A champion for gender equality and women empowerment in her own right, Pride of Gall Hill Football Club member Tricia Browne has thrown her hat in the ring to contest for the position of treasurer at the Barbados Football Association’s (BFA) Annual General Meeting
The meeting is scheduled for Sunday, March 20 at the BFA’s headquarters in Wildey, St. Michael and Browne, a social worker by profession, is a first-time contender.
During a telephone interview with Barbados TODAY, Brown stated that she believes in the BFA members and their support for her.
“I am always confident but not overconfident. But I am confident that I can get in there and create some change. So, it is not only about getting in there but creating change and positive ones,” Browne explained.
Over the years Browne has worn many hats in local football since her son Shakeel Browne, now 23 years old started playing at age eight.
She has managed Pride of Gall Hill Junior clubs, the University of the West Indies Premier League men’s team and the David Thompson Christ Church East Central team from its inception in 2012. Browne is also part of the organizing committee for the Caribbean Children’s Charity Shield Soccer Classic which started in 2016 and is played around the region.
Browne believes in opportunities where she can grow and flourish in environments. Therefore, it was no surprise when she took part in the Barbados Olympic Association and Sports Community Leadership program as one of the coordinators for peacebuilding and promotion projects held annually in May.
“I like to grow and whether it be treasurer, president, any position that is open, I would have gone for because I want to see some type of positive change in football. I think football is stagnant right now in Barbados and I want to see it grow.
“My son is overseas on a soccer scholarship and I am affiliated with a number of colleges and universities in the USA through him and his coaches. So, there are a lot of gaps that need covering, there are a lot of athletes out there who reached out to me through him and complained about various things that are happening and that we don’t know about. It makes me recognise that we are far back. So, we need to just get football back on track again,” Browne said.
She added: “Coming from the background of a social worker, I want to be able to promote social justice and social change by focusing on the needs of the players. Both individual and environmental, so I am not only looking at the players themselves, but I am looking at the environment in which they are competing. And the environment doesn’t mean the field or the grounds they are playing on but I want to be able to look at the coach, the managers, the parents, everybody in that player’s environment to move forward.
“I want to be able to link soccer with mental health, nutrition, crime, academics, those are some of the topics I want to look at. I want to be able to create mentorship programs in particular in colleges and universities overseas and provide financial assistance. I have a lot of men that are overseas in universities and colleges and are struggling, not struggling only financially but mentally.
“I got men that are saying ‘mom I want to come home’ – these are my son’s friends – because we send them on scholarships but we have not prepared them mentally. Some of them are breadwinners and support people in the home. So we need structure and we don’t do that, we just send them out there.”
A strong believer in sports and education, Browne also would like to see mentorship programs put in place for Barbadian footballers on scholarships. She encouraged other Barbadian sportspersons, especially footballers who have studied overseas on scholarships to reach out to others and share the knowledge, whether it be on climate change, culture shock and any other areas of interest.
There is also the need to invest in grassroots programs and collaborate with the Barbados Olympic Association and various agencies that can come on board, she noted.
“We have to be able to sell football and get people to say what is in it for me. Get people to see the positive in football and move forward. One of the things we need to address as well is gender equality and I want to be able to develop gender equality policies because most of the time we talk about it but if we put it in place they know this is what we have to do. We want to be able to have more female sports executives.
“We have to break down the stereotype and promote women’s advancement. Promote professional athletes and leaders in sport. We should have more women in the BFA and I think women are great leaders and that is the way the world is moving now towards women leaders. We should be able to build respectful relationships between men and women. Talk more, let us get that conversation going. Don’t just see the women and see their bodies but see them as women, ladies, respectful,” Browne told Barbados TODAY.
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