AS the sporting community grieves the sudden passing of Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) president Howard Aris, once again the transience of life is brought into focus and emphasises the importance of maximising the time one has been afforded.

Just last week, the international sporting fraternity also lost one of the legends of boxing in ‘Smoking’ Joe Frazier, one of the few fighters with the distinction of defeating the popular and inimitable Mohammed Ali throughout his distinguished and immensely colourful career.

Jamaicans of yesteryear would have been fortunate to have got a first-hand look at Frazier when he battled that giant George Foreman in an action-packed heavyweight contest here in Kingston on January 22, 1973.

At that time, the local boxing board was obviously at the zenith of its visionary capacities and relentlessly pursued opportunities to position the sport of boxing as an authentic career choice for Jamaican youngsters.

Aris was one of the true heroes of local track and field and is perhaps best remembered as the individual who pulled the strings when his alma mater Kingston College chalked up a record 14 successive Boys Champs titles between the 1960s and 1970s.

A natural leader who was never undaunted by the prospect of decision-making, Aris was thrust into the limelight from his early years at KC where, among other things, he was the captain of the athletics team in the 1950s.

As president of the local track and field body for the past seven years, it is no coincidence that Aris was at the helm when Jamaica enjoyed its most productive period ever in the international athletic arena — notably, between 2008 and 2009 in Beijing and Berlin, respectively — since the consensus from those who knew him is that he was really gifted in the art of persuasion and was a natural motivator of young athletes.

It, therefore, comes as little surprise that Aris was also a past president of the Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) and the Sports Development Agency (SDF), which brings to the fore his tremendous achievements in sport administration in a relatively short period of time.

Given his impeccable record as a leader, neither should it be a surprise that, for some time, Aris was an integral member of the IAAF’s Youth Commission and, in fact, was on Thursday re-elected to that position in Monaco, even in his absence.

My most vivid impression of Aris was his almost nonchalant eloquence and ability to effectively negotiate any situation, or ‘thinking on his feet’ — skills that seem to defy too many of our current sport administrators, but which was effortlessly executed by an individual as assured og his own knowledge and ability as he was in the potentialities of those around him.

Again, Aris always seemed to have his wits about him and the diplomatic aura in which he was shrouded went a far way in diffusing potentially explosive situations — qualities that are as rare nowadays as they are necessary in a society where, sadly, the loudest shouters seem to be accorded pride of place.

A pragmatist, Aris would not have skipped a beat after a major setback such as this — recognising that the show must go on — and it would have been his desire to see the local administration ploughing on with its preparations for its next major assignment — the London Olympic Games in 2012 for which he and his team were already making meticulous logistical arrangements.

Fittingly, sprinting great Donald Quarrie and former JAAA head Neville ‘Teddy’ McCook embodied this spirit by succinctly stating that the work initiated by Aris will continue, despite his sudden passing.

According to McCook, himself an eminent and longstanding sports administrator, “We are going to be poorer for it, but what we have to do is make sure that the things that we now do reflect the things that he wanted to do but didn’t get accomplished.”

In true athletic parlance, the charge, therefore, is for another visionary to graciously accept the baton passed on by Aris to ensure the nation continues its relentless groundwork for one of the biggest sporting spectacles of this era next summer.

Further, in selecting a new leader, the JAAA executive should be cognisant of the legacy that has thus been bequeathed, and in recognising it has big shoes to fill, put their collective shoulders to the wheel to enhance and perpetuate the country’s newly-acquired dominance in the field of athletics.

What is definitely not required at this stage is even a semblance of discord, but rather, a unified approach that, out of respect for its late leader and others who have gone before, will ensure a seamless transition towards a new but equally effective dispensation.

For, the truth is that while great leaders are hard to find and even more difficult to replace, as Warren Bennis asserts, “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”

The degree to which this philosophy is appropriated within the Jamaican context should be underpinned by the work ethics of Aris, and indeed, in the foresight and enthusiasm he brought to the administration of sport.