Volleyball fraternity mourns passing of John Griffith Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

The Barbados volleyball fraternity is mourning the loss of one of the greatest contributors to the game – former president of the Barbados Volley Association (BVA), John Griffith.

Griffith passed away on Sunday, November 13 after battling illness. The 66-year-old held the BVA’s top post from 1996 until 2018. During this tenure, he also served as treasurer of the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) from 2004 to 2017 and was the former vice president of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA).

Griffith, a Fellow of Chartered General Accountants, was the financial controller of the Barbados National Bank for over two decades and he worked as the director of finance in Bermuda for three years prior to retirement.

He oversaw a golden era of Barbados volleyball where the men won 10 successive Caribbean titles and the women clinched six with Barbados’ national teams taking part in North, Central and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (Norceca) Championships, Central American and Caribbean (CAC) and Pan American Games as well as World Championship Qualifiers.

Current president of the BVA Kenmore Bynoe indicated that Griffith’s financial acumen and his style of management led to the significant maturation of the Association and Barbados’ volleyball.

“John allowed his council members to grow into their respective roles which empowered the individuals and fashioned the BVA into a very competent and stronger unit. His drive to guarantee the successful future of volleyball saw John placing the greatest of emphasis on the development of our junior players.

“John’s declaration that the national players should focus on training and playing while leaving funds-raising to the BVA played a key role in Barbados’ tremendous regional success for over two decades,” said Bynoe.

The Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) also remembered Griffith for his invaluable contributions as treasurer.

“It is with much sadness and regret that The Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) Inc. learnt of the death of our former Treasurer, John Griffith.”

“During his tenure with the BOA, he freely shared his financial expertise and established a number of accounting systems that are still in use today,” BOA said in an official statement.

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