Guyana’s Dr. Karen Pilgrim remained as a Director of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization (RADO) but Patrick Werleman was elected as the new Chairman of the body following the board meeting last week.
According to a release, Werleman, the Board Member representative for Aruba, was elected to serve for the next term following the 14th Annual Board Meeting in Tortola, British Virgin Islands last Saturday.
Werleman who is also Director of Sports Development of the Aruban Olympic Committee and President of the Aruba Anti-Doping Commission says compliance with World Anti-Doping Code will be one of his major priorities for Caribbean RADO member countries.
“Even though there is a new chair and there are new Directors, the organization will continue to move forward and we need everybody to be on board. We need to communicate better, giving more physical and technical support to Board Members.
A lot of members are still not compliant, so we really need to work towards addressing that. We need to press a little harder to have everyone compliant with the Code. I think that is the most important priority we have now right.”
The release went on to state that the Outgoing Chairman Dr. Adrian Lorde, who did not seek re-election, thanked the body for the confidence placed in him since he took up the helm in 2005.
Dr. Lorde, who is the Board representative for member country Barbados, will still serve on the Executive Committee, having been elected as its new Vice President – a role in which he is pleased to contribute.
“As the World Conference is coming up in November in Poland with a new Code coming into being in 2021, there will be a need for expert leadership in the region to guide our countries further forward and to keep them compliant. The new Chair Patrick Werleman has made tremendous strides in the time he has been involved, and I think the Caribbean RADO is in very good hands.”
Werleman and Lorde will be joined by directors Dr. Karen Pilgrim (Guyana) who previously served in this role, along with newcomers Joel Johnson (Grenada) and Ephraim Penn (British Virgin Islands).
Meanwhile Curacao was also chosen as the host of the 2020 Caribbean RADO, where the organization will celebrate its 15th anniversary.
