Uneventful Tennis Jamaica AGM expected – Brown

Departing secretary of Tennis Jamaica, Leroy Brown, anticipates an uneventful and uncontroversial election of senior officers at the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled for the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), this evening at 5:30.

“This will quite likely be a very uneventful election because there are several positions [for which] there will not be any challengers. So it will quite likely be an uneventful and uncontroversial handover. But having an uncontroversial election means a lot to the sport,” he said.

Apart from the presidency, three of the five other available senior positions will be unchallenged. Former president Aubyn Hill will go unopposed as first vice president. Nancy Pinchas will also be unopposed for the secretary position, and Kristofer Martin for treasurer.

However, Llockett McGregor and Dwayne Pagon will contest the second vice-president position, while Nigel Casserly and Errol Campbell will battle for the third vice-president spot. Twelve persons will be also be vying for the nine director positions, and Brown says the general mood is to look towards the future in a very positive way.

“[We want to] help rebuild the sport of tennis, reach out and make it more inclusive,” he said. “[To] make it more wide-based, and a lot of that is taking place now in the inner-cities, the basic schools. So a lot of ground work has been laid over the last several years and there are big plans on board for the Eric Bell Tennis Centre. We have spoken to the people at UWI, and plans are well advanced now.”

AZAN is Capable

He also thinks the man that will oversee Tennis Jamaica for the next three years, Azar, is capable of lifting the sport, but insists he will need a strong team to back him.

“One thing for sure, Mr Azar likes tennis, and he said his aim is to grow the sport. I have no doubt he will keep that promise. We, the outgoing administration, will cooperate with him and assist him in every way.

“His heart is in the right place and that is the first thing you have to do as a leader, then you have to get the team together because you can’t do it alone. It has to be teamwork. He is going to have different forces around him. He has to make them into a team, and if he can succeed in doing that, half the battle is won,” he said.

Azar will take over from Aswad Morgan, who decided not to seek re-election.