THE Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) has cemented an agreement with top Caribbean referee/judge James Beckles that would see him hold a five-day seminar in Guyana just prior to the International Goodwill Tournament. Beckles would arrive in Guyana on November 20 and start the seminar the following day. The five-day programme would deal with all topics relating to refereeing and judging and will include the new rules created by AIBA.
The Trinidadian is no stranger to Guyana having held several seminars here. He was instrumental in whipping into shape local officials leading up to last year’s Goodwill tournament.
GABA president Steve Ninvalle said that head of the organisation’s Referee and Judges (RJ) Commission, Romona Agard, has been tasked with preparation for the seminar.
He added that several young and new persons would be groomed and added to the Commission shortly. Beckles’ visit is timed to coincide with the massive International tournament which is being sponsored by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA).
The GABA has invited 16 countries and at present eight countries have signalled intention to participate. Those countries are: Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, French Guiana, Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.
The tournament will run from November 26 to 29, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. It is geared towards serving as a nursery for the production of boxers for Elite competitions staged by the AMBC and/or AIBA, and to give technical officials of the region an opportunity to get much-needed practice in preparation for moving forward in the AIBA training programme.