Miami Surf A will look to defend their title when the Annual Tampa Bay Grasshoppers Spring Tournament gets underway this weekend March 6 and 7, at Belmont Park in Clearwater Florida.

This year’s tournament has attracted teams from across the state including the highly touted newcomers Lauderhill Strikers, who will be looking to make their mark.

The tournament, which will mark the first Florida Field Hockey League tournament of the year, will feature eight teams, namely, defending champions Miami Surf A, University of Miami Hurricanes, MiaCuba, Miami Surf B, Lauderhill Strikers, Tampa Bay North, South and East.

The contest is expected to provide some exciting and competitive hockey. Miami Surf A, which is bolstered by a number of new players, is expected to meet some fierce competition from MiaCuba who is known for their high level play.

Lauderhill Strikers, a team comprised of a number of experience players, will also be looking to unseat the defending champions in their debut.

Tampa Bay, last year’s finalist, will be playing at home and cannot be overlooked as they will try to keep the hardware in Tampa.

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Western United finally got its first win of the season on Wednesday in the 2010 Caribbean American Soccer League (CASA) Super League competition, in a week when unbeaten Unity FC and Universitaro both went down in defeat on Saturday at the Lauderhill Sports Complex in Lauderhill.

Western, which has been struggling this season, losing their first two games 3-0, got a boost in their line-up on Wednesday against Palm Beach Pumas with the return of forwards Wesley Walton and Marvin Mundai. The combination of both players upfront definitely gave the team the kind of lift they needed as they wreaked havoc on Pumas back line resulting in Mundai scoring twice with assist from Walton in a 3-nil victory.

Kenton Claire who came off the bench for Mundai scored the final goal.

In the other game played on Wednesday, Carib United walloped Bfut Brazil 5-0 with two goals apiece from Garnett Deer and Denmark Jacobs, with the other coming from Jermaine Hardy.

Meanwhile, a double strike from former Elite FC star forward, Jean Peguero, knocked off the challenge of last year’s champions Unity FC on Saturday to tarnish their 2010 record.

Unity, not looking like the team that won its first two games, went behind when Peguero netted his first goal from a melee inside the penalty area to push Elite ahead 1-0.   Their problem was compounded when mid-field Lamar Mitchell got his marching orders for a second yellow card.

Peguero would score his 4th goal in two games to seal the deal for Elite.

In the feature game on Saturday, Universitaro playing without its leading scorer, Carlos Calcagno, struggled to penetrate the Haiti All-Star defense. Haiti, which was also playing without its star, Stanley Gurriand, was able to create several chances at the other end.  Yveson Etienne the leading goal scorer would give Haiti a 1-0 half-time lead.

In the second half, Universitaro made several changes to try to stem the tide but was unable to make a difference.  Patrick Janvier added a second goal for Haiti before Rudy Lomera scored the third and final goal.  Final score Haiti All-Star 3 Universitro 0.

In Sunday’s action BC United defeated Juventus 2-0 in a wild game which saw seven yellow cards and one red card being awarded. Juventos bore the brunt of the referee’s onslaught, as they picked up five yellow, and the lone red card.  Robert Layton and Brian Palmer scored in the first and second half, respectively for BC United.

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Usain Bolt’s rise to athletics glory will literally soon be an open book.

The champion Jamaican sprinter has signed a two-book deal with HarperSport, a subsidiary of the British book publishing giant HarperCollins.

“I’m delighted to be publishing my two books with the guys at HarperCollins and I’m determined to give my fans all over the world a great insight into me and my life,” said Bolt.

The first book will be an illustrated narrative celebration of Bolt’s remarkable career and his Caribbean roots, and an insight into what inspires and motivates him.

The second book will be a full-length autobiography, and is to be published in the autumn of 2012, shortly after London’s Olympic Games.

“This is a huge thrill and a real privilege,” said Publishing Director of Harper Non-Fiction Jonathan Taylor.

“He is the most iconic sports star on the planet and our global publishing plans for him are exciting and extensive.”

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Dubbed as the feature game of the night, the match turned out to be an action-packed game, as two of the youngest teams in the league did battle in a very fast-paced game.

Horace Howell put FC Internaxionle in front within 2 minutes of the start of the game, dealing a big blow to a Carib United team, which has been having trouble scoring. From then on Carib had to defend for most of the game, as FC Internaxionle kept pushing forward.  Anthony McNab scored to make the score 2-0 Internaxionle, and minutes later scored his second goal of the game to round out the scoring.

FC Internaxionle now tops the league with 12 points over Unity, in second place with 9, and Universitaro, third with 8.

In the early game, two winless teams came up against each other when Eagle FC faced off with Bfut Brazil. Eagles took the lead when they were awarded a penalty kick, which Richard McKenzie converted.  But Bfut who came out playing some very good football, would soon get the equalizer through Gonzalo Arrechea to make the score 1-1 at the half.

In the second half, it was more of the same as Bfut had Eagles chasing the ball. Bfut went in front when Arrechea netted again, before the most diminutive player on the field Enrico Lopez excited the crowd when he scored to give Bfut a 3-1 victory.

The action continues this Saturday at 6:15pm with Elite FC against Unity FC and at 8:15pm Universitaro Uruguay goes up against Haiti All-Star at the same venue.

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