Ephraim Penn elected as Caribbean Representative for Commonwealth Games Federation Sports Committee

Representatives of the Caribbean Commonwealth Games Associations with the Hon. Espérance Nyirasafari, Minister of Sports and Culture, Government of the Republic of Rwanda, Dame Louise Martin, DBE, President, Commonwealth Games Federation, the Rt. Honourable Patricia Scotland, QC, Commonwealth Secretary General, and Fortuna Belrose, Caribbean Regional CGF Vice President.

Dame Louise Martin DBE (Scotland) was re-elected as the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) President for a second four-year term by acclamation by delegates from the 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth attending the CGF General Assembly at the Kigali Convention Centre in Kigali, Rwanda, September 3 – 6. She became the first female to hold this office in the history of the Commonwealth Sports Movement when she was elected in 2015.

Ephraim Penn, President of the Virgin Islands (UK) Commonwealth Games Association (BVICGA) was elected to the position of CGF Sports Committee Caribbean Representative.

The quadrennial elections saw three CGF Vice-Presidents elected: Kereyn Smith (New Zealand) Chris Jenkins (Wales) and Bruce Robertson (Canada).

Three new Regional Vice-Presidents were also elected to the Executive Board: Americas with Judy Simons J.P (Bermuda), Asia with Chris Chan (Singapore) and Europe with Harry Murphy (Gibraltar).

The three other Regional Vice-Presidents were all re-elected: Africa with Miriam Moyo (Zambia), Caribbean with Fortuna Belrose (Saint Lucia) and Oceania with Hugh Graham (Cook Islands).

In addition to Penn’s election for the Caribbean, results for every position on the Sports Committee included Sani Ndanusa (Nigeria) for Africa, Linda Cuthbert (Canada) for the Americas, Lt. Gen. Syed Arif Hasan (Pakistan) for Asia, Helen Phillips (Wales) for Europe and Craig Phillips (Australia) for Oceania.

Ephraim Penn, Caribbean Representative, Commonwealth Games Federation Sports Committee with the Hon. Espérance Nyirasafari, Minister of Sports and Culture, Government of the Republic of Rwanda

“Being elected to represent the Caribbean is indeed a great honour and I acknowledge and respect the trust and confidence that is being placed in me to act in the best interests of the region,” said Penn. “I have been in seat as the BVICGA president for the past 11 years and have served in various roles on other sports related bodies and advisory committees locally and regionally since 2004. I have forged good and open relationships with my Caribbean counterparts as well as those representing countries across the world. I look forward to working with CGF Sports Committee on behalf of the Caribbean CGAs and am excited to be part of a team that will continue to move the Commonwealth Sports agenda forward.”

The Sports Committee typically meets biannually. Its key functions are to provide technical expertise and support to the Executive Board in relation to the development and management of all aspects of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games sports programmes. The Committee also engages with International Sports Federations, future host cities and bidding cities.

Penn, who has an Executive Masters of Sports Management (MEMOS)from the University of Lyon, France along with a Masters in Economic Planning and Bachelors in public Affairs from Florida Atlantic University, Florida, was a member of the VI’s 1st Track & Field team at the 1975 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Athletic Championship, Ponce, Puerto Rico and the 1976 Carifta Games, Nassau, Bahamas. He was a member of the national Softball team that competed in the 1987 Pan Am Games in Indianapolis, USA and which placed 4th – the highest team sport accomplishment at the Games for the VI – and a member of the national Softball team at the 1993 CAC Games, Ponce, Puerto Rico.

During his current tenure as president of the national Olympic Committee / Commonwealth Games Association since 2008, Penn established the Elite Athlete Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Sports and was instrumental in composing the National Sports Policy of the VI. He established the VI’s Anti-Doping Commission and is a current board member of the Regional Anti-Doping Organization of the Caribbean (RADO). He also serves as the chairman of the Long Term Athlete Development Steering Committee and is a member of the Panam Sports New Sports Commission. Following Hurricane Irma, Penn secured funding and support from Panam Sports for the rebuild of sports facilities in the VI.

Penn sat as president of the BVI Amateur Athletic Association (now known as the BVI Athletics Association) from 2006 – 2008 and led the executive which was responsible for the installation of the first MONDO Class 2 rubberized track in the VI.

In addition to the elections, the General Assembly saw the approval of a refreshed Transformation 2022 strategy and the continued evolution of the CGF’s Governance and Regulations.

Deliberations took place to further evolve the Commonwealth Games Sports Programme while the new CGF Brand and Logo was formally showcased for the very first time.

The General Assembly marked the ten-year anniversary of Rwanda joining the list of Commonwealth nations in 2009.

It was staged a year before the country hosts the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2020 with Commonwealth Secretary General the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC in attendance where she delivered a formal address to the Assembly.

Rwanda itself is the newest member of the Commonwealth, and the second country (as well as Mozambique) in the Commonwealth without historic UK ties.