The nephew of the founding Secretary General of the Barbados Olympic Association, Michael Simmons, Erskine Simmons was introduced to the Olympic movement by his uncle in the 1980s. He was first elected as a Director of the BOA in 1986 and later elected Assistant Secretary General in 1992. In 1996 he was elected Secretary General, a position he still holds.
Mr. Simmons has vast experience in the Olympic movement and team management. His first major assignment as Chef de Mission of a Barbados team was in 1990 to the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mexico City. This was followed with Chef de Mission assignments to the 1995 Pan Am Games in Argentina and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
In addition, he has served as General Team Manager to the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, USA, the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In 1994, he was the first Barbadian to participate in the International Olympic Academy’s Young Participants’ Session in Olympia, Greece, paving the way for many other of our young men and women to follow.
During his tenure in sports administration, Mr. Simmons has served on the Executive Board of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) and is currently head of the CANOC Review Committee of the inaugural Caribbean Games, slated for Guadeloupe in June 2021. He was a member of a number of Commissions of the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization (CACSO), namely the Technical Commission and the Sports Commission. He also played a role in supervising the technical and sports areas for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games. From 1984-1986, Mr. Simmons was the Assistant Secretary of the Barbados Football Association. In 1990, he was the Inaugural President and founder of the Barbados Gymnastics Association. He is a member of the Pan Am Sports Technical Commission, the NOC’s representative on the Board of the National Anti-Doping Organization and the Arts and Sports Promotion Fund. He recently joined the National Compliance Platform on Anti-Doping.
He was twice nominated for National Sports Council award for Sports Administration and was the proud recipient of the award in 1996. In 2000, he was honoured with the International Olympic Committee’s “Sport and Universality” Trophy and in 2013 was bestowed with the IOC’s Pierre Coubertin Trophy.
For a period, he was Deputy Chairman of the National Sports Council and also a Director of the Sanitation Service Authority for a number of years. He was a member of the Ministry of Health’s Task Force for Physical Activity & Exercise.
As part of the 2014 Barbados Independence Anniversary Awards, he was conferred with a National Honour – the Barbados Service Medal (BSM).
A review of his career in business reveals he is currently a Financial Advisor with the Barbados division of Sagicor Life Inc., having joined in 1979, working through the ranks as a Pensions Specialist. He joined the financial arm of Sagicor as an advisor and has invested more than 35 years in improving the lives of his clients with guidance on life, health and general insurance products, along with mutual funds, estate planning and wealth accumulation.
Erskine Simmons, BSM
E-mail: essimmons@olympic.org.bb
Tel: (246) 422-6322 /468-7736 Cell: (246) 230-8238 FAX: (246) 427-9255