Jamaican Football Programme - What are the needs?

I had the distinguished opportunity to be the Guest Speaker at the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association Senior Award ceremony this evening (Thursday, July 26) and I spoke to a number of reasons why Jamaica should do more to get the best out of the most watched sport in the world - football. We acknowledged that track and field has highlighted Jamaica's image in a positive way; but picture for a moment a top performing national football team, a well oiled track and field programme along with excellent performances in netball, basketball, volleyball and swimming along with other sports. If sport is one of the leading industries in the world and Jamaica is blessed with the enormous talent and techincal personnel it has, then it is time to make some "good" money. I raised four major factors which would contribute to a great football player - talent - marketability - eloquence - community profile Sport is largely dirven by personalities and so once the talent is established then the rest of the skills set should be nurtured and brought to the fore as the package up for promotion and delivery. It's useless to even want to quantify the value of the Jamaican sporting industry without first engaging in a culture of - sportsmanship - support from the citizens - activism through volunteerism - social inclusion Football has those abilities as it is a mass sport in the Jamaican context. Outside of the CHAMPS, the odd cricket test; football draws the biggest crowds and covers the widest base across communities. I suggest we create an 'academic' template for the football talent of our country by academising the talent. What do I mean? Value the life skill/experience of a player...create an academy style training programme to offer basic education...train them in the finer things in life....play football. This could empower a significant community and take the football to a completely different level. So UWI, UTech, GCF join forces and make a plan for this. I cannot imagine how proud members of the inner city communities graduating from an academy (under the name of UWI, UTech, NCU or GCF) - that kind of empowerment is invaluable and would offer great experience for these young people. I know there is someone out there waiting to do this research to select out first set of University Community students and focus our attention on 'Building a Nation one young man/woman at a time". Of course my passion cannot resist to say "the time is now" and no matter what happens at this Olympics, Jamaica will be talked about at least for another year - best time to engage the world. If Britain can attract investment opportunities in Education, then so can we. Let's do the non-traditional way, let us think Outside the Box.

Translating Sport Brand into Business

Since it was announced that the Games of the XXX Olympiad would have been held in London, the excitement started to build, well certainly for Jamaica and as a result of that – plans for attending were in high(er) gear. What was now to be “The Greatest Show on earth” – was on the minds of most sporting fans across the globe and not to leave out the Caribbean folks. On April 19 when the 100 countdown began a London CNN report said “As the city marks 100 days to go until the opening ceremony on Wednesday, venues are on schedule and within budget, tickets are selling out as quickly as they become available and sponsorship revenue has exceeded expectation. It's a big day for us, 100 days to go," said Sebastian Coe, the head of the London organizing committee. "This is the moment when we really do start getting ready for celebrating and welcoming the world." What was more impacting for me was the focus on Jamaica. Since November 2011 there was a consistent flow of journalists in the island to find out “Why Jamaicans run so fast.” – Have they really? Some of the features were shown on NBC’s Rock Centre with Lester Holt; BBC with Leon Mann; ESPN, HBO and a host of other TV networks, but also the features in Sport Illustrated, L’Equipe, Vogue, Ebony, Essence, Economist, Financial Times, and a host of publications in Germany, China and Australia; not to mention the web pages; were just a few of the positive spin offs the country has had because of one element of its brand – SPORT. While we contemplate the team’s performance at the Games, let’s take a look at the positive attention the country has had consistently for the last year. The country battles with its social programmes of a crime troubled nation; the IMF sort of dictates how money is spent and the ugly head of political corruption remains a popular discussion. All this make it tricky to do ‘business in Jamaica’ – however Sport has attracted the most positive outlook of the island. The questions that comes to mind are Can Jamaica capitalize on the attention it has gotten through Sport Can the attention be monetized Can Sport serve as a real economic driver for the Economy Who will drive the initiative The core of the culture of Jamaica has to be secured to achieve its primary goal of economic wealth for its people. The role of education, marketing, technical development has to be placed in one major plan to access the best opportunities for Jamaica. This has to be done soon, as the opportunity withers with time. How soon can Jamaica get this right? I read with interest an excerpt of a presentation by Senator Kamina Johnson and a question which emerged was “Is Jamaica boxing in the wrong weight class?” If in fact Jamaica is, it may mean a new set of gloves, or it may have to resort to fighting in the class it really should be. After all is said and done, Jamaica has been the most talked about, written about nation in this Olympic Games and the best is yet to come. Let’s rally around the team, management and the Jamaican people and do what is possible…extraordinary. In the 50th year of Independence, as the nation heads to a century and beyond, it is time for CHANGE and positive ones too.

READ MORE, MUCH MORE...

I am amazed at the relatively high level of people who only read newspapers. Here is why I am amazed, in a typical conversation, at least the ones I have, I make reference to something from a publication I may have read up to 35 years ago. So if you are over 30 and you have not read some of these books, go find them 1. Animal Farm - George Orwell 2. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe 3. Politics of Change - Michael Manley 4. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell 5. Beyond Freedom and Dignity - B.F. Skinner These books address humanity, beliefs, norms, values, existence, survival and solutions. In the difficult world we live in reasoning and logic are two critical skills to have and some GREAT ideas can come from these publications. Read a book today :-)

Jamaican Sports Business Awards

Sports is vital to a country's development and Jamaica in its 50th year has its eyes focused on capturing the hearts and minds of the world at the Summer Olympic Games in 2012, the World Athletics Championships in 2013, the Word Cup Football in 2014 and the World Netball Championships in 2015. As the President for The Business of Sport, Jamaica, I would like to present some awards for the 2011/2012 period. The views expressed are simply my own and isn't anyway, influenced by any organisations or institutions I am a part of. Now here we go. 1. Lifetime Achievement - Lindy Delapenha - he turned 85 on May 20 and played multiple sport, but was the first guy of colour to play professional football in the UK 2. Executive of the Year - Andrew Price & Clyde Jureidini (Boys Town & Harbour View Football Clubs) 3. Sports Event of the Year - Boys and Girls Champs 4. Sports Media - KLAS Sport Radio 5. League of the Year - Contender Series (Boxing) 6. Sports Sponsor of the Year - Supreme Ventures Lotteries Limited 7. High School - Edwin Allen 8. TV Station - TVJ 9. Athletic Director of the Year - Dalton Myers (UWI) 10. Best use of Digital Media - Phase Three Production 11. Best Talent Representation - goes without saying (lol) - UBML 12. Event with Best Experiential Marketing - Business House Volleyball I think we could develop this and set up a peer award as we go beyond 50 years so we can record what happens in our sporting history. Your feedback is vital

The Business of Entertainment

As we explore the benefits of entertainment and sport to the Jamaican economy, it seems we have to re-define the business of entertainment and how it can be tailored to suit the needs of the industry while at the same time create economic opportunities for the major stakeholders. We have been lead to believe that entertainment is largely about talent, however as the time flies by we are seeing where packaging is becoming the major tool to the Brand of Entertainment. However, because Jamaica is a developing country, it may be easier to work through a process to get to the ultimate goal of having a vibrant entertainment industry. Let's take a look at some keys areas of focus (not in any particular order at this juncture). We have to set some clear guidelines and define the following: 1. Creative Process 2. Product 3. Financing plans 4. Distribution 5. Language 6. Technology - animation, 3-D 7. Education 8. Evolution of the Business 9. Value added - film, fashion,merchandising 10. Licensing 11. Content Monetization and Storage Jamaica's culture has been influenced by the success of Bob Marley which has set extremely high standards - one which has made Bob into an international icon and making him one of the most recognizable names and faces on the planet. We see the demand for pictures, clothing, records of Bob even 31 years after his death and his family, mostly of musicians and entertainers have carried on the legacy he worked hard at. The industry has evolved and changed since the 1980s and while there are far more opportunities, there are signs of convergences with the product meeting at common points. There is now little or no separation with a singing career and an acting career. Both are meeting closer and closer and what that means is PACKAGING...to suit the demands of the market. Jamaica's advantage is its history, heritage, culture, locations, allure, mystique, but should be carefully packaged along with the human element to showcase all those factors. Maybe, just maybe, we should invest in telling our stories and distribute them ourselves. So we need a script, we have the talent, showcase the music, film on our own locations and tell the world OUR stories. One thing I ask, begin the process in schools and work our way into developing this gold mine we are sitting on and let's get this RIGHT. What say you?

JAMAICA - everytime

Kingston, May 10 If you were to award a prize for the most diverse country in the world that would have to go to Jamaica. One of the largest islands in the Caribbean, Jamaica is unmistakedly the place where it "all" happens. Let's give this a little twist though towards Sport. In the year of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, all eyes are on Jamaica and the rivalry expected with the USA. But what is more exciting is the rivalry on the island. The June 28 to July 1 national track and field championship to select its athletes is going to be an event 'Not to be missed'. All the sprints 100, 200, 400 metres for men and women will have exciting finishes and the 100 hurdles, 110 hurdles women and men respectively could see either returning or new champions emerging. But that is on the track....what else is happening in the island? The manufacturers, businesses, craft vendors, hotel owners, taxi operators and certainly the Jamaica Tourist Board & JAMPRO are up and running as they figure out thier next set of moves with less than 80 days to go before this spectacular show in London. I see streams of gold, green and black domnating the streets, I hear horns tooting for those victories, but I also see packed bars and restaurants and not to mention living rooms tuned in too see the Games from start to finish. TV sales may even increase just before the Games start. It is in our culture - we will live, eat, sleep and breathe Olympics... check out the schedule at www.london2012.com What will be more interesting though, is the debates that will rage and that is also a fantastic element of the Jamaican Brand - the effortless way in which the track fans and experts exchange converstaion rivalling many Parliaments across the world. What will this mean for Jamaica? More attention. Much more curiousity about 'Why we run so fast?' - but also a WIDE OPEN opportunity for us to make sport economically viable? Will you be a part of this? Let me know. Let's keep Jamaica's sport on track

Email rules - we should all use

There are some misconceptions regarding the use of email and I thought I would just remind us 1. Make sure you have the correct email address 2. Use a signature at the end of your email with phone numbers and mailing address where applicable 3. The subject line should represent what the email is about (like a headline) - you can use up to 5 words e.g. Birthday party for JOHN 4. Use proper English, Spanish or whatever language you speak - twitter language with shortened versions of words have NO place in an email 5. Always re-read your emails to make sure you have the correct information and spelling. Not all email formats have a spell check 6. NEVER send an email when you are angry - NEVER 7. People get lots of emails in a day, be brief and concise in emails you send 8. If you are writing to a team at work, you can use emails in the "To" box, however there are folks you know who may not want their emails broadcast to the world, use the bcc box 9. When you are inviting people to an event use the bcc box 10. Some emails do not warrant a reply e.g a thought for the day 11. Use the forward function mostly when someone may have been left off an email list by error These are just a few, but I am sure there are more Feedback desired :)