Nicole Grant is of the view that the new additions to the board of the Jamaica Amateur Gymnastics Association will bring the required dynamism needed to take the sport forward in Jamaica.

Grant was returned as president for another term during a virtual Annual General Meeting held on Sunday evening. During her new term, Grant said the objectives are clear.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to once again win the confidence of the members of the Jamaica Amateur Gymnastics Association to have me as their president for another four years.

“We are going to be focusing on strengthening our parent and club relations. Most important, we are seeking to strengthen our administrative division, focusing a lot on the education of our members. We will definitely be putting in a lot more work on fundraising and partnership relations to maintain our programmes, especially our Youth Olympic Programme,” she said while explaining that the new members of the board possess the requisite skill sets to make these goals attainable.

“We do have a couple of new injections to the board that are experienced in the fields that they are elected to be and we hope that with this new personnel, we will have a more vibrant board that will help us to move the sports of gymnastics further to the goals that we want to achieve.”

Among them is the new vice president for international relations, Ms Shenice Martin. Martin, who is based in the United States, previously served as the director of club affairs and, according to Grant, has been doing tremendous work in the United States to help to build the sport locally.

There is also a new director for officials development and parent relations in the form of Mlela Matandara-Clarke, who is a lecturer at the University of Technology, an architect as well as a business owner. She has worked in the field of sports development in New Zealand for many years, Grant said.

“We have also added Brian Mighty, who is the director of fundraising and maintenance. A pastor and business owner, Mighty has been with the association for some time as a parent of two young gymnasts.

Also new on the board is their honorary treasurer Khaldia Russell, who is currently a financial controller and has been working in the field of finance and accounts for many years.

“We have a new assistant secretary, Mrs Margaret Facey-Dobbs, who has had many years of experience in the field working with children, especially in the field of social work and administration and we are very pleased that she also has experience as a child psychologist, who will help us with our goal to prepare our youngsters mentally from as early as possible,” Grant said.

“We are pleased we have a new set of experts who can help us move the association and the sport of gymnastics forward.

“We seek to continue the development of our athletes from the grassroots level with a special focus on their holistic development. We are also seeking to improve on our infrastructure, not only in Kingston but also in other parishes in Jamaica.”