New Ja Skeet Club pres eyes expansion

Jordan Samuda is the new president of the Jamaica Skeet Club.

He was elected recently at the club’s annual general meeting at its Portmore headquarters. He takes over from Evan Thwaites, who did not seek re-election after serving as president for the past two years. Samuda was the club secretary in Thwaites’ administration.

Samuda, speaking at the closing ceremony of the recent Tastee Inter-School Sporting Clays Challenge after hosting his first tournament as president, says he has big plans for the skeet club’s expansion outside of the Corporate Area.

“Our main focus is to build the club, (and) to continue to develop the club. When I say build the club – grow it with members and additional sponsorship. We are focused heavily at finding an offsite location. We are also focused heavily at finding and establishing a Montego Bay west location, so we [can] have a Jamaica Skeet Club West. There are a lot of hunters that shoot birds, and bird shooters in Montego Bay and Westmoreland and Sav, so we hope that we will open a Skeet Club West down that side and encourage greater membership.”

Samuda had high praise for former president and national coach Khaleel Azan, who spearheaded the Tastee-sponsored junior tournament, noting that he was pleased with the junior programme and with Azan’s impact.

“(I am) very, very pleased. Khaleel Azan has developed it and has perfected it. We have no doubt that under his stewardship, it will only continue to grow.”

“Overall, it was a fantastic tournament. We had over 12 schools that participated, close to 50 students. Slightly down from our last competition this time last year, but overall participation was strong, and the junior programme continues to grow and is the lifeblood of our club. A lot of these juniors are now in ‘A’ class and give the adults a run for their money, and we are always thankful and happy for that,” Samuda added.