Griffiths Irving planning for cycling’s grass roots
... If we are able to qualify for that Olympics, it will inspire a lot of the young people to take up the sport ... .
NEWLY ELECTED president of the Jamaica Cycling Federation (JCF) Joylene Griffiths Irving said that she will be working with all stakeholders in an effort to bring the glory days back to the sport and to i ncrease t he popularity of cycling in the country.
Griffiths Irving became the first elected female president of the federation after she was elected unopposed at Sunday’s annual general meeting, which was held at the Jamaica Olympic Association office in Kingston.
Griffiths Irving told The Gleaner yesterday that she was very delighted to serve as the head of the JCF and she intends to do her best to improve the growth and development of the sport in Jamaica.
“I feel honoured to have been elected the president, and I accepted it as something that I can do for my country,” said Griffiths Irving. “I love the sport of cycling. I have been involved in it for quite some time because I have been involved in giving support to the federation in helping to developing the youth cycling programme,” she said.
“I feel that this time is a good time to push cycling to the forefront, because besides track and field, cycling is the only other sport that has won a medal in the Olympics, with David Weller years ago, so it’s a very opportune time for us to push for another medal,” Griffiths Irving said.
Griffiths Irving, the executive director of the Scotiabank Foundation, succeeds interim president Dennis Chung, who served in the position for six months.
She added that the JCF would be offering all the support that it can to the country’s top cyclist, Marloe Rodman, who is trying desperately to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
“I believe that if we are able to qualify for that Olympics, it will inspire a lot of the young people to take up the sport, which is really what we want to do to build the sport from the grass-roots level up,” Griffiths Irving said.
REORGANISING LOCAL SPORT
She also pointed out that the JCF intends meet with various personnel in an effort to re-energise and reorganise the local cycling clubs across the country.
“Right now, we have at least nine clubs across the country, and at least two of them have got in touch with me already to say that they are very excited about the new executive, and they are looking forward to us visiting and helping to energise the clubs,” Griffiths Irving said.
“At the club level, the energy has waned, and they are hungry for that energy to move to another level, and if we can do that, then that is where we are going to identify our future athletes,” she said.
The other members of the new executive include Vice-president Angus Gordon and Second Vicepresident Graeme Isaac. DonnaKaye Sharpe is the general secretary, and Danyu Dacres is the treasurer.