Two GABA officials for OECS boxing championships

Oct 31, 2010 Sports

Two Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) officials referee/judge Dexter Patterson and timekeeper Mark Drakes, will leave Guyana tomorrow for St Lucia to officiate in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Amateur Boxing Championships.
While there, Patterson will participate in a Referees/judges Seminar which will run from November 2 to 5, the duration of the championships.
Patterson told Kaieteur Sport that he was happy to be involved in St Lucia and that the seminar and doing duties there would benefit Guyana immensely, while also he will be able to swap knowledge with his counterparts from the various territories taking part.
He informed that the use of the computerized scoring system would be in place and the seminar will help him better understand its usage, while the tournament will also aid practical use.
Equipped with this knowledge, Patterson intends to share with his fellow Guyanese officials.  He informed that Guyana possessed a computerized scoring system and his involvement in St Lucia will move Guyana a step closer to having this system fully implemented and in use in future tournaments.
Patterson thanked Howard Cox of Hand-in-Hand and Kashif Muhammad of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation for valuable sponsorship dollars to assist his trip, and also the executive of GABA, who also lent assistance.
GABA President Steve Ninvalle said he was happy to send the two officials on overseas duties and that their involvement and exposure would in the long run aid Guyana’s programme of officiating and training officials for events in the future.  He noted that without this kind of exposure the sport will not be able to move forward.
He expressed pleasure at the pair being exposed and noted that the seminar during the championship will do a great deal for Patterson, who is an executive member of GABA, who would be an integral part of their training infrastructure in the near future.