[GOA]

GOA Executive: Left to right - Steele, Ashby, Roberts, Bruno-Victor, LaHee, Smith.

by Michael Bascombe

Long-standing President of the Grenada Olympic Association (GOA) Royston LaHee has been re-elected at the association's Annual General Meeting on Saturday.

LaHee's presidency came under threat as Veda Bruno-Victor was nominated for president but she quickly declined the nomination. He therefore, had to contend with Margaret Payne for the leadership role.

But LaHee, who has been president of the GOA since 1984, easily defeated his contender, by 11-6 votes.

In fact, Payne was the only casualty as all the other executive members were re-elected including Bruno-Victor and Lucy Steele who were returned un-opposed.

Civil Engineer, Terrence Smith was elected un-opposed to the post of treasurer as the incumbent Payne and Bank Manager Ricardo Charles both declined nominations.

Smith, whose brother Angus Smith was a past treasurer of the GOA, comes into the executive with a wealth of experience. He is a former Manager of the National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) and Grenada CableVision Ltd.

Payne was showered with praise for her dedication and perseverance in assisting the GOA in its activities. She too, expressed appreciation to the council members for their cooperation over the years.

"We'll miss the never-ending support Margaret gave to the GOA. She is a thinker and became fully knowledgeable about Olympism. In fact, she was an asset to the organisation," First Vice-President, Emmanuel Roberts said.

Representatives of cricket, track and field, tennis and swimming also expressed their appreciation to Payne.

Earlier, cricket's representative, Victor Ashby attempted to return the executive for another term en bloc. However, LaHee requested that associations be given the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to choose executive members.

The first activity for the new executive will be the Olympic Day Run scheduled for Saturday June 28. It was originally scheduled for June 22 but has been changed since it coincides with Track and Field National Championships at the National Stadium.

The following Executive was elected to serve for the current term:

Mr. Royston LaHee - President

Mr. Emmanuel Roberts - 1st Vice President

Mr. Kingsley Ashby - 2nd Vice President

Mrs. Veda Bruno-Victor - General Secretary

Mrs. Lucy Steele - Assistant General Secretary

Mr. Terrence Smith - Treasurer

Mr. Cecil Greenidge and Mr. C.K. Sylvester were also returned as Trustees of the GOA.