From left, Aris and Forbes
Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport Editor
A NEW executive body which will manage the affairs of the country's track and field will be elected this evening at the annual general meeting of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA).
The top job up for grabs is that of president of the JAAA. Pat Anderson, the man who has held that post for the past four years is not seeking re-election.
A full team from the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) will be in charge of the elections. One hundred and thirty-five individuals and 21 clubs and institutions are eligible to vote. With clubs and institutions entitled to two votes each, a total of 177 votes are expected to be cast.
Veteran Kingston College Old Boy Howard Aris and Jamaica College past student Ian Forbes are the two men seeking the high profile position of president at the AGM which begins at 6:00 p.m. inside the Life of Jamaica Auditorium in New Kingston.
Campaigning has been for the most part low-key but both men have named very strong slates which include athletes, businessmen, sports administrators and coaches.
TOP NAMES
Top names on Aris' slate are 1988 Seoul Olympics 200m silver medallist Grace Jackson, three-time Olympian Vilma Charlton and well-known medical doctors and sports administrators, Warren Blake and Winston Dawes. Charlton is the fourth vice president from the outgoing administration.
Lawyers and sports administrator Lincoln Eatmon, business executive Christian Stokes, an unsuccessful candidate for president fours years ago, and Juliette Parkes, a sports official and life underwriter are the leading people on Forbes' slate.
Aris is the front-runner for the post. He has the backing of Teddy McCook, a man who has vast experience in local and international track and field. A former champion athlete at Kingston College, Aris has been close to the corridors of power having been a special adviser on sport to the late Prime Minister Michael Manley and adviser to various sports ministers including Hugh Small. He now wears many hats, the three biggest being executive director of the National Council on Sports, chairman of the Institute of Sports (Insport) and chairman of the powerful Sports Development Foundation (SDF).
As an administrator he has served in executive positions on many local sports associations and is a past vice president of the JAAA.
Forbes, who has built a reputation as an able administrator at the junior level is the managing director for Sherwin Williams (West Indies) Limited.
LONG-STANDING OFFICIAL
A long standing official at all track and field meets locally, Forbes was a member of the management team for track and field at the highly successful 2004 Athens Olympics and served as meet director for the 2004 National Championships. Four years earlier, he was the manager of the Jamaica team to the 2000 World Junior Championships in Chile. At that event Olympic 200 metres champion Veronica Campbell became the first female athlete to take the sprint double at the junior world meet.
Forbes has been officiating at the Penn Relays since 1996 and was the IAAF competitions director for the 2002 World Junior Championships (WJC) in Kingston. He had previously served on the Adrian Wallace-led JAAA executive between 1996-2000.
ARIS: Howard Aris (president), Grace Jackson (first vice president), Dr. Warren Blake (second vice president), Vilma Charlton (third vice President), Dr. Winston Dawes (fourth vice president), Garth Gayle (secretary), Ludlow Watt (treasurer), Marie Tavares (assistant secretary) and Carol Long (recorder).
Management committee: Trevor 'TC' Campbell, Bert Cameron, Donald Quarrie, Gregory Hamilton, Judith Ewart, Edward Hector, Alfred Francis and Clive Walters.
FORBES: Ian Forbes (president), Lincoln Eatmon (first vice president), Christian Stokes (second vice president), Juliet Parkes (third vice president), Dr. Aggrey Irons (fourth vice president), Bernie Panton (secretary), Bruce James (treasurer), Carol Christian (assistant secretary), Charlie Fuller (recorder).
Management committee: Dr. Pramnath Singh, Dr. John Jones, lawyer John Leiba, coaches Maurice Westney and Jerry Holness, Olive McNaughton, Allan Beckford and Fay Wright.
