ABOUT THE SPORTS PROGRAMME
In October 1990, the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme was established with the following mission statement:
“To develop a unique body of highly trained athletes in various sports, capable of representing the nation at the highest levels of competition, and also rounded in their social, educational and moral development.”
In 1990, forty-four athletes commenced training on a full-time basis in four main sporting disciplines; soccer, track and field, boxing and table tennis. Cycling and cricket were subsequently included in 1991 and 1994 respectively.
Since its inception members of the BDF SP have performed creditably in their respective disciplines. The BDF SP football team has won a number of local competitions and team members have successful secured attachments and contracts in countries such as the Cayman Islands, Argentina, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
The track and field athletes have also dominated local track and field events and have been successful in obtaining university scholarships in Cuba and the United States.
The Sports Programme has had equal success in other disciplines such as cricket, cycling, table tennis and boxing, with athletes participating in sporting events as far as the Mexico, India and Russia.
Some of the more notable athletes developed through the Sports Programme include:
- Christopher Henry – Boxing
- Marcus Thomas – Boxing
- Shawn Terry Cox – Boxing
- Junior Greenidge – Boxing
- Tino Best – Cricket
- Miguel Cummins – Cricket
- Mario Hart – Football
- Robert Roberts – Table Tennis
- Trevor Farley – Table Tennis
- Melissa Straker – Track & Field
- Joy-Anne Eli – Track & Field
Command Element
Sport Programme Coordinator
Captain Michael Jules
Captain Michael Jules took up the appointment of Sports Coordinator of the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme on 1 June 2010 and is responsible for the overall administration of the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme along with assisting in the implementation of sporting programmes and activities for the wider force. He had a stellar career as a high school athlete, Captaining the Lodge School Track and Field at the Older Secondary Schools Athletics Championships in 1984 and the Barbados Carifta Junior Team in 1985. He represented Barbados in Track and field from 1982 to 1985 winning a medal all four years in the 1500m and the 5000m and In 1985 received a track and field scholarship to the United States. Capt Jules graduated from Murray State University, Kentucky, the USA with a Bachelor of Science Degree…
Captain Michael Jules took up the appointment of Sports Coordinator of the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme on 1 June 2010 and is responsible for the overall administration of the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme along with assisting in the implementation of sporting programmes and activities for the wider force.
Commodore (Cdre) Errington Ricardo Shurland was appointed Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) on 1 September 2021. He enlisted in the BDF in February 1984 and in a military career spanning over 33 years, has served in various operational and administrative appointments.
Colonel Glyne Grannum joined the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) on 18 October 1985 and underwent career development training at the Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School, Chilliwack and the Combat Training Centre, Gagetown New Brunswick, Canada. He subsequently attended the Infantry Training Centre and the Signal Wing in Warminster, UK (PCBC and RSO Courses respectively), the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy; the Lester Pearson Canadian Peacekeeping Centre, the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, Kingston, the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, Toronto, the National Defence University of the People’s Liberation Army People’s Republic of China and the Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies, National Defence University, Washington. He also attended a Defence Resources Management programme at National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa, Canada. In addition to being a qualified infantry officer, Col Grannum is a qualified Regimental Signals Officer and a former Operations Officer and Finance Officer of the BDF.
Colonel Banfield joined the Barbados Battalion of the South Caribbean Force in 1941 having just left the Cadet Corps at Combermere School, and was granted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1942. He was a Platoon Commander and a Company Commander during the war and served in Barbados, Dominica (as part of the Gale Force), St Lucia and St Vincent.
Warrant Officer Class 1 Colin Marshall is a graduate of the St Michael, and was born on the 5 November 1969 and enlisted in the Barbados Defence Force on 16 August 1994. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in August 1997, Corporal in 1999, Sergeant in 2007, Color Sergeant in 2014, Warrant Officer Class Two in 2017 and Warrant Officer Class One in 2020. He was Most Outstanding Student on Junior Leadership Course in 1998, the Most Outstanding Student on Junior Non Commissioned Officer Cadre in Jamaica in 2000, best at Leadership on the Search Adviser Course in Jamaica in 2007 and the Most Outstanding Student on the Warrant Officer Course in Jamaica in 2015.
