Mavis Johnson

Overview

Ricardo Innis, the well-respected cricket author, reported in March 1986 that Mavis Johnson created history by becoming the first woman to serve on any executive committee in the game of cricket in the United States when she was elected as Recording Secretary for the New York Metropolitan and District Cricket Association.

Marvis is a female cricket administrator in a class of her own, who has not only served the game for over 35 years continuously but also as an administrator in three cricket clubs and either as Correspondence Secretary or Recording Secretary to five league presidents. The lack of appreciation for her stellar efforts did not deter her from performing at the highest levels. Mavis gave her heart, soul, and loyalty to cricket and the Metropolitan Cricket League (MCL). She was born in the district of Vere in the parish of Clarendon in central Jamaica. Vere is a hotbed of sports activities and is the home of Vere Technical High School, which from 1976 to 2012, has produced 41 national track and field athletes who have gone on the represent Jamaica in the Olympics, more than any other high school in the same parish, where she developed a love for track and field and netball. She soon achieved her ambition to attend "Vere Tech" but did so for only one year.

Mavis was introduced to the game of cricket at an early age but at that time there was no encouragement for female cricketers. However, her love for the game continued when she migrated to New York in 1977 and was introduced to Jamaica Athletic and Social Club (JSAC), a member of the MCL, by some of her parishioners. Her immediate work ethic so impressed her clubmates that the next year they elected her secretary. Within five years, she was elected president, making her the only known female president of a cricket club in the USA. JSAC won the league competition in 1977, 1981, and 1982 and finished as runner-up on many occasions. She was successful in acquiring two cricket grounds at Floyd Bennett Field. When JSAC was disbanded, she joined Mid-Islanders Cricket Club where she served as secretary.

In 1986, Mavis was unanimously elected as Recording Secretary of the MCL while Derrick Scott was president. She continued to serve the league either in that position or that of Correspondence Secretary until 2004. During the 1990s, New York Inter-League and Red Stripe competitions were the leading competitions in the USA, Marvis went beyond the call of her secretarial duties to serve as Assistant Manager of the League's which only lost one game in five years in the seven-team competition. She was the team "mother", scorer, caterer, chauffeur, and psychiatrist. She also served on the managing committee of Team Jamaica. Marvis arranged regular All-Star games in Poughkeepsie where the rest of the league would travel north for a day of cricket and fun. She was instrumental in arranging cricket tours to Jamaica by the league during the 1980s when the team would travel to Jamaica every other year. Among her other cricket involvement were the MCL's Under-23 team and invaluable assistance to the organizers when the first female cricket team in the USA was formed in New York in 2003.

Except, for a short stint with New York Telephone Company, Mavis has worked continuously in the banking industry beginning with Marine Midland and continuing to the bank of New York where she worked for 21 years. She now works for Wells Fargo in Atlanta, having moved there in 2007. She is now the treasurer for Vibes Cricket Club and serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Supreme Cricket League