By Neto Baptiste
Newly elected President of the Antigua & Barbuda Cricket Umpires Association (ABCUA), Javid Goodwin, said the body will go on a recruitment drive in hopes of boosting its numbers while offering more opportunities to young enthusiasts to become certified officials.
“We went on a drive last year for recruitment of umpires. We did fairly well, so we’re going back on the drive. We’re trying to capture more secondary school young men and young women to grasp them early within the umpire context of it because not everybody can be a cricketer; not everybody can be a scorer so cricket has a lot of applications where work is concerned and umpiring is one of them. Match referee is one of them also so we’re looking to get as much youth involved in umpiring,” he said.
Goodwin was elected as president of the cricket umpires association when the body held its biennial convention on September 29 at the Antigua Grammar School (AGS) in St Johns. Goodwin dethroned incumbent, James “Son-Son” Stevens, who has served as president for 28 years, winning by a 16-7 margin.
The new sheriff in town said the time is ripe to take the association and its membership to a new level.
“I just think there’s a way forward for us now to carry the association to the next level in terms of more development, new umpires, more strategic planning when it comes to betterment of our umpires within the twin-island state, and have a say within the Leewards umpire fraternity as well, so that we can have more umpires on the B panel. We already have three umpires. We already have Bernard Joseph, we have Felix Auguiste, we have Donald Sheckles, and Melissa Lowry for the female umpire panel so we’re growing. I think with new initiatives and so on, we can have more members from the Leeward Islands on the panel,” the president said.
Goodwin, himself an umpire for many years, acknowledged the contribution Stevens has made to the sport and vows to honour both the individual and the legacy he leaves behind.
“It’s not an easy walk in the park for somebody giving 28 years of their life within an association religiously, and we’ll be doing something big for him and other members that served long, like Austin Christopher, who was a former treasurer as well. So it’s something that we’re looking at. I must give kudos to Mr James Stevens as well because his tenure in office was a remarkable one. He even was one of my trainers when I was successful in the Cricket West Indies umpires’ exams … and other members who are present now. He will still be utilised as one of our advisors because we don’t throw away people. We keep them close because we don’t burn bridges,” he said.
The other members of the newly elected executive are Felix Auguiste (Vice President), Melissa Lawrie (Secretary), Avoy Knight (Treasurer), Julian Roberts (Assistant Secretary), Hayden-Ann Walsh-Palmer (PRO) and James Trotman (Executive Member).
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