conference at Hotel Nacional in Havana.
Judo Grand Prix Havana 2015
World judo powers Russia, France and Brazil have already confirmed their participation in the Judo Grand Prix from January 22nd to the 24th in Havana.
The national commission has received information on 28 countries interested in the event. Winners of 14 divisions will earn 300 points for the world ranking qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Russia with 27 people, mainly athletes, has the largest representation so far for an event whose organizers expect to host some 500 contestants from 50 nations before the end of official registrations 20 days before the beginning of the tournament.
France will participate with 26 people and Brazil with 15, with part of the main figures, according to experts opinion. Azerbaijan and the United States announced 26, while Uzbekistan included 23, Hungary 18 and Canada will have 12 participants.
Host Cuba will include up to four athletes in each division as in 2014 and will depend on important figures as world and Olympic medalist Idalys Ortiz +78kg and Asley González (90kg), the best ranked among the five Cuban judokas placed in the qualifying zone for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016. The other three are Dayaris Mestre (48kg), José Armenteros (100kg) and Alex García (over100kg).
ST LUCIA WELCOMES 194 ATLANTIC RALLY VESSELS
St. Lucia has received the 194 vessels from 30 countries that took part in the 30th anniversary edition of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, or ARC, which started in mid-November from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
The more than 1,200 crew members were accompanied by their families and friends as the 2,700 nautical-mile trans-oceanic crossing came to an end, the government said Wednesday in a statement.
A formal closing ceremony will take place Saturday in Gros Islet, where participants will receive prizes and trophies.
In January 2016, the St. Lucia Tourist Board will again team up with World Cruising Club and the IGY Rodney Bay Marina in staging World ARC, an 18-month circumnavigation voyage that will conclude in St. Lucia in April 2017.
