Olivia Grange, minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, today paid tribute as news surfaced of the death of former Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) competitions officer, George Forbes.

In statement, Grange noted that Forbes served sports with distinction in the Jamaican school system, spending 18 years with ISSA before retiring in 2020.

Forbes died on Tuesday (November 8) at age 63, reportedly after ailing for some time.

“George was one of those persons whose name once called you automatically linked with the organisation for which he worked,” Grange said.

“He will surely be remembered for the role he played in making sports in high schools the high profile activity that it has become, he having served under three different presidents at ISSA.”

The minister added: “My sincerest condolences to his family, relatives, friends and associates and to the
sports fraternity. We will miss you, George Forbes. Rest in Eternal peace.”

In the meantime, ISSA expressed condolences to Forbes’ family and friends and stated that, during his tenure, he provided sterling leadership to the Association and was instrumental in its efforts to modernise its operations, while fulfilling its mandate of providing wholesome sporting competitions for member schools.