QPCC Votes On Allowing Women

On Thursday at 5:00 p.m., the Queen?s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) in Trinidad & Tobago will host a special general meeting to vote on the controversial issue of female membership.

For the last three years, this has been a burning issue with the club pushing for a change in thinking but the majority of members are still not in favour of allowing female membership. On the table at this meeting will be two resolutions that could change the face of the Queen's Park Oval, both literally and figuratively.

The first resolution is an affirmative statement that women are eligible for admission to all classes of membership of the club and girls are eligible for admission to Colt membership.

The second resolution proposes amendments that are necessary to bring the club's rules in line with this position.

QPCC president Willie Rodriguez, in a letter dated September 21st, urged members to support the resolutions "in the best interest of the club."

"The Committee is of the view that in the current social environment, it is imperative and in the best interest of the Club to admit women and girls to Membership. I would therefore encourage members to cast their votes in favour of the resolutions proposed by the Committee," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, however, admits that there are problems. "As this notice was being prepared the Committee received a requisition pursuant to Rule 30(2) from 50 members of the Club proposing an alternative amendment to the Club?s Rules. This alternative amendment in accordance with Rule 30(2) will also be considered at the Special General Meeting on October 21st, 2004. The requisitioners have proposed an amendment which, if passed, would prohibit the consideration of a vote on the introduction of female members prior to June 2007. The requisition further proposes that if in 2007 such a resolution is defeated in 2007 that it cannot be reopened for a period of at least three years," he said.

But QPCC president maintains, "The Committee does not support the amendments to the Rules proposed by the requisitioners and encourage members to cast their votes against these resolutions."

Queen's Park Oval VP Bruce Aanense also supported the change to allow female membership. "The Club is at a critical point in its development and the time has come to shake off the old traditions and embrace the future. If we hope to continue to enjoy International cricket and be the envy of all other clubs in the region, we simply must change," he told members in an e-mail.

"On the question of continued International cricket being played at the Oval, we need to take note of the fact that the Prime Minister has publicly indicated that he has a problem in providing funding to the club pre Cricket World Cup 2007 because of its policy on gender discrimination. In furtherance of this position, the Prime Minister has commissioned the construction of a new cricket facility in San Fernando which will be completed by 2006. His intention is to have World Cup games at this facility and not at the Oval," adds Aanensen.

"Your Management Committee has already done all that is necessary to ensure that this does not happen. We have been given a guarantee by the appropriate authorities that the cricket will be at the Oval. We must however ensure that post 2007, we continue to enjoy the same amount of International Cricket, and to this end we have developed a plan to address this issue. We are confident that we will be successful in this regard."

A very passionate Bruce Aanensen continues, "Additionally, the WICB at a meeting held last year, unanimously agreed to adopt the position of the Caricom Heads of Government that they would not support any clubs or associations that practice any type of discrimination. While they have not made an issue of this with us to date, there remains a risk that they may adopt policies in the future that will not be in our club?s interest."

Another issue is the fact that sponsors at the QPCC are also objecting to the alienation of women from the club. "Many of our major sponsors have indicated that they are unable to support the venture under the present gender discriminatory policy of the club. It is against this background that your Management Committee initiated dialogue with the membership two years ago and provided members with every opportunity to voice their views and to listen to those of others which may differ," notes Aanensen.

"Unfortunately, a group of members have proposed a counter resolution to block the progress of the club. From my own perspective, this is a group of uninformed or misguided individuals who appear to have their own agenda, which is certainly not in the best interest of the general membership. Their attempt to prevent the progress of our club and to doom it to be a white elephant in the future simply cannot be allowed to succeed."

* Andre Baptiste is a popular radio personality in Trinidad & Tobago. He writes a weekly column in the Trinidad Newsday newspaper.