Giving back to the game

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

THE 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 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