The 2025 National Association for Domino Bodies (NADB)/National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) Domino Tournament is more than just a competition — it’s a catalyst for change. According to Marlon Johnson, parish organiser for St Andrew, the event aims to increase the participation of men and general involvement from senior citizens.

Speaking at the one of the competitions which was held at the National Council for Senior Citizen on Tuesday, Johnson noted that men tend to have low registration and membership rates in senior citizen clubs, and their participation is often limited in various aspects of community life, including church and education.

“This competition is really about increasing male participation and involvement. The males are from different communities, senior citizen clubs, faith-based institutions, and voluntary groups. This is one of the events, or one of our programmes for senior citizens, and we really want to use it as a catalyst to get more men out,” Johnson told the Jamaica Observer.

Johnson noted that men tend to have low registration and membership rates in senior citizen clubs, and their participation is often limited in various aspects of community life, including church and education.

“When we go into the programmes that we have, apart from sports day, we found that the men in terms of registration in the club, membership, it is rather low.

“In general, you find men participation is very low at several levels, in church, in education, and so forth,” he said.

To address this issue, the National Council for Senior Citizens is using dominoes as a vehicle to engage senior men and showcase their skills and talents.

“So we found out that we need, in terms of these men and them being seniors, we need them to be engaged. And we think dominoes is one of the vehicles we can use. As our slogan says ‘Active, Productive Healthy Aging,’ we want to bring them and showcase their skills and talent,” he concluded.

Wayne Whittaker and Ralph Joseph made their mark in the tournament, emerging as champions for the St Andrew region. They were proudly presented with the Maudlyn Davis Trophy, named in honour of NADB President Humbert Davis’s mother.

Whittaker expressed his satisfaction with their victory, attributing their success to their strategic gameplay.

“We put in the work in terms of reading the game well and playing the correct dominoes at each time. You know, you will lapse at some point, but in the end, we got ourselves together and overcame all the obstacles and won. I feel good about winning the tournament and grateful as well,” he said.

Davis expressed his pride in the tournament, saying: “Initiatives like this domino tournament align perfectly with our goals of promoting active aging and community engagement.”

— Ruddy Allen