Tension brewing in T&T netball over ‘Island Vibes’ tournament in Jamaica

Clayton Clarke

Sports Correspondent

Public relations officer (PRO) of the Trinidad and Tobago Netball Association (TTNA) Dennis ‘Taye’ Allen is calling on the TTNA president to explain why he no longer has access to the organisation’s WhatsApp group chats.

In a Facebook post on Saturday morning, Allen revealed that “he was removed from the organisation’s Executive and Council WhatsApp group chats.” He showed pictures of WhatsApp conversations where he was removed by Blackburn from the executive chat and by TTNA assistant secretary Kathy-Ann Mason from the General Council group.

Allen, who was appointed the TTNA public relations officer (PRO) last year, explained to Guardian Media Sports that, “I was invited to the Zoom meeting today (Saturday), but prior to the meeting I had sent the questions in the TTNA Executive WhatsApp chat. When I attempted to raise the questions during the meeting, the president said she was not responding to any of the questions. I asked her if she was refusing to respond or if she was declining to respond. She repeated that she was not responding to any of the questions. Debra Maloney, TTNA supervisory member, then made a statement to the effect of saying that. ‘Madam president, you have already responded to the question.’ At that point, I made a general statement asking the members if their silence meant they were consenting to the actions of the president. No one responded.”

Allen said it was at that point that the president then gave instructions to have the secretariat remove him from the executive and council chats.

The development was made public via Allen’s REP 868 Facebook page, in which he wrote: “During a Zoom call of the TTNA Executive at 10.37am this morning, which was held to discuss matters related to the “Island Vibes” tournament in Jamaica—where the T&T U16 and U18 netball teams have now reconfirmed their participation, TTNA president Sherry-Ann Blackburn demanded Allen’s removal from the official governance group chats of the TTNA. Blackburn, citing reasons, declined to either enumerate or explain and did not provide any specific reasons for her decision.”

Allen said, “At the start, it was not a motion passed. She issued a proclamation. There was no vote. There was no seconder. The president stated that she wanted to address some “misreporting” by me on my TTGameplan social media profile. I asked her to enumerate what these were. She refused to.”

Allen said he’s attributing his recent questions in the chat as the reason for the action taken after he asked via his Facebook page the following: “Can the TTNA Executive provide a clear statement on what is true regarding the allegations of lies and deceptions mentioned by Keston John, who raised concerns in a Facebook post on the announcement on August 24 by Blackburn that the Island Vibes Netball Series in Jamaica, involving T&T’s under-16 and 18 teams, has been postponed?”

Allen’s post further asked, “How does the TTNA respond to the claims of incompetency and mismanagement, and what steps is the TTNA taking to ensure transparency and accountability in its decisions?” There were several other questions on the World Under-21 Cup qualifiers in Guadeloupe in July, the men’s team participating in the tournament in St Kitts, and funding and sponsorship.

The were five out questions with the following headings: Accountability and Transperancy, Details on the “Island Vibes” Tournament.

When Guardian Media Sports contacted Blackburn, a former national player, via WhatsApp for a response to Allen’s Facebook claims, she responded, “Good day Clayton, Happy Independence Day. I have no comments on this matter at this time.”

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