By Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport EditorKEISHA BAKER and Hugh Porter are set to retain their executive positions with the Jamaica Amateur Volleyball Association (JAVA) at tomorrow's elections.
The duo were the only persons nominated up until last Saturday. They now 'officially' hold the positions in which they have served the association since the new administration took office in October 2003.
Both were previously appointed, Baker as general secretary and Porter as treasurer. However, their membership, at the time, did not adhere to JAVA's constitutional guidelines and Carole Beckford, the association's president, said "... the affiliate group thought the appointments were not transparent".
This, she said, was recognised after a number of meetings with affiliates and legal officers.
APPLICATION
Section 4 of its constitution, which deals with 'Application for Membership', states:
"All applications for membership must be made in writing on prescribed forms and addressed to the General Secretary of JAVA. The management team must consider all applications and shall accept or reject at its discretion."
Last year, when Baker and Porter started their tenure, neither made applications in writing. Instead, the JAVA executive designed a form and persons recruited filled out that form and were accepted based on their ability to offer specific assistance to help the association at the given time. In this regard, a decision was taken by JAVA's executive to have the process re-done at a special general meeting towards the latter part of 2003.
ORDINARY MEMBERSHIP
Following that, 11 people applied and were approved for ordinary membership. They were Reshida St. Juste, Porter, Barbara Clarke, Janet Johnson Haughton, Patricia Garel, Vincent Henry, Pamela Redwood, Norris Jackson, Averline Beckford, Lyndon Taylor and Lloyd Butler.
"The ordinary membership has been cleared, the process has been redone," Beckford told The Gleaner this weeky.
SANCTIONS
Additionally, three new clubs were sanctioned, pushing the number on the national register to 16. The rookie teams are Upper Room from the Corporate Area, Yallahs from St. Thomas and Clarendon's Ebony Vale.
Apart from elections, Beckford said JAVA will be looking to strengthen the function of its executive.
"As it is now only the president, general secretary and treasurer who form the executive, meaning only we can make the decisions. The other persons only co-opt the decisions," Beckford said.
"We're thinking of adding a vice president for marketing, vice president technical, legal officer and an auditor."
