TT Cycling Federation president Rowena Williams appointed COPACI voting delegate to International Cycling Union

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Cycling Federation (TTCF) president Rowena Williams has been appointed the Pan American Cycling Confederation (COPACI) voting delegate to the sport’s governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI).

Williams was elected to serve the region in this capacity after the regional federation’s elections on Tuesday. She received 21 of 72 votes cast from a slate of five women. Argentinian Lina Luco earned 16 votes and was appointed as the region’s substitute voting delegate for the UCI Congress.

The other candidates were Sharon Lowe (Anguilla), Cassandra Murray (Antigua) and Ximena Martinez (Uruguay). Voting was monitored by Lumi Blobal, an online platform provided by the UCI.

Williams, who was appointed local cycling president in February, previously held this position in COPACI for one year during her four-year reign at the helm of TTCF back in 2010 to 2014.

She believes this is a step in the right direction for regional cycling and also affords TT a vote in the decision making processes for COPACI, through UCI.

“This means the region has accepted my nomination to be one of the region’s representatives and it will allow me to have a say in any decisions that are to be made at the UCI level.

“I think it augurs well for us. Once we go to the congresses, only voting delegates are allowed to make any contributions or have a vote in decisions that are being made at that level.

“It’s an opportunity for TT to have a say and a vote in any decisions being made at that international level,” said Williams.

COPACI hosts its regional congress annually and two persons are elected to be voting delegates to the UCI Congress.

Williams added, “This year, an election year for the UCI more so, we would have a say in any position being nominated for the international body, we would have a vote in who fits in there.”

She also said that COPACI amended its constitution last year where it now requires more women to be part of the delegation. In their congress earlier this year, they did not have the numbers of females on the delegation and as such, the voting process was delayed up until Tuesday.

The UCI has placed more emphasis on seeking gender equity within the organisation. Williams and Luco’s recent appointment is a part of their plan to create a more balanced gender-based committee at the leadership.

“Gender equity is one of the areas the UCI is pushing forward with in terms of women in sport, leadership as well as participating in events. They are high on women being a part of the whole operations.

“At the last COPACI Congress, it was announced that more females are coming to the forefront and being appointed as lead administrators of cycling,” Williams concluded.