BoxhillAudley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
THE PROMISE of promotion as an officer of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has strengthened the resolve and drive of Crenston Boxhill.
Boxhill, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), was given notice of the appointment by regional football boss Austin 'Jack' Warner on Monday.
He is one of three Jamaicans who came in for high praise from Warner for their service to football. The others are former JFF presidents Captain Horace Burrell and Anthony 'Tony' James, who already have experience working with regional and international football bodies.
"I told president Boxhill that I was impressed with his work and next February he will be on his first CFU commission," said Warner at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston on Monday.
"Let me commend you too, Captain Horace Burrell, who heads our marketing department in Jamaica, and is on the FIFA programme," he said. "He has been chosen to go to the Solomon Islands to do a marketing course for the people down there. I think this speaks highly of you Captain Burrell and for Jamaica."
Warner, a vice-president of football's world governing body FIFA and president of regional bodies CONCACAF and the CFU, also announced James is now chairman of the CONCACAF disciplinary committee.
Manchester businessman James had previously served as a CONCACAF and CFU vice-president and on CONCACAF's disciplinary committee and has a long association with Jamaican football, even through most of the past decade when he was not on the local federation's executive.
The responsibilities he has now been given were previously shouldered by Burrell, who gave up the post to concentrate on his role as head of the CFU's marketing division, something he has been doing for close to a year now.
Burrell, who was head of the JFF when the Reggae Boyz made their historic qualification to the World Cup Finals in France in 1998, is also a FIFA member.
FEELS ENCOURAGED
A one-time manager of that record-setting Jamaican unit, Boxhill took over the JFF presidency from Burrell almost one year ago and feels 'encouraged' by his impending advance up football's ladder.
"It is very encouraging, it is something that I feel very encouraged about, I feel gratified," he told The Gleaner in an interview.
"It has been a very challenging year. We started the period of presidency with a view of accomplishing many things most of all implementing our youth development programme," Boxhill said.
"But being a World Cup year we had to spend most of the year putting the World Cup programme on track, bearing in mind that we were starting from zero," he said.
"Therefore, at the end of the year if a person of the calibre of President Warner sees it fit to acknowledge the hard work that the federation has done in that regard, and to reward me by appointing me to one of the prestigious positions in the CFU, is very encouraging and is a testimony of the hard work that the present team has put in place over the past year."
Boxhill added: "I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to the members of the federation who have worked so hard to achieve what we've achieved in the first year.
"We all recognise that this is the first year of a four-year term and the majority of the work is still ahead of us. But it is encouraging that our work has been recognised by no one else than President Warner and this will encourage us to double our efforts in the year ahead."
