Alfonso ready for tough NAAA elections

RETIRED Brigadier Carl Alfonso is ready to face off against incumbent Ken Doldron in today’s executive elections at the National Amateur Athletic Association (NAAA) annual general meeting. The elections will be the focal point of today’s AGM, at the audio-visual room of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain, from 1 pm. Alfonso, a former Chief of Defence Staff  stated as reasons for him  leading a team called “The Ambassadors” at today’s elections:  “I have been a financial member of the NAAA for a few years. “I had been approached before to contest the presidency but I couldn’t accept because I was the president of another body (the Schools Basketball Association).” Alfonso continued, “I was invited to a meeting of some of the Southern (based) clubs and I accepted the nomination to run for the presidency, simply because I like track and field.”

If elected, some of his aims would be “to produce athletes who are sound physically and academically” and “to get (the sport) to become a premium sport as it was many years ago. “You hear about the Jamaicans, you hear about the Bahamians but you don’t hear about Trinidad and Tobago,” he stressed. Is Alfonso daunted by the recent news that Olympic sprint medallists Hasely Crawford and Ato Boldon have thrown their support firmly behind the retired Sergeant Major? “Not at all,” Alfonso responded. “It is nice that Ato and Hasely have supported Doldron. I always knew that Hasely would be supportive of Doldron but Ato, his decision caught me by surprise.” What is his impression on the current leadership? “The people who run track and field are the general council, not the president and one or two people,” Alfonso replied. “The council must be given back that authority and clout.” As far as today’s voting process is concerned, the former head of the National Basketball Federation of Trinidad and Tobago stressed, “I will abide by the rules.”