1 month ago
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FORMER DIRECTOR of marketing and sponsorship of Netball Jamaica, Karen Rosen-Baugh, was officially ushered in as the new president of the association, following their annual general meeting (AGM) at The Summit hotel on Saturday.
Simone Forbes also defeated Keyan Shawn Murdock in the run-off for the first vice-president position, to complete the executive, which also includes Second Vice-President Dwayne Gutzmer and Treasurer Elaine Walters.
Six directors, Tashike Salmon, Derrick Brown, Karen Whinstanley, Karlene Waugh, Suzette Townsend and Denese Palmer, were also voted in to complete the board.
Baugh thanked the public for its support, even though she was elected unopposed, and said she noted members’ concerns regarding umpiring, improving parish associations, and producing timely audits, but insists they can only achieve their objectives by working together.
“They had some concerns, especially about umpiring. We have acknowledged, too, that umpiring needs some attatention in terms of training and certification of new umpires, and then there is a mix between umpires and coaches.
“Also, we definitely are focused on getting our financials in order. There was also quite a lot of time spent on that. We have a new treasurer and the good thing is, we have the old treasurer on the board as a director. So that transition should be seamless.
“We had some really good open discussions. We spoke a lot about the parish organisations, and most of the nominees had that as an objective to help to work towards building that out. And I believe we are in good stead,” she told The Gleaner.
She said they will be moving straight away to organise the secretariat in order to ensure that local clubs and leagues get more support, and that all is in place for the national under-21 team to be fully prepared for the Youth World Cup in September.
“Those are the main things we are going to start working on. We have the Youth World Cup coming up in September and right now we have the under-21 team training, and all the arrangements that need to be made for them to be organised and ready to go off in September. So there is some work that needs to be done before that comes around.”
Rosen-Baugh was also pleased with the turnout of members on Saturday, and believes she has a sound team to move the sport forward
“The members came out because there were a lot of interest. I think because there were so many candidates for director positions and the competition for first VP, I guess drew people out.
“I am very pleased because the candidates were good, no matter the mix you got. Most of the directors would be new, and we will have a mix of people with different skill sets.
“So the final decisions by the members, I think, gave us a very good mix of people who are willing to work hand in hand for netball. So it is just to see how fast we can get going,” she said
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