Referees/Judges to be trained in computerised scoring

Mar 15, 2012 Sports

-Five-day seminar opens at ‘Six Heads’ Gym

Over the next five days, local boxing Referees/Judges are expected to benefit from the expertise of Association of International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) certified official, James Beckles, who began a seminar on computerized scoring yesterday, at the Andrew ‘Six Heads’ Lewis Gym in Albouystown.
The Trinidadian-based expert will seek to educate the participants on the details of the system, which he deemed an imperative process if the local officials are to remain relevant in the technological age.

Participants of the five-day event pose behind Course Instructor James Beckles and GABA officials, President Steve Ninvalle (second right), while Dexter Patterson (extreme left) and Eustace Cuffy, also share the head table.

Beckles during his discussion with the participants equated the course to a mini skirt, noting that it will be short and exciting, but long enough to cover everything.
“What’s going to happen differently from the last course we did is that we will be using the computerized system, which [the exposure] will probably be the first time for most of you. And this is what is going to carry you through so you must get accustomed to this type of scoring. It is important that you do get accustomed to it,” Beckles, who was in Guyana in January 2011 for a similar programme, stated.
“You have the Olympic qualifiers coming up in May and we have the Olympics coming up in July-August, so it’s imperative that our referees, if they have to move on and qualify for the AIBA tournaments, get a chance to use this system as much as possible. I’m hoping that we have a most enjoyable time with the system; it’s not as easy as some would think, but we will get there once I have the cooperation of the referees- I already have that of the [Guyana Amateur Boxing] association.”
The seminar, which concludes on Sunday, will be interactive and highly practical with sessions from 13:00hrs-17:00hrs daily.
President of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) Steve Ninvalle, whose entity was instrumental in retaining the services of Beckles, urged the participants to make maximum use of the opportunity, which was declared open in the auditorium of the gym.
Ninvalle noted that while he’s pleased that the referees/judges are being given an opportunity to expand their knowledge on the new rules and regulations implemented by AIBA, he’s disappointed that no boxer was in attendance.
“The thing is that I would have liked to see some of our boxers in this programme because of the fact that something like this would help them to understand boxing a little more and make them better boxers. It would have given them an opportunity to understand the difference between winning and losing, and also understand the how the [scoring] system works,” the parliamentarian said.
Ninvalle posited that courses of this nature are necessary for the growth and development of officials and boxers alike, since it serves to keep them updated on the amendments made to rules and regulations by the world governing body, AIBA.
“I’m extremely happy that we can do something like this again this year. It’s very heartening to know that we could have just called Mr. Beckles and he said, ‘yes I’m coming.’ Honestly, if we could have afforded it to have him twice or three times a year, we would have done it. It’s quite a costly exercise, but nevertheless, we have to get it done,” the GABA boss pointed out.
Ninvalle informed his association received corporate support from De Sinco Trading and Solomon’s Enterprise for the initiative and his executives are grateful for the assistance.
Meanwhile, the local Referees/Judges will have an opportunity to showcase their new found knowledge on Sunday evening when GABA stages a boxing competition on the tarmac of the Andrew ‘Six Heads’ Lewis Gym from 18:00h.