Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

Prendergast

A CONCERTED effort will be made to increase the numbers and time of duty for football referees through a recruitment drive that will target tertiary and high school students.

This plan was publicised by Captain Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), and Peter Prendergast, chairman of the JFF Referees Committee, at Saturday night's Jamaica Football Referees Associa-tion (JFRA) 60th anniversary banquet.

Middle men

Glowing tributes were paid to football's trendsetting middle men at the event dubbed 'Memories of Yesteryear', that was held at the Hilton Hotel in honour of referees who had served from as far back as 30 years or more.

"This is a very special day in the life of our football and the life of our referees," declared Burrell in the main address. "Many referees of the past have given yeoman service to the sport ... and have created a path for our young referees."

Noting the achievements of locals Owen Powell, Prendergast and Paulette Riley, who have officiated at FIFA World Cup tournaments, Burrell said: "Getting a Jamaican participating in one of those games is not an easy feat. It's a tremendous achievement.

"It makes me as a Jamaican very proud we are small, as a country we are also well respected on the international platform."

He went on to point out that "... FIFA has decided to invest a huge sum of money for referee development, to improve the standards at all levels to complement the sport.

"Based on the plans of FIFA we'll have to start recruiting younger referees. Refereeing is so important that we'll leave no stone unturned. We're going into the high schools and tertiary institutions. The sky's the limit," said Burrell.

"We are going to be going into the schools come January and we are going to be targeting people as young as 18," Prendergast pointed out.

"This is the way we want to go, we want to get the youth in early so that they can get a full run so that at age 25 they will be eligible for FIFA," added Prendergast, himself a former FIFA referee.

He also challenged referees of the day, saying "... the foundation set ... must be used as a stepping stone."

Compliment

Ambassador A.B. Stewart Stephenson, president of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association, paid a great compli-ment to the JFRA, saying: "Many institutions never last a year ... much less 60. We must also recognise that over the years Jamaica has produced a number of FIFA referees."

He added: "I have a healthy respect for referees ... who I call the 'judges'. They are the persons who balance the scales on the field and deliver justice. There'll be no games without referees."

As such, he noted "They must be men of character."

This point was expounded on by Burrell.

"Refereeing is one of the most important aspects of football. We must respect referees, but they must also respect themselves. A referee is a role model," he said, imploring "referees, your deportment, your character is very important."

The honourees were all presented with plaques. They were: Charles 'Charlie' Barrett; Audley Grant; Warrick Brown; Winston 'Dirks' Campbell; Noel Irons; Horace Lewis; Neville McLaren; Ken Chaplin; Newton Morgan; Errol Moodie; Owen Powell; Keith Reece; Peter Reid; Clayton Solomon; Noel Smith; Stan Strachan; Karl Stewart (posthumous); Winston Taylor; Leslie Wright; Audley Brandt; Edwin Murray; Martin McLevy and Clarence Cooke.

Special Awards for the 1960s were presented to Taylor, Chaplin and Stewart; for the 1970s to John 'Bulla John' Richards, and 'Dirks' Campbell and for the 1990s to Powell and Solomon.

Special presentations were given to former JFF Referees Commission chairman, Horace Lewis, and Prendergast "for his contri-bution to the upliftment of referees and the profession."