New Chapter...in 2008

As we approach 2008 (a leap year)...let us look closely at renewing our lives in a way that will impact on people in a positive way.

2008 is expected to be a great year for sport as it is the hosting of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China from August 8 - 28.

Qualifiers for World Cup 2010 (football) will begin...and lots more.

Let us support sport in a more serious way in the upcoming year and show our athletes that we care.

More time

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year

Sport Stars and facilities to drive Sport Tourism in Jamaica

By Carole Beckford

Between August 8 and 24, 2008, lots of attention will be focused on Beijing, China for the Summer Olympic Games. Jamaica’s representation will come from a number of sporting areas, but track and field will remain the most watched.

How will Jamaica use its preparation in the upcoming year to capitalise on sport tourists to come to Jamaica? Sport tourists are becoming some of the most high-spending tourists around the world and major or well planned events are just what they want to attend.

Apart from the Summer Olympic Games, there is the World Track and Field Championship in 2009 and then the World Cup Football in 2010.

Are there any major sporting events on the calendar for 2008 to be held at the Independence Park Limited Complex; Sabina Park, Trelawny Multi Purpose Complex?
I know of Gibson Relays on February 23; Boys and Girls Championships – March 12 – 15; International Track & Field – May 3 and host of international football friendlies.

Jamaica should use its great sporting stars and institutions to lure visitors to the island, so the country can capitalise on the ever-growing sport tourism market. There must be collaboration with the agencies and personnel with the expertise to attract the visitors to watch, play and experience sport in Jamaica.

How the stars can help?

The world’s fastest man, Asafa Powell and some of his colleagues will be in Australia undergoing preparation for upcoming events. He along with other athletes should be asked to promote Jamaica as a sport tourist destination. Two hours a week should be enough for starters.

They should be given a sport map, outlining where the major facilities are, where the accommodation spaces are and important dates on the calendar, so they are armed with enough information to distribute. Some other information could include capacity of the facilities. Any other teams traveling could be brought in under this programme.

The Ministry of Tourism along with the Ministry of Sport should merge efforts to launch this programme; a good push for sport for the New Year.

Advertising at other major events

Just up north, our neighbours in the U.S.A. will as always as usual host a variety of events. The NBA All-star game will be in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 17 that should be a glorious opportunity which would require creative marketing. Then there is the US Open Tennis in New York in August another great chance.

Planning will be key to these endeavours and we ought to be very vigilant but smart in how we approach these efforts to improve our figures for tourist arrivals in Jamaica.

Sport Management Course

A ten week comprehensive course will be launched in February 2008 to look at Sport Management. The course will look at the functional areas of sport management; while identifying cultural and historical features of sport. The course will help to prepare persons who have been and are interested in planning major sporting events, in line with Jamaica’s hope to stamp a mark in this aspect of sport.

Watch this space for more information.

Note: My condolence to Herb McKenley’s family and friends. Herb lived a great life, he contributed a lot to the development of track & field and sport in Jamaica. We will miss him, but his legacy will live on.

Happy Holidays! ©

Audio Check...one, two

Women in sport, rocked the Deck in Kingston on December 1

Women in Sport rocked the Deck on Saturday, December 1 when they put on their "deejay" hats for a charity event.

Patrons were apprehensive at first, but from the first deejay on stage, the Deck was 'humming' from 8:00 p.m. to midnight.

Olympian, Juliet Cuthbert opened the show with hits from Chaka Demus, major Mackerel, the late Garnett Silk, Capleton and Beenie Man. Cuthbert, with a hard set to follow, made way for swimming's technical Director, Jackie Walter.

In her introduction, Walter reminded the folks "I have an English side and a Jamaican side…tonight; I am showing you my Jamaican side." She opened with Tina Turner's 'Simply the best' and had hits from Shaggy, Soulja boy and Destra.

Hockey's Myrtle Weir turned up the heat with her soca and dancehall mix with high tempo tunes from Alison Hinds, Movado, Beenie Man and Red Plastic Bag.

Miss Caymanas Park , Milli Lynch worked the vibe with a mix of old and new and "brought sexy back"; featured Burning Spear, Peter Tosh and a range of other local hits.

Pat Garel walked down memory lane with hits from John Holt, Ben. E. King; but it was special guest deejay from Montego Bay, Janet Silvera who had the crowd rocking with her special dub plate and 30-minutes mix of new and old dancehall selections. Janet rocked from start to finish and chanted slangs in between her performance to appease the big crowd gathered.

Netball and basketball star, Oberon Pitterson charmed her way into the hearts of the people with a little bit of everything, hits from Tina Charles, Donna Summer's Hot Stuff; Barbara Streisand's Guilty; but went current with Cham, Beenie Man, Buju and Beres.

Co-host Carole Beckford, also provided a variety with hits from Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, and ended with Assassin. Dorraine Samuels Binger shared emceeing duties and handed over give-a-ways from Wray & Nephew.

Some of those who were out included, Vilma Charlton, Eleanor Jones, Wayne Smith, Del Crooks, Carole Fullerton, Judy Douglas, Sunshine girl, Nadine Bryan, Mario Pottinger out of New York and Courtney Sergeant.

The event was courtesy of Jamaica Women in Sport Society (JWISS) in association with Jamaica Observer, HOT 102 FM, KLAS Sport Radio and the Deck.

JWISS) is a team aimed at improving opportunities for women in sport and physical education. The team is committed to promoting and increasing opportunities and roles for women at all levels. The team will campaign for change in the approach to how we approach information, education, research and training to support increased opportunities for women in sport.

Next event on the Society's agenda is a conference in April 2008.

Women’s view on Physical Education and Sport ©

Women’s view on Physical Education and Sport ©
By Carole Beckford
October 28, 2007



With the call I have made for greater emphasis to be placed on Physical Education (PE) in the schools system in Jamaica; I did a survey a few months ago and found some startling results.

The results of the survey suggested that women over 30 years of age in Jamaica went to primary and high schools in a time when there was some amount of emphasis on PE in schools across the island.

Although the question was not asked directly, it was almost even the percentage between those who went to co-educational versus a single sex school.

PE should be done at least twice a week

Women in the age group up to 26 years of age only did physical education (PE) once a week in both primary and high schools; while women over 30 did twice a week in primary schools. The women up to 30 years are satisfied that once a week for children up to 12 (primary schools) and children up to 19 (high schools) is good enough.

The results have indicated that the women in the over 30 age group see the importance of PE/organized activities in the primary and high school systems and think there should be sessions for at least twice a week.

Some of these same women in the over 30 category did PE three times a week in high school, but it included swimming. Those women went to school in Kingston and/or boarding institutions.

When asked how often they think children should do PE in school up to 12 years old; 50 per cent said once a week; while 44 per cent of the sample thought children should do PE at least twice a week in high school up to 19 years of age.

Start organized activities from 0 – 4 years

Of the women sampled, 56 per cent suggested that children start organized activities from as early as they can walk; 38 per cent said children should start at four years, while a small six per cent said organized activities should start at nine years old.

Marilyn Wellymeyer wrote in a 1986 article for CNN that “The fitness boom has bypassed America's children. Most are fatter, many weaker and slower than they used to be, according to government surveys over the past two years. While their parents work out in record numbers, half the nation's 26 million fifth- through 12th-graders probably do not get enough exercise to develop sound hearts and lungs.”

I do not have enough evidence to say there is obesity among children problem in Jamaica, but from observation, we could do better.

In 2006, Dr. Eva Lewis Fuller of the Ministry of Health made a plea for mandatory physical activity in schools. "The recommendation really is to have the full impact of at least half an hour of physical activity three times a week at least, to have an impact in making you healthier and to increase your feeling of well being." She went on to say that “physical education is very important and should be included in the curriculum as an essential and mandatory subject.” Echoing my sentiments that PE is not extra curricular, but instead should be treated as part of the every day curriculum.
More survey findings
Of the sample of women who were questioned, 40 per cent of the women who were in the 36 to 40 years of age watch television for an average of three hours a day; only 18 per cent of that group watch for just an hour. They are in the under 30 years age group. 40 per cent of the women over 40 also watch television for more than three hours a week.
What kinds of programmes so they watch on TV? 44 per of the overall sample preferred drama while 34 per cent preferred sporting programmes, 19 per cent action and three per cent indicated they liked the soaps.
Half of the women went to three or more major sporting events a year; 31 per cent go to two 10 per cent went to one and the nine per cent does not go to any at all.
The sample was 320. The equivalent amount of men was surveyed and those findings will be submitted in my next update.

Jamaica Women in Sport Society (JWISS)

Well I am up to my old tricks...I have started yet another project, one which I think will work wonders. I have a great team of advisors, from sporting areas and marketing & communications.

Jamaica Women in Sport Society (JWISS) aims to improve opportunities for women in sport and physical education. The team is committed to promoting and increasing opportunities and roles for women at all levels. The team will campaign for change in the way we approach information, education, research and training to support increased opportunities for women in sport.

The JWISS will consist of a small team of women with experience in administration, competition, research, marketing and promotion of sport at all levels.

Main activities

• Influence and lead national, regional and international groups to ensure equity in policies, strategies and programmes in sport development
• Inform and design educational programmes to bring about a greater awareness for initiatives aimed at improving the status of women in sport
• Motivate women to pursue careers in sport
• Undertake research activities to set reference points for best practices in the sector
• Raise funds to assist women in sport

This is a fully registered BUSINESS.

SPORT TOURISM AS A NICHE MARKET FOR JAMAICA

September 14

As Jamaica and the rest of the world prepare for the Summer Olympic Games scheduled for August 8 – 24, 2008 in Beijing, China, it seems that the sporting tourists will be coming to Jamaica a lot next year.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) has given permission for one of Jamaica’s premier event to be used as Olympic Qualifier, the Gibson Relays. That is exciting news!

The Jamaican athletes are not just the most sought after athletes to compete, but our facilities and events are being positioned to attract the best of the world. So the track and field calendar which from as early as December 2007 will have premier events with top-class athletes. Watch out for the Gibson Relays, scheduled for February 23, 2008. Also, Saturday, May 3 is the date where the Jamaica International Invitational is expected to be held.

Those events are just for track and field, but world cup football qualifier will get cracking soon and so the “office” will also be hosting additional international tournaments which will again, test our ability to host major events.

So Kingston will be buzzing soon; but what of the golf courses and the other facilities in and around the island? The community groups, agencies and other noted promoters of major sporting events should by now have dates for other major sporting events for 2008. Let’s roll them out now, if you haven’t done so already.

Use of training facilities

We have seen where athletes and their management teams have come here in the off season to prepare themselves and that is an additional plug for Jamaica. Let’s encourage them to return. The climate, clean air and the warmth of the Jamaican people are just three things why these athletes should come here to train.

Trends for 2008

Randall Travel Marketing in a 2007 publication indicated that Youth Sports Travel is a market to watch. The report indicated that 52 million Americans attended a sporting event either as a spectator or a participant in 2006. These youth also had their parents/guardians with them.

The publication has also reported that reunions do have a sport element to it and can be seen as a market to tap into. The Travel Industry Association (2007) states that “more travelers are taking two vacations per year and a sporting event is one of the many reasons.”

Jamaica therefore is well positioned to capitalize on the sport tourism market and we have the facilities, trained professionals, accommodation and other accessories for users from near and far.

Research and Development

I am asking the University of Technology (UTECH) and University of the West Indies to focus a little more attention on Sport Tourism as a course offering so the interest can be heightened. It will inform us as a nation even more.

New Sport Minister

Welcome to Ms. Olivia Grange, Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sport. Let’s keep the focus on infrastructure, funding and development plans to keep Jamaica’s sport on Track. Congrats also to Neville “Teddy” McCook on being elected North America, Central America and the Caribbean (NACAC) Chairman in addition to being IAAF area representative.
Please provide feedback to cubeckford@gmail.com