FEI Mourns Lloyd Landkamer Of The USA, (1955-2015)

Lloyd Landkamer (USA), FEI Dressage Steward and discipline manager for Dressage and Para-Equestrian Dressage at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2010 in Kentucky (USA), has died at the age of 60. He passed away peacefully at his home, Brandywine Farm in Minnesota on 25 September, after a long and courageous battle against cancer.

Landkamer, who started his career as a show secretary before going on to become a show manager and sport horse breeder, became an FEI 2* Dressage Steward at the beginning of 2009 and was promoted to 3* level in 2012.

He was Event Director at the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC), the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Festival of Champions, and USEF Young Horse Championships, as well as working as a volunteer at numerous events.

He was a member of the USEF Dressage Committee, and member of the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Executive Board, and was named USDF Volunteer of the Year in 2002. As a USEF and FEI official, he served as a USEF Steward, USEF Technical Delegate and FEI Chief Dressage Steward.

Most recently Landkamer was show manager for the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington (USA). He was the recipient of the USDF Show Secretary of the Year, Manager of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year. At the 2015 NAJYRC, Landkamer was awarded the Howard B. Simpson High Five Trophy, awarded annually to the volunteer who best embodies Simpson’s spirit of volunteering.

Landkamer became an FEI Steward for the Dressage competitions at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington a decade ago and then became show manager when the schedule was expanded into the 12-week Global Dressage Festival, including seven international events.

Lloyd Landkamer

“Lloyd was for many years a successful organiser and manager of international Dressage events in the USA”, Chair of the FEI Dressage Committee Frank Kemperman said. “His knowledge and enthusiasm was very much appreciated by all riders, trainers, owners, media and fans. For me as FEI Dressage Committee Chair and organiser myself it was always good to travel to an event where Lloyd was running the Dressage. The Lloyd stamp was a guarantee that the show would run smoothly without any problems. We will miss him.”

In addition to his extensive service to the sport, Landkamer bred multiple nationally-ranked horses at of Brandywine Farm, including several that went on to become USDF Horse of the Year award winners.

The FEI expresses its sincere condolences to Lloyd Landkamer’s family, his many friends, the United States Equestrian Federation and the global equestrian community.

Volleyball: African Dream Becomes A Reality At Tanga School Centre

Thirty students from different parts of Tanzania aged between 12 and 14 years with a height above 170 cm started the real process of Africa Dream Project in the country.

Tanzania Volleyball Association President Agustine Agapa said in his speech at the project implementation, “TAVA on the road to success. In four to five years Tanzania will Participate in the International Competition and win. It is better late than never.”

A collective photo of all the attendants at the opening ceremony

The students are ready to start the training at Tanga School. The Launching ceremony was held on September 19, 2015. The Tanga region education officer and other government officials were among many stake holders who attended the event.

The Media was interested to cover the event for three days as it was a main topic in the local media. This is the right approach as many people followed up the events and know more about volleyball.

“We are very thankful to CAVB and FIVB for the support rendered to us.” TAVA President Concluded his speech.

CAVB web site http://www.cavb.org

Austria Claims First Ever European Men’s Team Title

Austria has became the Men’s European Team Champions for the very first time today at the Liebherr 2015 ITTF-European Table Tennis Championships in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Austria created history by defeating Germany, the heavy favorites for gold, 3-2 in one of the most dramatic and exciting table tennis final of all time.

Austria’s number one Robert GARDOS got the underdogs off to a perfect start, coming back from 0-2 down to defeat Germany’s Patrick BAUM 3-2 in the opening match.

Austria were one point from going to a 2-0 lead when Stefan FEGERL surrendered a match point to lose 3-2 against world number five Dimitrij OVTCHAROV in an epic match that went for 1 hour and 14 minutes.

Daniel HABESOHN 3-2 win over Patrick FRANZISKA put Austria 2-1 up, only for OVTCHAROV to beat GARDOS to tie the match 2-2 and send it into a decider.

FEGERL did not make the same mistake he did against OVTCHAROV again and hammered BAUM to conclude matters and start the emotional celebrations from the Austrian team in front of the capacity crowd.

“It feels amazing for us to win the title over Germany! We were ready for the long match. If you want to beat Germany you have to be prepared to play the marathon. It stands the same for my first match. I never gave up. I kept fighting,” explained GARDOS.

“This time it was easer then in previous matches. Germany was under greater pressure. This time I played relaxed,” said FEGERL.

Earlier in the day, Germany won their third European Women’s Team title in a row after defeating a spirited Romanian team 3-0 in the final.

Germany got off to a flying start with world number 11 HAN Ying easily dispatching off Bernadette SZOCS 3-0 to gain all the momentum. Germany did not look back as SHAN Xiaona beat Romania’s number one player Elizabeta SAMARA 3-0, andPetrissa SOLJA fought off some last minute nerves to defeat Daniela MONTEIRO-DODEAN 3-2 to clinch the gold.

Austria celebrates their team victory at the ITTF-European Championships.

After winning the deciding match, SOLJA stated: “I already saw myself with the gold medal after the second game, and suddenly I could not play anymore as I got extremely nervous. Everything that I tried failed. It was only in the fifth game when I recovered.”

“Now, I am even happier as I won my team the gold medal with the 3:2 victory against DODEAN, and we are the champions!” explained SOLJA.

The Liebherr 2015 ITTF-Europe Table Tennis Championships continues tomorrow, with four titles (men’s & women’s singles & doubles) still up for grabs before the event finishes on 4 October 2015.

Snooker Returns To Preston’s Guild Hall

Many of snooker’s most famous names will return to the Guild Hall in Preston in January for the World Seniors Championship.

The iconic Lancashire venue, which has hosted major tournaments including the UK Championship, has again been selected to host a World Snooker Tour event.

The Sky Sports-televised World Seniors Championship will run on the weekend of January 30-31 and will be open to players aged 40 and over by the end of the current season.

Several former World Champions and former winners of the Seniors event will be invited to make up the 16-man field. The remaining spots will be available in a qualifying tournament.

Mark Williams is the current champion having taken the title on his debut in the event last year, while other winners in recent years include Steve Davis and Jimmy White.

A spokesman for World Snooker said: “We are thrilled to return to the Guild Hall for the World Seniors Championship. It’s a venue synonymous with snooker as so many of the great names have walked the floors of the arena over the years.

Current champion Mark Williams

“We know how passionate the people of Preston and Lancashire are about snooker so we are sure they will turn out in force to support this event. It’s a chance to see so many favourites of the sport in action while enjoying a relaxed atmosphere. We have staged this tournament every year since 2010 and it’s always a lot of fun for the fans and players.”

Richard Simkin, Head of Operations at Preston Guild Hall Ltd, added: “It is absolutely fantastic for us to have top snooker stars back at the venue and hopefully this event will stay for many years to come.”

Ticket details will be announced shortly.

Pinnick: We Are Marching Towards Our Goal, Steadily

There is still a lot of work on the road, but the present NFF administration believes it is working assiduously towards the set vision of building a sustainable football culture for Nigeria.

At its inception at the end of September 2014, the Board led by Amaju Melvin Pinnick had unveiled a vision of building a sustainable football culture for the country, founded on strategies of capacity building and a virile youth development program.

On Wednesday, in a statement to mark the one year of the administration and to look forward to the next one year, Pinnick gave the Board a pat on the back, and stated that the unity within the group and general body language assure him that everyone is ready for the enormous work ahead, as well as foreseeable and unforeseen challenges.

“As you rightly note, there is a lot of work ahead. I am not happy with the decline of the Super Falcons and we are putting heads together for an all–encompassing solution to women’s football, not just the Falcons. But apart from that, I believe we have done well in pursuing our vision.

“Our capacity –building programs have had immediate impact in the League, which everyone is now talking about, and only on Tuesday, we did public presentation of our youth development policy.”

NFF President Amaju Pinnick Addressing the Falcons before departure for Equatorial Guinea

Pinnick is delighted by the triumphs of the Falcons and the U-20 boys (at the 2014 African Women Championship and 2015 African Youth Championship), continued progress of the U-23 team in the race to 2016 Olympics and the qualification of the Golden Eaglets for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. But he insisted that the focus has not only been on the field of play.

“We have been busy putting blocks in place for the building of a structure. Structure is important because this is what will outlive everyone. Once you have a structure, everything becomes almost automatic. Only monitoring and diligence will be required.

“The other big challenge is funding, and that is why we have been all over seeking the support of corporate organizations to buy into our programs.”

Pinnick believes that within the next one year, the work on building of a structure will be greatly advanced.

Super Eagles during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers Nigeria Training on Sep,1st, 2015 at National Stadium, Abuja
© Kabiru Abubakar/Backpagepix

“On the field of play, we will give all necessary support to the Super Eagles’ crew to qualify the team for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and start strongly in the race to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. We will give support to the home-based professionals to win the African Nations Championship.

“Also, we are determined that the U-23 boys qualify for and do the nation proud at the Olympics, while we entrench our development plan for women’s football and pursue doggedly our youth development program. Not forgetting the defence of the U-17 World Cup, which the Eaglets are set for next month.”

Lagos State, Zenith Bank, Others Back Nff’s Youth Program

Solid endorsements came from the Lagos State Government, Zenith Bank PLC and several other corporate organizations as the Nigeria Football Federation unveiled its youth football development program in Lagos on Tuesday.

At a very impressive ceremony in Victoria Island, Lagos, NFF 1st Vice President, Barr. Seyi Akinwunmi, who is also Chairman of the NFF Youth Football Development Committee, made a public presentation of an ambitious plan that is targeted at steering Nigeria to glory at the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals.

Planked on prioritizing the welfare of youth footballers, partnering with schools to identify genuine talents and nurture them, setting code of conduct for coaches, players and officials involved in the program, the plan also will involve issuing guidelines for operations of football academies, an identification scheme that will eradicate age cheating through monitoring, and creating and widening football platform to continuously identify talented players from age grade League and school competitions.

Mr Ayo Agbensanwa, DG Lagos States Sports Commission

Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Mr. Ayo Agbesanwa hailed the plan, saying that the Lagos State Government will key into the vision as it tallies with the administration’s objective of getting the youth off the streets and productively engaged. He called the plan a worthy ‘succession plan.’

Chief economist of Zenith Bank PLC, Mr. Marcel Okeke, who represented the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Amangbo, said the plan is in sync with the bank’s youth empowerment program, and that his organization will give its full support to NFF’s programs because it is enamoured by the Board’s demonstrated virtues of transparency, accountability, integrity and professionalism. He called the plan “a new vista in football development.”

NFF 2nd Vice – President And Chairman LMC, Mallam Shehu Dikko

Akinwunmi was supported at the event by NFF 2nd Vice President/LMC chairman Shehu Dikko, who represented NFF President Amaju Pinnick, NFF Board members Emeka Inyama, Ahmad Kawu and Sharif Inuwa, NFF Deputy General Secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme (who stood in for the General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi). There were also members of the NFF Youth Football Development Committee.

Nigerian Referees For World Cup Qualifier In Burkina Faso

Nigerian women referees will take charge of a 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying match between Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, which has been rescheduled for this weekend by the Confederation of African Football. The match was earlier set to be played last weekend.

The rescheduling was as a result of a recent putsch in Burkina Faso, but normalcy has since returned to the country. CAF’s confirmation of this weekend for the match in Ouagadougou also means that the 2016 African Nations Championship final qualifier between the Super Eagles and the Etalons, set for Ouagadougou on October 25, remains unaffected.

Uloma Nwogu will be the referee, with Hulda Nwokocha as first assistant and Mimisen Iyorhe as second assistant. Another Nigerian, Folusho Ajayi will be the reserve referee.

The match is the third round, first leg of the race to the 2016 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea. The winner of the fixture between Burkina Faso and Ethiopia will clash with the winner between Equatorial Guinea and Ghana, while the winner between Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo will confront the winner between Zambia and South Africa, for Africa’s two slots at the finals in Papua New Guinea.

China again Crowned Best in Asia Table Tennis Championships

China has showed us again that they are the dominant force in table tennis by claiming both the men’s and women’s team gold at the Suzuki 2015 ITTF-Asian Table Tennis Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.

In both the finals, China met a young spirited Japanese team, but the reigning World and Asian Champions were too fast and too strong, and defended their titles in style.

The Chinese men’s team was without the world champion and their team captain MA Long who was ruled out with a back injury. This did not stop the powerful Chinese team represented by XU Xin, FAN Zhendong and ZHANG Jike beating Japan. The trio faced off Japanese rising stars, Maharu YOSHIMURA, Koki NIWA, and Yuya OSHIMA, and eventually prevailed 3-0 to win their ninth consecutive Asian Championships team gold.

FAN Zhendong CHINA, NANJING ittfworld

After the victory, XU who gave the Chinese team the initial lead in the final by beating YOSHIMURA 3-0 stated: “The Japanese are no strangers to us, so we came well prepared. I think it’s the mental strength that aided the victory, it’s important to put world rankings and past results aside and fight for every point!”

Reigning Olympics Champion ZHANG Jike, who dropped his match in the semifinals against Korea’s JANG Woojin, recovered tonight to beat OSHIMA 3-1 to claim China’s victory. After his match, the 27 year old shared: “I have not been in good shape lately. Even though I won the match against OSHIMA eventually, my overall performance is still not satisfactory (losing the second game 1-11).”

Ding Ning (CHN) QOROS 2015 World Table Tennis Championships Winner photo credit ITTF Media

The Chinese team, led by singles World Champion and world number one DING Ning, played without world number two LIU Shiwen, who missed the entire teams event through illness. However the depth of the Chinese team is so strong that even without LIU, they fielded world number three ZHU Yuling and world number eight CHEN Meng who have both won World Tour titles in 2015.

The Chinese team proved too good for the young Japanese team of Ai FUKUHARA and the 14 year old duo of Mima ITO and Miu HIRANO, winning 3-0 to claim their fifth consecutive title.

DING Ning who was playing the past few days with the flu stated after receiving her gold medal: “We are very happy that our efforts paid off to win the gold medal against Japan despite the difficulties we faced along the way (meaning her and LIU Shiwen’s illness).”

“The Japanese lineup is also very young and strong. They are only going to get stronger and become great rivals for China.”

The 2015 ITTF-Asian Table Tennis Championships continues tomorrow, with there being still five titles (men’s & women’s singles, men’s & women’s doubles, and mixed doubles) up for grabs before the event finishes on 3 October 2015.

Newfanzone BPL Team of the week (Game week 7)

Formation : 4-4-2

And here is the Game week 7 Newfanzone Barclays English Premier League team of the week, its a 4-4-2 attacking formation and its based on performance of the players last weekend, the Newfanzone would however like to hear from you, so if you’ve got your own team of the week, of have a comment about our’s please feel free to tweet @NewFanzone of Like our Facebook page Newfanzone or simply drop us a line at fanzone.fans@gmail.com, lets keep the conversation going

Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

The French goalkeeper was at his best against Manchester City on Saturday. He made a top-class save from Raheem Sterling when his team were trailing 1-0 and that was the turning point in the game. Hugo Lloris made seven saves in the match to thwart the Sky Blues and that is world class goalkeeping.

Right back: Kyle Walker (Tottenham)

The England defender had a great game at the weekend, making clean tackles and cancelling out the threat of Raheem Sterling in the second half of the match.

Centre back: Kevin Mbabu (Newcastle)

The 20-year-old defender made his premier league debut on Saturday against Chelsea and his performance was outstanding. Kevin Mbabu made more tackles than any other defender in Game week 7.

Centre back: Virgil van Dijk (Southampton)

The Dutch defender had a poor game a week ago when he was run ragged by Manchester United’s Anthony Martial but he bounced back on Saturday against Swansea. He dictated the play in the defence and made sure Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis was ineffective. He capped off his outstanding performance with a well-taken goal.

Left back: Nacho Monreal (Arsenal)

The Spanish defender had an outstanding game against Leicester City on Saturday and he capped it off by setting up Olivier Giroud’s goal.

Midfielder: Ramires (Chelsea)

The Brazilian midfielder came in as a substitute and within six minutes of him been on the pitch, he scored a wonderful goal which brought his team back into the match. His second half cameo was exceptional and he was unlucky not to get Chelsea the winning goal in the closing stages of the match.

Midfielder: Eric Dier (Tottenham)

Eric Dier has been a revelation this season in the defensive midfielder role and he had another solid performance against Manchester City’s star-studded midfield. He capped off his excellent performance with a lovely goal.

Winger: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)

The Chilean winger is back to his best after his match winning performance at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. He was involved in most of Arsenal attacking furore and scored his first premier league hat-trick.

Winger: Erik Lamela (Tottenham)

Erik Lamela was a thorn in the flesh of Manchester City defenders at White Hart lane on Saturday. He showed wonderful skill and composure to round back-up
Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero to slot home the fourth goal for his team.

Striker: Romelu Lukaku (Everton)

The Belgian striker had a wonderful second half performance against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night scoring two good goals.

Striker: Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool)

Daniel Sturridge showed Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool fans what they have been missing by scoring two lovely goals against Aston Villa at the weekend.

NFF Unveils Youth Development Policy…

NFF Unveils Youth Development Policy, To Partner With Zenith Bank and Other Corporate Bodies

The Nigerian Football Federation today in Lagos, Nigeria, unveiled the federations plan to re-engineer the Nigerian Youth football system through a robust well thought out plan that’s geared towards helping restructuring the entire value chain.

From the young age of 13 to the mature age of 21, the NFF’s youth policy will oversee the discovery and nurturing of talent in line with global best practices.

NFF 2nd Vice – President And Chairman LMC, Mallam Shehu Dikko

The NFF president Mr Amaju Pinnick Speaking through his 2nd vice chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko who also doubles as the chairman of the League Management Company (LMC) stated this youth policy was in line with the plan of his federation to reposition Nigerian football through various capacity building projects and new policy statements.

The 2nd Vice chairman of the NFF Shehu Dikko referred to the new NFF youth policy simply As a “value chain” for the LMC.

Mr Marcel Okeke a top official of Zenith Bank who represented the MD of Zenith bank Mr. Peter Amangbo who was unavoidably absent.

Okeke enumerated the various levels of involvement of the bank in Nigerian sports.

He mentioned the bank’s long involvement in supporting Nigerian sports which is evident in the way Zenith bank as supported the Nigerian Women’s basketball league as for over ten years.

Okeke also said that the nff’s focus on youth is in sync with the banks CSR drive which is geared toward driving youth empowerment through ICT and now sports.

Mr Ayo Agbensanwa, DG Lagos States Sports Commission

Also present to lend his support to the NFF youth Policy Was the DG of the Lagos state sports commission – Mr Ayo Agbensanwa, affirmed the states commitment Towards sports development and also towards the drive by the NFF to setup a proper youth development policy.

Agbensanwa spoke about the states’s plan to build standard football pitches in all divisions of the state in other to make sports facilities available to many Lagosians.

Finally to the business of the day 1st Vice President of the NFF and chairman NFF youth committee Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi presented The NFF’s youth development Policy to all present stating that the NFF had decided to come up with a clear cut youth development policy which is line with global best practices.

The abundance of talent as never been the problem in Nigeria but a proper structure that will help harness these abundant talent is what this NFF youth policy represents.

NFF 1st Vice President Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi

Akinwunmi said Emphasis will be laid on Education, Welfare, and the rights of the child will be paramount in all the NFF do towards promoting this youth policy.

The NFF intends to build NFF Goal Projects in different regions of Nigeria.

A data base of all players that pass through the Development Scheme Will be built alongside a website that will be used to drive the whole process, while providing information and other necessary details online realtime.

Another Grey Area in the Development of Youth Football in Nigeria is the Proliferation of “football Academies” and this the Youth Policy as promised to address by regulating.

The NFF 1st Vice President also talked about carrying all stake holders along from parents to Scouts and State FA’s in a bid to make sure this Youth Policy achieves its aim.

The NFF’s Youth Policy on Football development is definitely an idea which if well implemented will Reposition Nigeria at the Top of World Football and maybe just maybe Nigeria will eventually Win the World Cup 2022 as Suggested by the 1st Vice President Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi.

GIVE OBAFEMI MARTINS EAGLES CALL UP – IROHA

Former Super Eagles player Benedict Iroha has urged Super Eagles Head Coach Sunday Oliseh To Give Obafemi Martins A Call Up Into The Nigerian Super Eagles .

Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins continued his impressive goal-scoring form in the Major League Soccer (MLS) when he scored in Seattle Sounders 1-1 draw at Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.

Obagoal who is also popularly referred to as “weapon of mass destruction” scored the opening goal of the game on Sunday at Kansas City in the 32nd minute.

Obafemi Martins

The former inter forward has scored 14 goals in the MLS this season, just three goals shy of a club record he set last season.

“I think obagoal still has a place in the Super Eagles, the MLS is a top league in the world, I am based in the USA, i watch Obagoal everyday, why will oliseh invite Emenike, and leave Obafemi Martins out of the Cameroon, and Congo friendly games, Obagoal has scored 14 goals this season , currently the leading goal scorer in Seattle. we shouldnt rule out any player who is currently In form now just a few months to the commencement of qualifiers to the world cup and nations cup ” Iroha said.

Nigeria is billed to face Cameroon, and Congo in Belgium by October.

Nigeria Striker Akeem Agbetu Launches Clothing Line Tagged ‘k2p wears’

Akeem Agbetu is set to lauch his own fashion line to “serve millions of fans who are enthralled by his image of a master dribbler and dancer” with quality apparel.

The former Nigeria youth international striker who currently plays for French club Le Havre in france unveiled some of the works via his instagram account.

Emmanuel Emenike and Nollywood actor Jim Iyke are some of the top stars who have endorsed K2P wears.

Top Super Eagles players like Emmanuel Emenike and Nollywood actor Jim Iyke are some of the top stars who have endorsed the clothing line tagged K2P wears.

The collection features T-shirts, trousers, knits and flashy caps. It was inspired by his childhood adventures in the slums of Mushin in Lagos Nigeria.

The 27-year-old former Karşıyaka player who joined Le Havre AC in 2014 is also the face of his brand.

Emmanuel Emenike and Nollywood actor Jim Iyke are some of the top stars who have endorsed K2P wears.

“Its the first time you gona have a nigerian footballer branching into fashion in a civilised and professional manner, i love cloths, thats why have decided to branch into creating a clothing line at least my fans will have the oppourtunity to see my other side, its not about football alone, a lot is still coming from me, i am also gona set up my own foundation soon were i am gona give back to the society back home in nigeria. but first its the K2p wears, and am sure my fans will love it” said akeem, hopefully its gona be lauched soon in nigeria , but i have only just unveiled the logos and wears in france now.

Emmanuel Emenike and Nollywood actor Jim Iyke are some of the top stars who have endorsed K2P wears.

The k2p brand is yet to hit the nigerian big market but is currently available at a number of boutiques in france.