Strengthening Jamaica’s Sport Industry

Last time we spoke I had some ideas of who I believe can deliver on what is required to secure and enhance the work of Jamaica’s Sports Industry. 

Before I offer those suggestions, I have to talk about Reggae Month and last Saturday (February 25) and how a series of sports and entertainment events created economic activities for industry professionals; while providing fun and excitement for patrons from home and abroad. 

The music scene was energized with the events of Reggae Month which are on until Tuesday, February 28. But what happened this past weekend with: 

• Gibson MCCook Relays 
• Jamaica Premier League (Football) 
• Footloose 
• Bass Odyssey Sound Fest 
• It’s the 90s 
• Soca Jam 
• Lost in Time Festival 
• Horse Racing at Caymanas Park 

… there was more than enough entertainment to go around for the discerning public. 

Just about three years ago, this month (February), news confirmed that the Covid-19 pandemic was about to disrupt lives outside. Since then events have come back with a bang. 

A team is assembling some data on the weekend and as soon as those are available they will be released. 

SPORT IN JAMAICA 2023 & beyond 

I offered an idea of who I believe can make this Business of Sport work with the following structure: 

The Government of the day should be able to make the best persons available for the roles of Minister and Minister of State. I have my own ideas on which members of the current team can, but I would not want to offend a soul. 

• Ministry of Sport
  • Minister 
  • Minister of State 
  • Permanent Secretary 
  • Sport Director
    • Research Officer 
    • Operations Officer 
    • Policy Officer 
    • Associations Liaison 

Sport Agency (Sport Development Foundation)

• CEO
  • Directors of
    • Marketing, Research, Finance 
  • Corporate Planner (to deal with bilaterals, administration, academic development, infrastructure
  • Legal 
  • Event Manager (incoming and outgoing delegations, permits, venue updates) 
  • Venues and Facilities

Approach 

• Think Tank this May (2023) to look at 2024 – 2030
  • Align with the Vision 2030 
• Prepare a master calendar up to 2030
  • Incoming events 
  • Outgoing events 
  • Update and upgrade venues with capacity and capabilities 
  • Assessment of which sporting disciplines are:
    • Mass
    • Economic drivers 
    • Network possibilities 
    • International Competitions 
    • Tourism-attractive 
    • Recreation 

There are some planned renovations of sporting facilities across the island and with that, the capacity to provide preparation spaces for sports people and hosting of a variety events should be the target based on the research conducted above. 

The recent announcement to have a soft launch for a National Sport Registry in April 2023, is timely and should be used as the repository (database) to speak to who we are preparing for the future. The registry by summary will and should collect data that can be useful to know how we define our athletes based on: 

• The preparation plan for athletes in phases 
• What are the nutritional and medical needs 
• Geographical peculiarities of the athletes 

I am recommending we designate “active communities” to include schools and clubs to be able to track and monitor the athletes to be covered under the registry for three to five years. Run the reports and evaluate the information. For the athletes that we have information now, use them as a sample to implement brand strengthening. 

We are just below 500 days to #Paris2024 (July 26 – August 11, 2024) – we should enter these Summer Games as a more formidable sporting brand with the leadership of track and field, which has lead for over six decades. 

Let’s Stay in the Game.

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JSE presents $ports XChange with Carole Beckford

KINGSTON, Jamaica – The global sporting industry estimated to value US$512.14 billion and projected to grow to US$623.26 billion by 2027, athletes and sports administers globally and especially those in the Caribbean will have a greater opportunity to earn as professionals on and off the field. 

The Sports Global Report revealed in its latest edition (20?) also suggested that the revenue growth will be a steady 5.2 per cent annually. 

Caribbean Sport has always been part of the global picture with significant inputs from athletic performances. That model changed significantly over the last two decades and now a good chunk of elite athletes (in several disciplines) has inked deals with major brands as part of a growing business. 

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) on 24^th August 2022 launched its Business Cable channel Caribbean Business Exchanges (CBX). This channel focuses on providing viewers with 24/7 business/financial content locally, regionally, and globally. JSE has partnered with the Caribbean Media Corporation, Canadian Stock Exchange and Nasdaq that provides content. Viewers can watch this free to air channel on FLOW 143 and Digicel 28, with live streaming via the JSE website www.jamstockex.com for viewers in the Diaspora.

The JSE is fully aware that wealth creation and business/financial issues don’t reside in the financial sector but is a conduit for wealth creation as seen with seven (7) different sectors listed on the Exchange.

Carole Beckford, known sport marketer and one of the founders of the Business of Sport will host this first of its kind locally a 13 series show  called the $Sports XChange. This programme was conceptualized to focus on what are the things needed to be done to monetize sports, for athletes, administrators, facilities, suppliers, and media. Host Carole will discuss with subject matter experts, locally, regionally and internationally to provide insights on how to manage talent, infrastructure etc., to create, grow and preserve wealth.  

In welcoming Carole to the team, Dr Marlene Street Forrest, Managing Director, JSE said “CBX is delighted to have you as host on this programme with your experience and globally network  we know the program will provide relevant information to those in and who plan to be a part of an ever-growing business of sport.” 

The program will be aired on www.jamstockex.com and on Flow 143 and Digicel 28. The program will debut on Saturday, March 4 at 7:30 pm. 

-ENDS-

-30-

CONTACT:  

Mr. Neville Ellis 

Marketing Manager

Telephone: 876-967-3271/876-322-0984

Rethinking Sport in Jamaica

Remove the S from CHASE… Boost the SDF

KINGSTON – For more than a century there has been a Jamaican athlete that has impressed someone, somewhere across the world.  The early days of cricket tours in and out of the West Indies, international boxing cards, football, netball and host of other sports, served a bit of a signal to the world that Jamaica was and continues to be a big part of any sport conversation. 

Ask any track and field fan, cricket (yes, believe it or not); netball, football, basketball fan and a Jamaican athlete’s name can come up. 

Over time, sport has been funded by private and public means. What has been consistent though, is the first-class performance that has been maintained, sustained and enhanced by the athletes. 

In 1995 the game changed somewhat, the Government of the day approved a plan to start the Sports Development Foundation. The SDF was established as an independent body to contribute to the development of the nation through sports.

With sport emerging (at the time) as a major contributor to the island’s economic activities, there was a thought that sport needed more. The agency in its early days focused on infrastructure and capacity building. The Mona Hockey Field (astro turf); several football fields, National Indoor Sport Centre were among some of the venues that were renovated, upgraded and built from scratch. The capacity building focused on administrative development of officials from at least 40 sporting disciplines. 

As you read along, and you are in the business of sport, you can clearly identify the gaps for a country that has produced so many world-class athletes. So whilethe track and field performances have been outstanding to date, to gain and maintain the competitive edge and move ahead, there needs to be a re-thinking of how sport is: 

• Funded 
• Managed 
• Researched 
• Marketed 
• Re-Developed

It is with those five key areas, that my recommendations for Sport for Jamaica going forward include: 

• Boost the work of the SDF
  • Remove the S from CHASE (they can determine what to do with C-H-A-E) 
  • Increase the staff numbers to include a:
    • Planner 
    • Researcher 
    • Marketer
    • Developer 

It is clear that Jamaica’s technical talent is at a great level – coaches and athletes continue to break the ceiling of performance. Most of the major sporting events have consistent work being done with their technical staff. 

The next level is needed and in another decade, if we are not careful, we will be chasing dreams in the key areas that will ensure that the next generation has access to the same enabling environment. 

GC Foster, UTECH, UWI and Mico continue to train Sport Officials in education, management and preventative care; but an elite athlete cannot in 2023 & beyond, compete without the support of branding and marketing to take them to the top of their games. 

In redefining how Jamaica as a nation treats this industry, there are also some policy decisions which should be happening simultaneously. SPORT should have its own Ministry.

This is what I envisage the team should look like from the policy and operational side 

• Ministry of Sport
  • Minister 
  • Minister of State 
  • Permanent Secretary 
  • Director of Sport + 5
• Sport Development Foundation (agency)
  • Managing Director
    • Directors of Marketing, Research, Finance 
    • Corporate Planner (to deal with bilaterals, administration, academic development, infrastructure
    • Event Manager (incoming and outgoing delegations, permits, venue updates) 

Change is inevitable if we want to be successful. 

The research element of the business cannot be overstated, as it is the data we collect and how we use it to inform our next set of moves on and off the field that will determine our capacity to handle, manage and deliver a world class sporting industry run by those who are capable. 

In the next column, I will pick the team who can and should be asked to deliver on this plan. Until then…

Carole 

Always a Step Ahead

COMING SOON: Pitch sessions for Sport Business Solutions

Jamaica continues to dominate sport and news pages with the exploits of some of its elite athletes globally. The time is always right and ripe for more people to get involved. The Business of Sport is always poised for explosion on and off the field.

Jamaica remains a sport destination, one where athletes from several sporting disciplines are prepared for national, regional and international competition.

The business also continues to employ managers, agents, lawyers, financiers and a whole range of technical officials, helping to guide performances and businesses in the right direction. The media and production units also play a major role in broadcast and creation of content to the world.

What has been missing are business solutions that can aid in making the experience at a sporting event better, more efficient while remaining cost-effective. This is what the business of sport looks like in 2023 and beyond.

Since the covid-19 pandemic, we have had a chance, globally, to rethink how athletes, brands and fan interact. And now with some restrictions eased where fans are back out in numbers, we ought to have more efficient and user-friendly applications.

SOLUTIONS NEEDED

This calls for an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to create. Ideas will be welcome in a two-day pitch session which will have a look at business ideas in three key areas:

• Operations – concession, parking, ticketing, security, venue management
• Athlete Performance – data collection, talent management, injury management, gear
• Fan Engagement – fans in and outside of venues, sales, advertising

All sporting disciplines should be considered from A – Z. Individuals/Groups (not more than 5) can create ideas and pitch to sport leaders for up to 15 minutes, this April in Kingston. The pitch session will target participants 18 years and older who may want to explore those options.

The pitches will be judged based on design, development and talent; in other words, the “wow” factor, the simple, easy-to-use factor and how cost effective it can be developed.

Details on how to participate will be launched by the end of February.

Separating the Art from the Artiste

Reggae music continues to evolve. And with that evolution comes the attraction to a more diverse listenership. Research has shown that many of Jamaica’s more established artistes have an audience whose average age is 30 years and above. 

Does lyrical content influence their audience? Do the performers’ real-life circumstances have any bearing on the quality or value of their music? 

Consider your most favoured songs from your favourite artistes and ask yourself: would you want to meet the person behind your favourite music? If that answer is yes, does it matter what the artiste has done in their past, or is doing at the moment?

As music is a part of our everyday life, it is impossible to escape the artistry of popular singers, especially when they find themselves in personal-life turmoil (fans typically Google their favourite singer when news breaks about their misdeeds.  These searches typically take fans  to an artist’s catalogue on streaming services thus boosting their streams).  

The music we rely on from our favourite artistes to help to soothe moments of grief, commemorate moments of joy, paradoxically comes from the vocal trademark of people who themselves find themselves in circumstances of trouble.

Here are some real stories of persons whose music you love; they have developed habits that are not healthy, they have taken substances that are illegal, they have done things that are otherwise frowned upon by society, or they could be in prison.  Does that change how you feel about your favourite songs or artiste?

With song titles like, Freedom Blues, To Your Arms of Love, Love is and Unconditional Love there are indications that the song-writer/artiste has ideas of shaping the minds of those who consume, but to also reposition thoughts to the discerning fan, that circumstances can cause life adjustments, and what is in the heart, comes out in song. 

When you see a list that asks to Call on me as Only You, I am Longing For, those thoughts call for Reflections. 

Comments about artistes differ from male and female fans and in age groups.  A short survey among women over 40 shows they have more of a tendency to forgive., “Does the Crime serve the time,” is a common thought among that demographic. 

During a series of discussions held in Jamaica in 2019, scholars of music discussed the topic: Dancehall Stardom, Version 1 – Crime and Punishment. Positions such as a proposal for “a meaningful music curriculum [to] be implemented as a matter of urgency,” says Dr Sonjah Stanley Niaah.

Stanley Niaah has in the last decade spoken and published about music, but in discussing this topic, is developing material for a program dubbed “From Prison to College” – she believes in rehabilitation with and through the music.

Barbara Walters – The View

My (The) View on Barbara Walters 

October 11, 2014 

The 84-year-old grand dame of broadcast journalism in the USA, Barbara Walters said her good bye to The View today on ABC. In a much publicized departure, the woman who has been in media for over five decades has interviewed world stars in politics, entertainment and sports during that time. 

Her career was one of a kind of sequence where she started out as a segment producer and a writer for a NBC programme in 1962, the year Jamaica became independent. I would not dare make any comparisons to Barbara and Jamaica, so let us move on. 

Barbara leaves a legacy of paving the way for other women and that was obvious from the outpouring of love on ABC over the last week. Oprah, Hillary Clinton, Connie Chung, Katie Couric were among some of the media stars who showed up on The View to offer their reactions. What was obvious was the way each of them said the same thing about Barbara “she opened the doors for all of us.”

Here are some points I took from all the celebrations

• A journalist should always find time to read (Barbara read every morning as much as she could) 
• Always listen to your subjects in an interview 
• Be sure to update/upgrade your skills set while remaining relevant 
• Take time to refresh thoughts and ideas
• Young journalists should work the variety of media outlets to grow, once you mature choose the most appropriate one 
• Don’t fear the competition, embrace it 
• Travel if you can, there are so many things to learn from other cultures 
• And if nothing else, help someone to knock on the “door” or even breakthrough

Barbara existed in a media culture which remains first world in terms of access but some of the basic rules can still apply.

Jamaican shooters head to Thailand for World Competition

JAMAICAN SHOOTERS HEAD TO THAILAND FOR WORLD EVENT 

KINGSTON – Veteran shooter, Anthony Johnson is among six shooters who are due in Thailand, November 18 – December 4 for the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) World Shoot event. 

The Level 5 competition which was originally scheduled for 2020 is expecting to have over 1,500 competitors from 56 countries. 

Johnson who will be attending his eighth world shoot event, having medalled in two will be accompanies by: 

From top – Moulton, Johnson; Middle – Lawrence and Yap; Bottom – Campbell and McPherson

• Lennie Moulton 
• Andrew Yap
• Arjun McPherson 
• Bernard Lawrence 
• And the lone female, Yeonie Campbell 

Campbell last had international exposure at a Level 4 tournament in Florida, where she was part of Jamaica’s Super Six team. 

While in Thailand, the six-member team will participate in the Open, Standard, Production and Production Optics categories. 

Prior to departure, the team will host a practice session at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, November 9 at the Jamaica Rifle Association headquarters in Kingston. 

-ENDS-

JAMAICA TO HOST FULL BORE SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP

KINGSTON – Host country Jamaica will compete against top shooters from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Canada, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago in the 2022 edition of the West Indies Full Bore Shooting Council Championship. 

The six country Championship will feature shooters aiming at targets from a minimum of 300 to a maximum of a 1000 yards. 

Guyanese Lennox Braithwaite,  Wogarth Cup champion, will be back to defend his title. He was the shooter with the highest score in the short range team match. 

The Championship will feature individual and group competitions. Trinidad & Tobago is the defending champion for the team title. 

The October 24 – 29 event will take place at the Twickenham Park range in St Catherine. 

The Local Organising Committee is headed by Jamaica Rifle Association Vice President, Karen Anderson. She has a small team working with. 

-ENDS-

Calling on GG to declare two days for clean up

The following is an appeal to the Governor General to declare November 1 & 2 as Clean up Days for the island. 

It has become obvious to all who travel across the island that the place is piling up with garbage. There are some communities which have frequent collection, while some have not. The NSWMA have announced that trucks are on the way, but we can get ahead of the game and start putting garbage where it belongs. 

The appeal is on several levels and we are asking people to: 

1. Dump trash in the receptacles available 
2. Placed plastic in blue bins or larger garbage bags 
3. Start compost containers once you have the space 

The amount of garbage if it remains uncollected, can start to affect all of us. 
I think the three weeks is sufficient to mobilise the agencies with responsibility to get all the equipment in place. This should be an activity which has the support of the 63 MPs and the 228 Councillors. 
I urge all of us to get on board. 

Women’s Squash Week

It’s Women’s Squash Week. Jamaica will not be left out. 

The World Squash Federation has designated September 17 – 24 as the week to bring additional attention to the sport and to bring about a greater awareness. 

To commemorate the week, the Jamaica Squash Association will host two events today (Wednesday, September 21) and Thursday at the Liguanea Club and Mona respectively. Both days, the event will start at 6pm. 

President, Karen Anderson, on the heels of hosting a successful Caribbean Championships, wants more women to get involved in the sport.

Anderson in her appeal, says “women can play, officiate or serve as administrators in the sport. We want as many women to feel comfortable knowing they can contribute.” 

Anderson, who has been active since 1982 as a Junior player, now serves as a coach, official and plays in the veteran’s category. She recently accompanied Jamaica’s national team to the Commonwealth Games in the UK. 

Some other outstanding women include: 

• Katherine Risden – current U17 Caribbean champion 
• Mehar Trehan – current U15 Caribbean champion
• Sanjana Nallapati ranked 3rd in the u17 in the Caribbean 
• Mia Todd ranked 5th in U19 Caribbean 
• Savannah Thomson former U13 Caribbean champion 

The national championship is set for November.