As we celebrate International Women’s Day. The two emerging themes this year surrounds Choosing to challenge and Women in leadership.
Therefore, there would be conversations surrounding biases and challenging misconceptions and women leadership.
The UNDP noted “This year’s International Women’s Day is like no other. As countries slowly recover from a devastating pandemic, we have the chance to finally end the exclusion and marginalization of women and girls…It is time to finally fully harness the power of women’s leadership to realise a more equal, more inclusive, and more sustainable future.”
The North Zonal Council would like to celebrate this auspicious occasion by highlighting “Women of Power” in the North Zone all week. Each day we would be highlighting their stories and how they #ChooseToChallenge.
Trudy Darmanie-Joseph
- Can you tell us a little about yourself, and your career in sport?
“I am fifty-six years old and have been umpiring cricket for over ten years. Before actually starting off in umpiring, I played netball at school and club level but stopped to play wind ball cricket at club level and at a national level. I have travelled to other islands in the Caribbean to play and even captained the National team. Never thought that being afraid of getting hit by playing hardball cricket in my younger years that I will be umpiring now.”
- What was your motivation to choose this career path or get involved in sport?
“Playing cricket brought about an interest for officiating mainly due to the fact that the officials were lacking experience and the decisions being made were not in the best interest of the game. Joining the North Zone Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association gave me an opportunity to learn the Laws of the game. It also gave me an opportunity to be involved in the sport even when I stopped playing.”
- What advice do you have for young girls/women wanting to choose a profession in sport?
“My advice to young girls/women will be to pursue their dreams in whatever career they choose. It is the love for that career that enhances the drive for excellence, hard work and determination is a requirement to achieve success.”
- Can you describe any major challenges you faced as a woman in this industry?
“The major challenges faced are that there is a distinct feeling that men are better at being an official than women. It is said that women have no place there. This is shown especially when I have to umpire some men’s game. The players challenge the women umpires more than our men counterparts and throw insults towards us women.”
- What has been your biggest highlight in your career within the sports industry?
“The biggest highlight thus far has been accomplishing being the number one umpire in the Caribbean in the oral and practical exams with 98.5% in the year 2012.”
- What do you think are some of the major misconceptions as a professional woman in sport?
“Women are incapable of making sound and rational decisions in a game. Mainly, women are viewed as being emotional and tend to make decisions based on how they feel at the time, which has no bearing on the game.”
- When you started your career to now, how has the treatment/acceptance by men changed towards women in that space?
“For me, the respect has grown both by my peers and the players. I have been rewarded for my diligence and have been appointed and elected at various levels of my organization. The acceptance towards women is slowly showing across the board.”
- What do you think is the biggest barrier in driving visibility of women’s sport in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean Region?
“The biggest barrier is that the avenue for encouragement is limited for women. Having to umpire at some venues there are no toilet facilities. The National Council for Umpires in Trinidad and Tobago needs to do more to encourage women to come out and be part of the sport. This Includes the Region.”
- Can you name some other women in sport athletes or administrators that you admire and why?
“I always admired Serena Williams in tennis and Stephanie Power in Cricket, their determination to never give up no matter what they say or do to them they fight and never gave up to be the best in the world.”
- What were some of the things that you enjoyed doing during the Covid19 quarantine stay-at-home periods?
“I enjoyed the training that continued virtually within my organization NZCU&SA. The virtual training with some of my distinguished colleagues like Peter Nero, Joel Wilson, and Gregory Brathwaite which they all have a wealth of knowledge about the Laws and helps to keep me sharp and prepared for whenever we get back on the field of play during or after the Covid pandemic.”
