New holder of the Caribbean Amateur Boxing Association Association (CABA) referee/judge badge Ramona Agard has set her sights on becoming the first female Guyanese International Box-ing Association (AIBA) referee/judge. But, she told Stabroek Sport her immediate priority is to be the holder of the Continental badge as soon as she is given the opportunity.
Agard, recently qualified to hold the Level Three CABA referee/judge badge after topping the course in June last year.” I feel so happy and grateful to God for making it possible, for without him I never could have done it,” Agard said yesterday.
Agard topped a field of over 20 participants drawn from Caribbean countries such as St. Lucia, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Dominica and Jamaica.
Speaking of the course Agard said:” It was kind of hectic. I usually spent all night studying sometimes limiting myself to only one hour’s sleep.”
Agard was the only female boxer from Guyana who wrote the examination and came out on top in the practical, theoretical and oral assessments. Agard disclosed that last week-end she officiated as a CABA referee/judge at a tournament in Barbados adding that she will continue to stay active on the local and Caribbean scene.
Agard told Stabroek Sport in an interview that her boxing career started in 2003.
Her trainer then was Richard Duncan and subsequently she saw an advertisement in the newspaper about the local referee course and thought it would be good to know about the rules of the sport. Among 16 participants she came out on top of the local course in 2003 with 96.5% and she was proud of this achievement.
Agard is the second female from the Caribbean to hold the CABA badge following in the footsteps of Trinidadian Yvonne Joefield.
Agard said that it was a great opportunity for her and she expressed thanks to her sponsor Paul Cox, Manager of Hand-in-Hand Fire and to Affeeze Khan, President of GABA for giving her the opportunity.
Meanwhile the other local candidates representing the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) passed the theoretical aspect of the examination but were unsuccessful in the practical. However, they were encouraged to receive more training in the practical aspect so that they can re-sit the examination.
