Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

Former national goalkeeper and vice-president of the Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF), Dana-Mae Crawford, has stepped down from the top rank, citing increased work commitments as the reason for relinquishing her post.

A release from the JHF yesterday noted that Crawford had tendered her letter of resignation to the board of directors with effect from January 9.

The St Andrew High School and St Lawrence University past student has served in the post since November 2006.

However, Crawford will continue to serve as a member of the Pan American Hockey Federation Development and Coaching Committee, a position she holds until 2011.

"It's really bad timing right now for me to have to do this, but I will still be working very closely with the federation," Crawford told The Gleaner.

In the interim, she will continue to assist the JHF board in concluding several critical matters, including the national women's hockey team's participation in the 2009 Pan American Cup in Bermuda from February 6-15.

She will also assist in ensuring a smooth transition until a replacement has been chosen.

"I will continue to work with the coaches. We had challenges here and there, but I think we worked very well to be where we are today. There are various programmes I was able to start and work in different areas of the national programme," she said.

Crawford has also indicated her willingness and interest in continuing to be a part of the JHF's women's coaching and development committee.

President of the JHF, Victor Tomlinson, in lauding the contributions of Crawford to the development of hockey at both the local and regional levels, stated that the federation has to ensure that a suitable replacement is found.

"Her performance has been quite good. She is a very hard worker, is committed to the sport and has excelled at the local and international level," Tomlinson said.

He stated that there are two processes of finding a replacement - either by the holding of an election or by selecting someone.

"The election year is not until November, so we are not sure which process we are going to use yet," he said.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com