By Neto Baptiste
Vice President of the Antigua and Barbuda Amateur Volleyball Association (ABAVA), Olsen Joseph, has hinted that ongoing constitutional review has delayed the body’s electoral congress, which was due in February of 2019.
Joseph, who was speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, acknowledged that the elections should have been held over a year ago, adding that the body’s membership is currently perusing the proposed constitution, which would also move the executive’s tenure from a two-year term to a four-year term.
“It takes the involvement of the clubs as well and you send some information to the clubs to get their feedback and stuff and so it plays hand in hand with everybody basically. We are working hand in hand, we are working together so we could properly put this thing forward so we could do it officially and properly,” he said.
Volleyball association president, Wilbur Harrigan, was re-elected ahead of former executive member Frank Schwartz by a vote of seven to four in 2017.
The VP said the association is also pushing for teams to become better structured, forming clubs and becoming fulltime members of the organisation.
“We did a reformed constitution and sent out to each club to revise and get their feedback and stuff like that. Only some have responded and I am not saying that it is an excuse but we are just trying to work hand in hand with everybody,” Joseph said.
“Most of these clubs, some of them are teams and so we are trying to get everybody to formulate clubs. Right now we have about three female clubs and maybe four males and the rest of them are basically teams,” he added.
Messages to the station’s WhatsApp board purportedly from members of some teams and clubs claiming they were yet to receive a draft of the proposed constitution could not be verified. Joseph assured, however, that the document was sent to all teams and clubs associated with the association.