MARCH 2023 THE VOICE
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Sport ec les eco By Elizabeth Agnes HIGHLY RESPECTED Omar Beckles has become one of the most powerful figures in football having recently been elected as the new chair of the players union, the rofessional Footballers ssociation F eckles, ust , takes up the position having been chosen by fellow members of the F s layers oard The layers oard, made up of elected F members from the remier eague, WS and F , is the formal player representation body within the union
es one of the
The -person board also includes representatives of the thousands of former players who retain access to F services and support eckles replaces F chair ohn ousinho, who was recently appointed as head coach of eague ne club ortsmouth
PRIVILEGE
Beckles has won seven caps for renada since making his debut in eckles, who plays for eyton rient, will now work with aheta olango and the e ecutive team, ensuring players views
are communicated and represented in the running of the union “I m honoured to be elected to this role It s a real privilege to be chosen to represent the players, eckles told rient s official website on the appointment “ s aheta has said, we really want the F to be player-centric, with members at the heart of what the union does I ll be the link from the dressing room, making sure that the players are at the centre of everything we do “I m looking forward to fighting the members corner and building on the great work done by ohn ousinho
ost po erful figures in foot all eckles, whose previous clubs include ccrington, Shrewsbury and rewe, has been a longterm ambassador for promoting positive change in the areas of mental health and wellbeing and last year was recognised for his work at eyton rient with the eague Two F layer in the ommunity ward at the F wards “ mar brings a wealth of e perience to the role I ve already en oyed working with him as a member of the players board and I m looking forward to continuing and building on that relationship, said olango RECOGNITION:
mar eckles in action for eyton
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Giving back to the game Former national team captain Atiba Harris is ‘looking to affect positive change’ as president of St Kitts and Nevis FA. By Matthew Chadder
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HE ST itts and evis Football ssociation has undergone e citing changes recently which promise a brighter future under new leadership In ugust , it was announced that tiba rasto arris would take over as S F president The -year-old ittitianborn former footballer once captained the St itts and evis national team during his professional playing days The new president played in defence for F allas during his long stint in the S and has spoken of how football is a sport very close to his heart ver his S career tiba played for si different teams in years, registering goals and assists arris S F e ecutive committee held its first annual general meeting last September and it left member clubs feeling committed and encouraged about the new president s plans and vision tiba spoke to the oice of Sport about his new role and hopes for the future as well as his pride at becoming the enw president MC: How proud are you to become the new president of the St Kitts and Nevis Football Association and just
KEY ROLES TO PLAY: left to right, tiba arris with rime inister of St itts and evis, r Terrance rew, and S F technical director, eonard Taylor
how important is the sport of Football to you? AEH: I m grateful to attain a role which puts me in a position to affect positive changes for football in our country and help to truly develop the sport in St itts and evis Football will always hold a special place in my heart because of the oy, e citement and opportunity that it has afforded me throughout my life MC: Talk to me about the process of becoming president and what it was that drew you towards wanting to take this special role on? AEH: In , I made a decision to forego the last year of my professional contract in the S so that I could return to St itts and evis to contest the presidency number of clubs e pressed their support for me and nominated me as a candidate any meetings with member clubs were convened to discuss plans and hear their concerns and suggestions along the way n ugust th, , at the S F rdinary ongress, the ma ority of the clubs voted in favour of myself to become the new president desire to give back to football coupled with the tremendous support from the clubs was enough to convince me that this was the right step
MC: What is the most important thing about being president? AEH: To lead by e ample and implement the decisions of ongress ur member clubs have entrusted me to be the president and I will do my best to reward them MC: What challenges do you anticipate as president? AEH: ne of the challenges that
I anticipate is people adopting to change owever, this could become easier with constant dialogue with member clubs and stakeholders MC: What plans do you have as president? AEH: s president, I would like to be able to truly develop our national programs, improve infrastructure and build capacity within our membership so that
our clubs could become selfsustainable for a very long time MC: What do you want your lasting legacy to be, if someone was to describe your time as president? AEH: I want it to be remembered as the time when we were able to upgrade the football in St itts and evis to a standard that will help the country to achieve its ob ective in qualify-
ing for ma or tournaments e leaders in the region in terms of governance and all developmental areas I was able to become a professional footballer from this tiny federation and would like to see many more young players, coaches and referees achieve this ob ective as well so we re starting from the ground up to solidify the foundation to build a successful football nation
