Destined to be a sports administrator

From a young age, Neil Murrell always knew he wanted to be involved in sports.

He initially had big aspirations of being a world-class cricketer, but those plans never materialised.

However, Murrell, 52, has made a name for himself as one of the country’s leading sports administrators, having worked at the National Sports Council (NSC) for over two decades.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, the current Director of the NSC explained that he was once a “very good cricketer”.

“I was Cricketer of the Year at Foundation school in 1987. I was an all-rounder who bowled leg spin. I played with the likes of Ricky Hoyte, Ron Bates and Ian Straughn. I played on that team that went to the Under-19 finals but we were beaten by the O’ Level Institute,” Murrell recalled.

“I then went on to play for BCC and UWI, under the captaincy of Ian Holder, the former principal of Parkinson, and I played with Sir Hilary Beckles and Marlon Wilson, the principal at George Lamming Primary, and we came third in the Intermediate competition.”

Murrell said he also played for Cable & Wireless. He recalled that following the end of his domestic cricketing career, he found employment at BIMAP and then the Ministry of Finance, where he worked as a project analyst.

However, his career took a twist when he saw an advertisement for the position of Deputy Director at the NSC in 1999.

“I was always interested in sports and the history of sports, and I still am. I always wanted to get involved in administration, so when the post of Deputy Director was advertised I jumped at the opportunity not knowing if I would get the post or not,” said Murrell, the father of two daughters ages 16 and 14.

Applying for the position turned out to be a life-changing experience.

He was hired for the job and joined the NSC under thendirector Erskine King.

Murrell said shortly after, the National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) was formed and he served as its secretary, a stint which lasted 12 years.

He explained that his dual roles at the NSC and NADO provided him with valuable experience.

“Those two positions collectively gave me my administrative bearings and allowed me to understand how sports systems work and how anti-doping systems work.

Barbados was the first English-speaking country to form an anti-doping commission and those two positions gave me experiences both in anti-doping and in sport,” Murrell said.

“I then became a doping control officer and I was able to sit on a number of committees and I was able to cut my teeth there, especially in the early years.

“I have now been involved not only in anti-doping, but as a trainer, training persons in anti-doping and I’ve attended several Olympics and Winter Olympics in addition to a number of regional and international meets as an anti-doping officer,” he pointed out.

Murrell said during his tenure at the NSC he developed a broad understanding of sports and its developmental issues in Barbados.

In 2016, he completed the Barbados Olympic Association’s (BOA) Executive Masters in Sports Organisational Management in 2016, with a distinction.

He was promoted to the position of Director of the NSC in 2019.

“From there I can say that it has grown by leaps and bounds. Not only have I been involved with all types of sports, but I’ve seen the growth of various sports during that time,” Murrell said.

“There’s more to be done, but I worked with McArthur Barrow in helping to formalise the World Road Tennis Federation, which helped to set up the administrative infrastructure surrounding road tennis.

“I was also involved in the early days of putting together the Inter-Parish Road Tennis Competition and also the Community Under-17 and Under-19 Football competitions as well. I’ve been around a number of different sports and I understand the nuances and intricacies of those sports,” he added.

Murrell, who recently returned to Barbados after attending the Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo, Egypt, where road tennis was showcased, said he was especially proud of the progress made by the island’s indigenous sport under his guidance.

“For me what impresses me about road tennis is the number of actors that have come together to make it happen in Barbados. Lance Bynoe, McArthur Barrow, and Dale Clarke pushed road tennis to a new level and Philip ‘Foff’ Garner as a technical official. “Now we’ve reached the point where there are clubs in road tennis, television has come on board, umpires have formed an association, technology is involved in it and what really impresses me is that Mark Venom Griffith is a guy who has used road tennis and his God-given skills to propel himself through life,” Murrell said, while also highlighting the excellent work done by Juliette Worrell in promoting women’s road tennis.

Murrell admitted though, that his biggest achievement to date was his ascension to the post of chairman of UNESCO’s Task Force on the Improvement and Refinement of the Convention’s Monitoring System (AD Logic System) in 2022.

He said what was especially humbling was the fact that he had been chosen by UNESCO and not put forward by Barbados. randybennett@barbadostoday.bb