Francis needs to be tamed…

The concept of the MVP Track Club, home of Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter and Sherone Simpson is a welcome addition to the track and field fraternity in Jamaica. The MVP unit has been responsible for producing home-grown talent and the track and field fraternity is better positioned now more than ever.

For too many years, Jamaican athletes got grooming from primarily the American system but just over a decade ago, the country has been able to recognise the value of having physical and technical infrastructure which enables growth and development for the local talent.

So now are not only able to unearth the talent, we are also able to prepare them on our own for international recognition and continued success. We have also added to the list of opportunities for performances by hosting IAAF sanctioned meets that other international stars look forward to competing in.

While we laud head coach, Stephen Francis for his abilities, we are not in support of him maligning the integrity of a system he learnt from. His recent outbursts have been uncalled for and also baseless. I care not about his personal feelings about the personnel in the JAAA or the JOA; but there are standards which we must uphold.

Calling his colleagues “a bunch of high school coaches who do not know what they are doing” is out of order. Considering his early days in coaching was spent learning at the feet of Glen Mills. Mills has had success under his belt for some three decades, being responsible for athletes like Donald Quarrie, Raymond Stewart, Kim Collins, Carey Johnson, Garfield Campbell and now Usain Bolt. If I were to be bold and I will, while Aleen Bailey was with coach Mills, she has her better days.

Francis must and should show respect for his country and the system, and if he has suggestions for their improvement, put them in perspective and put the recommendations where they belong; not in the media.

Jamaica is now in the spotlight, not Stephen Francis and he must be brought to abide by the rules as set by governing bodies. The rules cannot be different for one set of athletes from the other. This would be a recipe for disaster.

Let us not be distracted from the task at hand and go after the best performance we could muster up for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Deal with the issues after and fix them appropriately.

Sport Tourism and Agriculture

Much has been said about the athletic prowess of Jamaicans. I could go down a list of things people have surmised about:
1. the weather
2. the water
3. the hills
…but I am here to propose that there is a direct correlation between the talent and the food…yes the food. I know you are all wondering where I am going with this.

Let’s take a serious look at where SOME of our top performing athletes are from and analyse the agricultural strength of those areas.

Jackie Pusey, Beverley McDonald are all from St. Mary; Pablo McNeill, Veronica Campbell Brown, Michael Green, Usain Bolt are all from Trelawny; we have seen what the Christiana area has produced over the last ten years in the Holmwood camp and we have a few scattered over the island.

St. Mary is the home of the best grown bananas…high in potassium and its importance to the diet is, it helps to reduce the risk of hypertension and kidney diseases. Well, what can I say about Trelawny, home of the greatest tasting yam in the world. Yam can be used to make wine, bun, cake, pudding and punch.

Let me declare that I have no scientific evidence of this correlation, however, what I can tell you is Professor Errol Morrison and Dr. Henry Lowe are working on something and I am sure they are eager to tell the world.

The Benefits

My thoughts may be trivial to some of you…but in light of creative tourism marketing we can make this an attraction. People all over the world, want to be Jamaican. They want to be a Jamaican who can run, play football, sing and dance. If for any reason they think that it is because of the food, they will come here to have the experience.

Like everything else though, it must be packaged. The organisers of the Trelawny Yam Festival may want to have home boy Usain endorse the festival with words like: Hi, I am Usain, Jamaican track and field star. I was born and raised in Trelawny and my diet must include Yam. If you want to run as fast as I can……”

Remember Jimmy Adams and Serge Island Milk? We must find creative ways and means to get more visitors to our island and if we believe our own stories, then others will hear it and believe it too.

Next Steps

If we think there is a method to our talent in sport and there is definitely a connection to be made we should make all the necessary plans to get that research going. I therefore call on the Universities of the West Indies and Technology to get the research going, so maybe in our lifetime we can know the true story.

I know my storytellers are just waiting to start writing and my filmmakers to start filming. There is a story to tell, and we need to tell it ourselves.

For all the promoters of food festivals, when you sit in your next set of planning meetings, invite one of our local scientists…you may never know what can turn up.

I want to hear from you on this one.


P.S. We can now start doing research on cassava

Special Events for Sport Tourism

Summer is here. It is an Olympic year. It is also the year when so many other major sporting events are on around the world. Some of these events are way too costly for the ordinary person, while some are more affordable. Thanks to television most of us can view even excerpts live and delayed.

At the recent Commonwealth Conference on Sport Tourism, the Director General, Commonwealth Tourism Centre, Malaysia, Abdul Rahman Shaari was quoted as saying “more and more countries are designing special events to attract tourists to their respective countries. The conference which was held in May 2008 is also reporting that the over 50 Commonwealth countries offer an eclectic blend of tourism environments, attractions, histories, interests, expectations and experiences.

Jamaica is part of that group, which has been offering and will continue to offer a unique experience. But as always, more can and should be done to attract greater numbers to the island.

I have mentioned some of the very special events we have throughout the year…the Gibson Relays, Boys and Girls Championships, May Invitational are just some of the calendar events and we need more. You would notice those events are track and field. There needs to a wider variety.

I suggest we create a sporting (special) event around the time we have the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues, so patrons can find something to do during the day. How about a rock climbing (made for TV) competition? How about a Cockpit Country Challenge? The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JHNT) could create a trail with proper signs, so it serves as a competition and also as a history lesson. These events could be packaged and sold to high-profile television networks which have these types of events in their programme schedules.

Even for Reggae Sumfest, we could design an extreme sport contest to appeal to the age-group which will more than likely attend the one-week event. Plus if MTV has an additional reason to be here in Jamaica, then why not? I think we need to seriously explore those possibilities.

The sustainability of the sport tourism product has to be guided by policy and programmes aimed at generating revenue, exposure and job opportunities. The design and implementation elements of the programme have to bear those things in mind.




Special events are not just for the moment, but instead developers of these events have a role in attracting those who
1. travel to play
2. travel to watch
3. travel to learn

Jamaica has so much to offer to all those groups. Yes we can!

Well done JAAA
If you were lucky to be at the National Stadium in Kingston between June 27 and 29, you would have witnessed one of the most exciting national track and field championships anywhere in the world. The JAAA should be commended for a great effort in organising a great event. Now the 52 athletes who have been selected are in the spotlight between August 8 and 24 in Beijing. We all look forward!

An event to witness close to the end of July…the showdown between Tyson Gay (9.68 seconds with a 4.1 m/s wind) versus Asafa Powell (9.74 seconds). Even without Bolt in the mix it is going to be a cracker. If you are close to Crystal Palace, London, you should go.

Sport Tourism Events and Branding

Carole Beckford, Contributor

Lights! Camera! Action!
June 27 - 29
National Stadium
"You would not want to miss this."

Is it a new movie? Is it the launch of a new drink? Is it Reggae Sumfest? Is it Portland Jerk Festival? No! It is the national track and field championship, June 27 to 29.

This event will be used to select the Jamaican track and field contingent for the 29th Summer Olympic Games for Beijing, China, August 8-24. This year in particular is shaping up to be one of the most, if not the most, exciting trials in a very long time.

Well, thanks to the usual top-class performances from our athletes since January, we can certainly look forward to close and nail-biting finishes in a number of events. I know you are thinking that the 100 metres for men is the stellar event, and maybe it is, but there are the 100 and 200 metres for women and the 400 metres for women which will be closely competed.

be a part of history

Wherever you are, plan to be a part of history and attend the meet for three days of 'world beaters on track'.

So the question here then is, do these major events have a brand image? Sure they do. Where else in the world can you find three or more athletes who are in the top ten in the world for 100, 200 metres (men and women) and 100 metres hurdles (women)? Nowhere else - except in Jamaica. And we should brand it accordingly. 'World beaters compete for spot on Olympic team' - a possible theme for the trials.

questions

We have to look at it from the spectators' perspectives at all times and what the expectations are likely to be and there are three questions we should try to answer:

1. What are the attributes of the event?

2. What are the benefits of the event?

3. What are the attitudes toward the event?

A lot of these questions can be answered by the media exposure, word of mouth (that is still the best tool for promotion these days); and from all the other experiences of great track meets we have hosted in Jamaica.

The Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association and its officials have to take credit for the fact that they have been hosts to well-run events for a long time and the national trials 2008 will be no different. So let's get this show on the road.

I have deliberately stayed away from calling names of these athletes and I know the sport columnists/writers will do enough of that. Needless to say, Jamaica has a plethora of athletes who can perform creditably in a number of events and they should be encouraged to 'keep on track'.

PS: Whether we get insane (Usain) or we go faster (Asafa), June 27-29 will be as good a time as ever to be in Jamaica. Book your tickets early! And remember, we have some of the finest restaurants in Kingston.

published: Hospitality Jamaica, Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Blackwell has his own rum

Entertainment guru, Chris Blackwell, has launched his own line of rum...Black(well) Gold. Blackwell is currently on his Jamaica tour, having done Kingston and Montego Bay already.

In Kingston, the launch was at Terra Nova and in Montego Bay at the Pavillion at Half Moon.

Blackwell will take the tour to other major cities across the world.

Reggae and rum...what a great combination

Cecile Levee and Blackwell sharing a joke (Photo 1)

Blackwell sharing with Lennox Lewis and his partners from J. Wray & Nephew Photo 2)

Beyond the Asafa-Bolt hype

Are the JAAA, JTB cashing-in at National Trials?
BY ANDREW HANCEL Observer staff reporter hancela@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, June 15, 2008

When Usain Bolt broke Asafa Powell's world record recently, many avenues open. Bolt and Powell are now expected to meet over the distance at the Jamaica Olympic Trials (June 27-29) in a contest that has already triggered massive interest around the globe.


Established international media entities such has BBC, ESPN, FoxSports and NBC and a host of other broadcasting agencies from as far as Japan, Italy and L'Equipe of France, have all indicated their desire to give coverage to this stellar event.




But beyond the hype and drama that is about to unfold at the National Stadium in Kingston, the issue of how the nation can capitalise on the expected influx of revenue gathers momentum.

At a glance the possibilities are endless. By virtue of Jamaica being a great tourist destination, coupled with its world acclaimed reggae music, the little Caribbean island stands to benefit immensely - if shrewdly and prudently executed - from these Olympic Trials.

From the look of things, however, the governing body for the sport, the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA), appears to have already dropped the baton.

Carole Beckford, author of the book, Keeping Jamaica's Sport on Track, indicate that another opportunity to market Jamaica via sport could go abegging.

"One of the things that we fail to do effectively is to mix sports with entertainment, because that is a package all to its self," Beckford told Sunday Observer in a recent interview.

"We've been in the Olympics for 60 years, so it's time to re-engage our youngsters and our people into Jamaica's history of... the Olympics games," she pointed.

Meanwhile, Jamaica gained invaluable experience in the hosting of major events from the 2002 World Junior Championships and the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Knowing what it takes to stage a world event, the onus is now on the key players, including the government, to bring added value to this upcoming event - arguably is the most highly anticipated pre-Olympics meet heading into the 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China.According to the website www.sportbusiness.com, Sport Tourism is a multi-billion dollar business and one of the fastest growing of the US$4.5 trillion global travel and tourism industry.

But delving into this is relatively virgin territory in the Jamaican context and for the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), notes Beckford.

"It's (for) the Jamaica Tourist Board to now see the National Trials as a major event and package it properly so that it will engage and attract people to come into the country... associate it with the entertainment package," said Beckford.

Tourism Minister, Ed Bartlett, told the Sunday Observer that "Sport Tourism will become the centre-piece of the tourism new marketing approach to drive greater visitor arrivals into the country".
But it still remains unclear whether the JTB is on board for the most important weekend in June.

When contacted, lead organiser of the Jamaica Trials, Ludlow Watts, had little say.

"We're in our planning stage now and I don't want to make a lot of comment... but... a lot of interests is being generated. All the various components are being processed right now... and a lot of interest is being shown in the championships. We're actually planning for a high-quality meet," Watts stated.

"We expect it to be high quality based on the performance of the athletes and we in turn want... to provide a good structure and ensure that we have a good Championship for the benefit of the athletes and the spectators..."

It is yet to be seen, however, to what degree Jamaica reaps benefits from parading on local soil the two fastest human beings that have ever lived.

Taken from the Jamaica Observer www.jamaicaobserver.com

Diary of a SPORT TOURIST

I want to go to South Africa, somewhere between June 11 and July 10, 2010, so I can have lots to tell my friends about the wonderful world of football. Fans from all across the world will gather in the major cities in that country for 'The Greatest Show on Earth'. These fans can be considered sport tourists, as they travel to participate in or watch a sport.

Think about a major sporting event being held in Jamaica and a tourist who comes here, writes back to a friend to relate the wonderful time in Jamaica for the typical five/six days for an average stay.


Dear Louise:

Got in on Thursday for a Saturday event, so I could have a whole day to look around and soak up the IRIE Jamaican feeling.

Day 1

I landed in Montego Bay at the Sangster International Airport in what seemed to have had recent renovations. I spotted a picture of the great fast bowler, Courtney Walsh, as I walked through the halls. I got my duffle bag pretty quickly as the airport is fully equipped with staff. A JUTA bus picked me up and took me to my hotel. I asked the driver to roll down the window so I could smell and feel the wonderful Jamaican breeze - magnificent. First time in this place, WOW!

Day 2

Off to Negril where the road race is scheduled to be. My driver is early, said it would take about 45 minutes to get to my first destination. Nice, hot day, but 'sweet' breeze. Driver, whose name was Tom, said, "You feel good this early in the morning!" I gave in. It was the most refreshing drink I have had in a while.

Cars, trucks and buses whisked by us, but Tom takes his time, while trying to give me a guided tour. His accent is interesting, not to say the least. We reached Negril. Lots of action, mopeds, roller skaters, taxis, buses, and the town was hopping.

I got to the registration area to confirm that I was in the race and picked up my passes.

The race was on the next day at 5 a.m., so I didn't plan to walk around much - had to rest the legs. I told Tom to walk with me through the town for a while. So we parked and walk.

Day 3

I am up at 3 a.m., excited about competing in the Reggae Marathon for the first time. Tom is prompt and we leave at 3:30. I report to the starter by 4:30 and I am ready.

I placed 50th in my category, and was pleased; even more pleased that I could finally have a Red Stripe.

Day 4

Days three and four slipped into each other as we partied all night, grooving to the sounds of sweet Jamaican music, reggae, dancehall and some good old '70s hits.

Day 5

Back to Michigan I must go. Tom bid me goodbye, "Mek sure you buy a bottle of Appleton rum on your way out." I did. And I tried some patties, too. I had a great time!

How many times are these stories told and to how many people? Let's plan for more major sporting events in Jamaica so the stories can be told.

http://hospitalityjamaica.com/sports1.html