- Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
Ambassador Stewart Stephenson, his father and his sons have all played football for JamaicaAvia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
WE KNOW Ambassador Stewart Stephenson as the accomplished football administrator who has served the sport for decades, most recently as president of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) and an executive member of the Jamaica Football Federation.
But the Ambassador, who belongs to three generations of footballers (he, his father and his sons have all played for Jamaica) is also an attorney-at-law who was admitted to the Bar in Jamaica on October 1979, and a diplomat with an interesting career in this area.
In his spacious office on Old Hope Road, an award from Kingston College, his alma mater, reads: Award For Excellence: To A. B. Stewart Stephenson, distinguished alumnus, for his work in Law, International Trade, Commerce and Sports."
It was in January 2001 that Ambassador Stephenson joined the foreign service and served firstly as Jamaica's Consul General to Toronto, Canada. Then, in May 2002, he was sent off to the Republic of Cuba as Jamaica's Ambassador.
Before this, Ambassador Stephenson was a member of Jamaica's delegation at CARICOM Inter-Government Task Force Meetings on amendments to protocols VII and IX of the Treaty of Chaguaramas from February 1999 to December 2000.
CARICOM consultant
He also served as Jamaica's representative on the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) Negotiating Group on a competition policy at a later period. A CARICOM consultant, he has presented reports on projects to establish a competition commission for the region to enforce the provisions of the treaty governing competition policy, consumer protection and dumping and subsidies.
But, football and cricket were the twin passions of Stewart Stephenson from his days as a schoolboy at Kingston College (KC), passions inherited from his father and which would be later passed to his sons.
Arthur Burchell, Ambassador Stephenson's father, also went to KC and played for Wembley and other football clubs in Kingston in the 1930s and '40s, going on to represent Jamaica as a footballer. Arthur Stephenson was a wingback and played cricket as well.
Stewart Stephenson's son, Khari, was called out for the Jamaica Under-15 while at Wolmer's and today, is an all-American player. He was also called to the Reggae Boyz' team as a central midfielder. Another son, Khalil dropped out of the sport because of knee damage.
Ambassador Stephenson was a member of Jamaica's 1977 World Cup Football squad and says that he himself started playing football from Morris Knibb Preparatory School, and then Kingston College. While playing in high school, he also played for Real Mona alongside Peter Moses, Jeremy Murray and others when this club was founded in 1966.
Club member
Today, in addition to his work with KSAFA, he remains a member of the Real Mona Football Club, of which he was a founding member. He played masters league for Real Mona, snagging the championship twice.
The graduate of Kingston College attended the University of the West Indies where he did first degrees in management and law and represented both Mona and Cave Hill in cricket and football.
"When I was at university (both at Mona and Cave Hill) I pretty much chose the courses which would not come after 4:00 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m." The morning and evening hours he said were dedicated to football practice and games.
"Playing football always meant that I was healthy and fit. I was able to serve the country also and meet a lot of people through the sport. It has made my personality a gregarious one," Ambassador Stephenson says.
In the decade of the '80s, Stewart Stephenson moved fully into football administration, while at the same time proceeding to enjoy managing six state and non-governmental organisations in a dazzling career covering the areas of law, sports administration, financial regulation, competition policy, trade and diplomacy.
He served as the first executive director of the Jamaica Securities Commission (now the Financial Services Commission) from June 1994 to May 1997. He later served as the executive director of the Fair Trading Commission from June 1998 to December 2000.
Outlook asked the accomplished attorney how was it that he was able to maintain such an umbilical and active relationship with football at the national and regional level while making a duplicate contribution elsewhere in national affairs.
The ambassador credits his success in all areas of his life to his wife Wendy who was extremely tolerant of schedules that involved leaving home very early in the morning and returning late at night, sometimes as late as 2 a.m., coming in from football matches in Montego Bay.
Years of experience
His success has also been based in solid years of experience in the civil service. Two years after graduation from the law faculty, ambassador Stephenson served as administrative officer in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Development.
After being called to the bar, he worked as Clerk of the Court in the parishes of Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine and Crown Counsel in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. In 1983, the attorney-at-law established a private practice with the late W.B. Frankson before becoming the managing partner in the law firm of Stephenson, Hemming and Green in 1988.
While in private practice, he served as judge advocate for the Jamaica Defence Force Court Martial Tribunal and as an assessor, trial advocacy at the Norman Manley Law School. He also lectured on the role of the Securities Commission and Securities Law Enforcement at the Jamaica Institution of Management from 1995 to 2000.
Law practice
As soon as his contract in Cuba ended, he has returned home to pursue full-time, his law practice and the management of KSAFA.
His schedule today is a less hectic one and he gets to devote even more time to all his passions. Ambassador Stephenson loves listening to music, playing dominoes and discussing public and world affairs and, of course, involvement in football.
"There are two things I like about the game," Ambassador Stephenson says.
"First, it made me fit, healthy and alert and helped me to unwind at the end of the day. Next it allowed me to be very close to my children as the demands of my profession became more pressing."
Football, he says, has even helped him to be a good father to sons Khari, Khalil and Kamal who are all sportsmen. Wolmerians Khalil and Khari are the footballers. Khari received a scholarship to Choate in Wallenford Connecticut and still plays competitively.
Stewart Stephenson admits that over the years time which could have been spent attracting new clients to his law practice was lost but he has never regretted contributing to the sport at a national level. He is at his best, he says, in giving service.
