Jamaica's home-based training working for T&F

The success of Jamaica's track and field programme over the last two Olympic Games can almost be credited to the decision of MVP Track Club and in recent times Racers Track Club's decision to keep its athletes here in Jamaica for training. The business model speaks to * Base in Jamaica * Training and Preparation in Jamaica * Enrollment in collegiate academic programmes * Collaboration with local gymnasiums * Attraction of local/regional sponsors * Participation in local meets * Financial Planning with Jamaican financial institutions * Local Management Teams Technical officials continue to build capacity by attending and even conducting workshops to grow and develop others while improving on their own skills. I am of the firm belief, the inclusion of the collegiate system's input has played a significant role in the country's development in sport and that continues 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil should bear more fruit. I also hope that the other sporting disciplines will follow...some of which are already putting plans in motion. The competition has their tertiary level programmes in tact and provides the basis for the mature athlete to flourish. We must encourage this programme and invest human, financial and physical resources to achieve the success it does deserve. Would be interested to do the case study of * Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce * Hansle Parchment * Jason Young ...just to name a few. All of whom have used the Collegiate academic and sport systems to their benefit. Therefore to say we are not capitalising on our strengths, is real rubbish. We have to trust ourselves to manage ourselves FIRST as you know Jamaica has an affinity to trust more from outside. The sport industry requires building of trust initially then the rest will flow as those technical capabilities are plenty. I ask the private sector to support the efforts of the tertiary level programmes and invest accordingly. It is the answer to Sport Development in Jamaica - grow from within. We will attract the business thereafter.

The Caribbean - an OASIS for Sport Development

What the Caribbean islands have done at this Summer Olympic Games has been unprecedented and it is not done. While some of the islands have not been up to par, others have stepped in and done their part. The Caribbean presence has been superbly strong. The headlines in the papers, images and videos have not gone one day with some Caribbean influence. Take a look at the 400 metres for men and you will understand what I am talking about. Kirani and his Caribbean teenage sensations have just knocked over the rest of the world. In that finals of eight...five men were from the Caribbean and Jamaica had no presence there. However the Caribbean power is still STRONG. The Caribbean has an issue with insularity and some level of small island behvaiour that we can do without, however with agencies like CEDA, CARICOM (Yes I said it) and JAMPRO etc....we can make this happen. Drop the politics! We have tons of Caribbean people who are great influencers we can use to get this train running. We have some things to get to * World Cup Football 2014 * Summer Olympics 2016 * World Championships 2015 and 2017 ...so many other major sporting events. In the meantime, let us tell our stories in our way - INVEST in the Caribbean. Make our models work. * Run effectiev academies * Maintain our facilities * Send our children to school * Focus on our jouney and be mindful of those around us * Get to meetings on time * Maintain and surpass international standards * Conduct grooming courses * Manage our own affairs ...etc etc etc I could go on, but I won't....let us MOVE and become the WORLD Power we obviously are Like · · Unfollow Post · Share · Delete

Tales of London - Day One

With just under two days before Jamaica's track and field team begin its pursuit of greatness, the solid attention Alia Atkinson and Samantha Albert have given - is just a sign of what is to come. London is all JAMAICA. Well, certainly everywhere I have been so far. In a little town on the East Side almost as quaint and cool as Moneague, I found a magazine - Whats on festival guide - and on the cover is one Usain Bolt. Well Sally Jones painted the usual picture and all of the world waits - hmmmm Anyway, so far the city has been purring with excitement - from WiFi being free underground - courtesy of Virgin Media, to Get Ahead of the Games which told you what were the 'hot spots' for the Games; Rosetta Stone asking for Unity in Sport to the Mayor, Transport Department, National Rail and the Highway Agency with ads about how to and when to - London is the place to be. There is a sign which says "one million people will pass through this place every day" I was part of the million today and WOW! Stratford is where the Olympic Park is adjoining the massive Westfield Mall and the courteous folks who give you directions and seem ready for the millions more to come by August 12. Of course one of the million I saw today was someone who follows me on Twitter and he walks up to me by the entrance of the Westfield Mall and greets me with joy....he is from Australia - can you believe? Anyway we took pictures and did the chat up thing and we left...picture attached Amidst the one million we are recognised by lots of people and it's only day one since we got in. Unlike Daegu I have not encountered any taxi men yet....but I am sure I will have Tales of the Tube.... More to come Talk again soon

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