By Michael Benjamin From Kaieteur News

Looks for continued unity among Caribbean territories

Recently nominated to contest for an executive position on the International Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) when that organization holds its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November this year, President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle is very optimistic that once he succeeds, he would be in a good position to improve the lot of pugilists in Guyana and the wider Caribbean region.

Ninvalle spoke with this newspaper at his Main Street office and outlined what occurred recently in Barbados where the heads of the territorial associations convened, at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, to examine ways of promoting the sport in the region, while enabling its boxers to procure lucrative opportunities and medals at international competitions.

The meeting commenced with the participants reviewing the state of the sport in the region and it was unanimously agreed that there must be a collaborative effort of all of the territorial associations if the sport is to continue along a commendable developmental trend.

The territorial heads further suggested the revival of a structured, competitive tournament in the Caribbean. In recent times, Caribbean pugilists competed among themselves in the Caribbean Amateur Boxing Association (CABA) championships, hosted in any one of the territorial countries.

However, this tournament was disbanded at the behest of President of the International Amateur Boxing Association (IABA), Dr. Chin Kuo Wu but the various associations are adamant that a tournament of this nature should form a part of the Caribbean boxing itinerary.

Meanwhile, Mr Ninvalle received a unanimous vote to contest for the IABA position after he was nominated by Barbados and seconded by the United States Virgin Islands. President of the St. Lucia Amateur Boxing Association (SLABA), David ‘Shakes’ Christopher, was also nominated but declined saying that he would be throwing his weight behind Ninvalle’s instalment to the position.

This is the first time in the history of the sport that an English speaking, Caribbean representative will contest for the post and while it is not yet clear who the other contestants from the other hemispheric associations are, should Ninvalle clinch the position, it will herald a new dispensation in the Caribbean amateur boxing arena.

The forum further dealt with processes for the training of technical officials while discussions were also based on the acquisition of funding and/or training from IABA and the AMBC, moments before a committee was installed to oversee the implementation of the action plan.

Mr. Ninvalle expressed gratitude to his Caribbean counterparts and said that should he clinch the post he would do all within his power to better the fortunes of boxers across the region. He was especially grateful to Mr. Solano who used his expertise and knowledge of the sport to guide the process. “He was very instrumental in guiding us and ensured that we did not overstep our mandate to foster development at the Caribbean level,” Ninvalle said of Solano.

He also said that all of the delegates agreed that the Caribbean heads needed to adopt a unified approach towards the development of the sport. Ninvalle said that he was generally pleased with the outcome of the forum and suggested regular discourse among his CARICOM colleagues to improve the lot of Caribbean pugilists. Consequently, a team consisting of seven persons was tasked with overseeing the development of the sport in the Caribbean.

The other participating countries are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, St Lucia, St Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago and the US Virgin Islands.

Some of the top delegates at the forum were Barbadian, Kathy Harper Hall, Chairman of the Barbados National Sports Commission, Michael Power and Presidents of the Barbados Olympic Association and Barbados Boxing Association, Steve Stoute and Anthony Jones respectively.

For more on this story go to: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/07/05/ninvalle-optimistic-of-better-regional-fortunes-looks-for-continued-unity-among-caribbean-territories/

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