THE National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue will come alive on Saturday as the Georgetown Dominoes Association (GDA), in collaboration with the National Sports Commission (NSC), celebrates the life of Faye Joseph (past president of the GDA and the Guyana National Dominoes Federation (GNDF), in the form of a memorial dominoes tournament.

During her tenure at the helm of the GDA, Joseph sponsored many tournaments including the traditional Mother’s and Father’s Day competitions and the game grew tremendously. She also served as a role model and motivated many players as Guyana won the World Council male Three-Hand title under her tenure.

Her astute leadership impressed many and the business community was persuaded to lend support, which was instrumental in Guyana’s hosting of the World Council of Dominoes Federation (WCDF) tournament.

Joseph got involved in dominoes in 2008 when she rendered support to the national female team that competed in the World Council of Dominoes Federation (WCDF) tournament in Antigua. The team went on to win the Three-Hand title.

In 2010, the late Joseph provided financial support for the team to defend their title in St Lucia and she subsequently formed the Blue Birds club which started playing competitively. Joseph went on to represent Guyana at the WCDF tournament in 2012 in Orlando and also turned out for her country in 2014.

Joseph sponsored a number of local teams for tournaments in Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbados and in 2015 was elected president of the GNDF. She continued to impress and in 2019 was elected as one of the vice-presidents of the WCDF.

Joseph took the game to another level with her leadership skills and practissd zero tolerance to indiscipline. She was also remembered as a strong woman who was always willing to assist players and teams and has surely left a rich legacy.

Joseph will be remembered as a big thinker, who actualised the thoughts. She led Guyana into participating twice in the Spanish League. Her benevolence to those in need was unmatched. Her positivity was another great hallmark. Simply put, she was a woman for all seasons.

When news of her sudden demise reached the fraternity, there was an outpouring of sadness and grief as fellow dominoes captains, players, supporters and family members pledged support to keep her legacy alive.

Games will commence at 17:00hrs on Saturday and will take the form of two rounds of aggregate, thereafter two-in-one-out to the finals which will conclude on Sunday starting at 13:00hrs.

There will be an early-bird registration which commenced last Monday, with the registration fee being $12 000 up until Friday and thereafter $15 000 will be rigidly enforced.

Minister of Sport, Hon. Charles Ramson, and Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle, will be in attendance to declare the countrywide tournament open and all teams are invited to participate.

Prizes for this event are $300 000, $150 000, $75 000 and $40 000 for first-, second-, third- and fourth-teams respectively, to be complemented with trophies and a lien trophy. The MVP will pocket $20 000. All GDA rules will be in effect.