Karl Scatliffe (left) and Dean Greenaway

Photo Credit: File

Karl Scatliffe (left) and Dean Greenaway

Photo Credit: File

Long-serving athletics coach and former Olympian, Karl Scatliffe plans to contest the seat of President when the BVI Athletics Association (BVIAA) holds its elections later this month, but has accused the current executive led by Dean Greenaway of trying to influence the outcome.

Speaking with BVI Platinum News, Scatliffe said that he is "very troubled" by a decision taken by the executive not to allow new members to participate in the October 15 elections.

"I have a problem with that because it seems as if there is a coup. We have a body of members from four years, but no kind of information has been going out to them and the year of election you solicit funding from them and then no one else can come in. That is a coup and you are trying to protect yourself. I have a problem with it. There are lots of parents who send their kids out there and want to be members of the association," Scatliffe stated.

Scatliffe plans to meet with BVIAA General Secretary, Stephanie Russ-Penn in an attempt to have the voting process opened to new members.

He is also hopeful that all the candidates, including Greenaway, who plans to seek another term, will get the opportunity to speak to the membership and present their plans for the next four years.

Scatliffe was asked about his view of the current President and executive.

I see him [Greenaway] as a public relations officer. All I see him do is go out to competitions, take pictures and write articles; basically that's it. I have not seen any substance to show what the President has done. At the end of the year, he holds a gala and that's about it. I have seen a lot of division by the President because he only focuses on one group. There are about five other clubs out there. He gets a $20,000 grant from Sol every year and I don't see any of that come back to any of the athletes," Scatliffe stated.

He said he can do a better job at branding so that the Territory's senior athletes can help to promote the association and the BVI brand.

He said for the past four years he has watched local athletics, but he is of the view that the BVIAA did not accomplish what it was expected to achieve.

"I look at the development of our youth program. I have spoken to other counties about how they have achieved success and I think as an association, these are things we should be looking into. I am right now trying to start up pre-school games for kids between the ages of 3 and 5, then I would be looking at kiddy athletics that cater for kids between the ages of 5 and 9," Scatliffe outlined.

He added, "These are the things that are being neglected by our current President. It took the President four years to get proper uniforms for us to compete in. There used to be an officials association and a coaches association, but it seems that everything fell apart. I tried to find out what were the problems and the same reason kept coming back...they couldn't work with the man. Even his association was left standing with just about two people. Everybody else resigned."

Scatliffe stated that one of the problems he sees is that kids train hard, but competition is limited so the progression has not occurred as fast as it could.

"There are a lot of opportunities and competitions that we can go to. One of the things we need to focus on is funding. I don't see enough of that being done. When we attend a competition, basically everybody is working for free. Coaches would be out training our kids all year round and not even get a quart in their pockets," Scatliffe pointed out.

Scatliffe has been involved in basketball, volleyball, and track and field for over two decades. He has played for the BVI National Basketball Team and represented the BVI at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics in high jump.

Scatliffe is currently the Vice-President of the BVI Hoop It Up Foundation.