Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

Marc Anthony and father Guy Eaton. - Contributed

THEY ARE the unsung heroes of motorsport. Without marshals, the much-loved sport could not have taken root in Jamaica. Marshals are charged with various responsibilities, from service halts to stop lines. They keep rallies on the rails and at sprints, monitor hill climbs, kart races and trials, and even provide life-saving safety cover.

"Sometimes we have to work under difficult conditions: rain, sun and the dust. Our main problem at the moment is finding enough dedicated marshals," commented Wendy Dressiki-Gordon, secretary of the Marshal Club of Jamaica.

She has been with the Marshal Club for the last six years, and even during her pregnancy she was actively involved in the sport, officiating at a number of events across the island.

disappointed

However, many of them are disappointed that they have not received the level of respect they deserve. "We frequently have to give up weekends and public holidays to officiate across the island, and our work and worth have largely gone unnoticed," one marshal told Automotives.

"Anything goes wrong, marshals get the blame. Even the spectators curse us sometimes when we try to tell them the right thing," said Dressiki-Gordon, who was named last year as the most outstanding marshal by the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club (JMMC).

President of the JMMC, Errol Anderson, said more marshals were needed in Jamaica, but stressed that it was difficult to get people to become marshals. At present, there are about 70 marshals in Jamaica.

"It is a voluntary job, they don't get pay. It is something that you have to love, you have to be dedicated," said Anderson.

At the Marshal Club, interested persons are properly screened and evaluated before they are allowed to serve as marshals. Like the 'sport of kings', without the stewards there can be no horse racing, and like football and cricket, without referees and umpires there can be no game.

Motorsport is dangerous, and for many decades the marshals have been doing an excellent job, ensuring that the events in Jamaica are incident free, whether at Dover, the go-kart track or the JMMC events.