Long serving administrator, FIFA Referee, Lawrence Griffith, awarded Medal of Service

Mar 07, 2019 Sports

Lawrence Llewlyn ‘Sparrow’ Griffith, after being dedicated to the development of sports in Guyana, mainly football as a player and administrator for approximately 50 years, was awarded by H.E. President David Granger the Medal of Service for his continued commitment.

Lawrence ‘Sparrow’ Griffith on duty as Hinterland Sports Development Officer in St. Cuthbert’s Mission.

Currently, Griffith is the Hinterland Sports Development Officer (HSDO) at the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs and serves on the National Association for Women’s Football as a committee member.
As HSDO, the former competition coordinator and club licensing manager (1999- 2015) of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), has visited 12 Hinterland Communities in region 8 and has since formed sports clubs in each area.
In 1993, Griffith became an International Football Federation FIFA accredited Assistant Referee and has since traveled far and wide officiating in some of the most prestigious tournaments regionally, including the Gold Cup, Shell Caribbean Cup, CONCACAF Under-20, the International Club Championship and the CAC Games, on many occasions becoming the first Guyanese official to do so.

‘Sparrow’ Griffith officiating during a futsal competition in Costa Rica.

Relating how it all began, Griffith opined that it was more luck for him and ill-luck for a fellow counterpart, Orin Argyle, who was designated to officiate at the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in Honduras in 1994, but due to a bad knee, could not attend, just days before departure, thereby creating the opportunity for him to go.
As a player, ‘Sparrow’ was a football goalkeeper and outfitted for five clubs, namely, Lodge Rovers FC, St. Barnabas’s FC, Guyana Rice Board, Santos FC and GFC. However, the former (FIFA) certified International Assistant Referee (AR) and FUTSAL Referee has a long list of administrative roles played as well.
With his administrator cap on as early as 19-years-old, the former manager of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), was appointed to administrative roles in over 40 instances, in different sports, including, football, athletics, netball and Futsal.
During an invited comment with Kaieteur Sport, Lawrence Griffith expressed his gratitude to the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana for recognising his efforts. And, he pledged to continue being committed to sports in Guyana for years to come.