Sports
Chantelle Day
So Many Sports, So MuchTalent
Chantelle Day is one in a group of youngwomen athletes making their mark on the local sporting community.
Tall, quick, and built for sports, her only problem at the momentis which sport should this 14-year concentrate on.
She is so talented that it is makes it hard to choose. So farshe's won the Gail Akin Award in Squash, shared the champion girltitle in 1999 with Schmarrah McCarthy. Also, in that year, Chantellecollected the Ladies D title in squash and was runner up in theLadies C competition in 2000. And she loves basketball.
Now consider Chantelle's genetic code and maybe you will get aclue as to why she is so sports-oriented. She is the daughterof Merta and Michael Day, two very well-known local sports personalities.Merta was the 1989 Sports Person of the Year and she garnereda silver medal in Taekwondo at the CAC games in Puerto Rico. Michaelwas a 1500 metre champion in Avon, England and it is said thathe holds the 1500 record in Cayman. Merta plus Michael equalsone supreme athlete.
"I enjoy playing basketball, track and field and squash,but I'll try every sport. Since I was born I've been exposed toall types of sports," Chantelle explained.
"My mom and dad have always been there to inspire me. Shehas brought me to squash and I have played on her basketball team.My dad has encouraged me to compete in track and field events,"she added.
"I would like to go pro some day either in track and field,squash or basketball," she said.
Just about every afternoon and on Saturdays, she trains in somesport. But her parents want to keep Chantelle well-balanced andhave insisted that she keeps her grades up and participate inother activities. Chantelle plays the piano and the flute, singsin the choir and is on the honour roll at St Ignatius CatholicSchool.
Derek Taylor, a member of the South Sound Squash Club remarkedon Chantelle's squash abilities. "She tall and fast and shehas the making of being a very good squash player. She has a lotof natural ability and everything going in her favour.
"What I would like to see her get is some serious coaching,so that the strokes that are giving her problems at the momentare corrected and she can go into a game situation knowing thatshe can play any shot properly," he explained.
And her mother thinks that Chantelle's talent is in track andfield. "I don't want to choose the sports I like. But I believethat her true talent lies in track and field particularly in themiddle distance events," Merta Day.
Well rounded in sports, academics and music, Chantelle will oneday be a renaissance woman and a force to be reckoned with inthe sporting arena ether on the local or international stage.