x6

Planet Field Hockey

by PHILIP SPOONER
I have a dream that some day a black man and a white man will shake hands and walk out onto the turf to umpire the Olympic field hockey final.

And that black man will be me!

That’s the dream of a King – not Martin Luther, but Barbadian Jason King, who spoke of his lofty ambitions of reaching the highest level of officiating in the sport.

“World Cup and Olympics; those are my goals,” said the 29-year-old as he watched Barbados lose 1-2 to the United States on Saturday at the Astroturf of the Pan American Games Sports Park.

“Before I retire I would like to reach the top in the sport. I started three years ago, and the retirement age is 47. So I’ve got another 18 years potentially to umpire at this level.

“It’s just a matter of me doing well at this level and maybe I’ll get appointments outside of the Pan Am region.”

King follows the footsteps of the well-respected Cammie Burke who became an active international back in 1982 and has been an outstanding official over the years.

Another Barbadian, Roger Broomes, is also at this level. During the Pan Am Games, Trinidadian Donny Gobinsingh has also been handling the whistle.

The confident King said he has enjoyed every moment in Santo Domingo, and though he does not foresee doing the final this week, aims to continue to strive for excellence.

“I do not think I will do the final as they are more experienced umpires here,” said the former Harrison College student. “But the aim, as always, is to give 100 per cent.

“The tournament has gone quite well (for me). I had three games so far and I believe I did well in all of them. The level here is higher as we can see from Barbados’ experience.

“Seeing that the standard is a lot higher it would help to improve my umpiring.”

King is no stranger to sports at the national level.

He was the Barbados wicket-keeper at the West Indies Under-19 Tournament in 1992. He also played for Empire and Carlton in the Division 1 competition.

He is the son of former Barbados cricketer Tony King, and Jocelyn King, who was an outstanding hockey player for Barclays. She is now manager of Empire’s women’s team. His sister Jolene is a former Barbados hockey player.

A graduate of the University of the West Indies, he spends his “off-time” as a certified general accountant at Ernst & Young.

“The sky’s the limit, that’s my view,” he said.

We’ll see you on the mountain top, young King!

Rate This Article

Select Here  5 Stars  (Best Rating)   4 Stars   3 Stars   2 Stars   1 Star  (Worst Rating)

Your opinion counts.
Rate this article or enter your comments below.