BIRMINGHAM, England — International beach volleyball referee Kenneth Waugh is hoping that his selection to the referees’ panel at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, will motivate his colleagues back home and encourage others to get involved in officiating in the sport.

Waugh is one of 14 referees selected to officiate at the games and is the only official from the Caribbean region to have been given the opportunity.

He is hoping that this experience will prepare him and create an opening for the realisation of his professional ambition, which is to officiate at the Olympic Games.

His immediate goal, however, is to add energy to the sport in Jamaica and drive up the number of certified referees on the island.

“I am hoping that it would have a great influence on the programme. I’m also the president of the referee association back home, so this is also a stepping stone for my referees back home to see where I’m at, where I’m going, and with the full knowledge that they can also make that progress,” Waugh told the Jamaica Observer.

“I’m also trying to get other members of the referee panel to become international referees as well. It is important that I am not the only one here.”

Among his targets is the recruitment of more referees to the local panel, particularly female officials for the beach volleyball circuit.

“We definitely need a lot more referees out there — at least 15 more to be exact because, at each tournament, you’re required to have approximately 10 referees.”

Waugh, who is officiating at his second Commonwealth Games after also featuring at the last instalment in Gold Coast, Australia, described the experience.

“It can be scary, in the sense that you come across a lot of international referees that are far more experienced than you are, some of these have done multiple Olympic Games. But you tend to learn from them and I’m looking forward to that; it’s honestly a great experience,” Waugh said.

Meanwhile, president of the Jamaica Volleyball Association Jacqueline Cowan hailed Waugh’s success as an important aspect of the association’s plans to grow the sport and increase the officiating capacity.

“We’re proud of Kenneth because he is the only international beach referee that we have in Jamaica. He’s gone on several tours, including the last Commonwealth Games, so we’re hoping that we have some other referees that will be able to follow in his footsteps. So far, we have two females who are the only continental referees in the Caribbean, so we’re hoping that they’ll get to the next level,” said Cowan.

“What we’re trying to do is push more beach volleyball in Jamaica so with that, we’ll need more officials, more referees, so Kenneth being at that level, he will be able to be part of the group that will actually train the new referees coming up with looking at maybe starting beach volleyball in the schools. So, it is a big step for us,” she added.

— Andre Lowe