Jamaica's para-surfers exceeding expectations with 2024 Olympics in mind

By Sports Desk December 08, 2021

In what has been described as a historic partnership, the Jamaica Paralympic Association and the Jamaica Surfing Federation have joined forces to help para-athletes make the transition to surfing with the hope that the island will be able to qualify surfers to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

And, so far things seem to be going well. Two para-athletes, Nathaniel Bailey and Toto Campbell, are in California competing at the 2021 Pismo Beach ISA World Para Surfing Championship, and demonstrating that despite only taking up the sport less than two months ago, that they possess natural talent as both have qualified for the second round of the competition.

"History has been made through a dynamic partnership of two sporting associations that are both committed to developing talent, encouraging excellence and making more capable those who society perceive to have challenges,” said proud JOA President Christopher Samuda.

During the past three years, the Jamaica Paralympic Association has been aggressively engaging with several ‘non-traditional sports’ while pursuing its policy of "creating opportunities and building capacity."

Having successfully already helped propel para-taekwondo and para-judo to the pinnacle of para-sports - the Paralympic Games - President Samuda is optimistic about the future.

"Our model is self-motivating and self-inspiring but we believe strongly in solid partnerships that will drive success and thanks to Billy Wilmot, President of the Jamaica Surfing Federation, and Icah Wilmot, a regional household name in the sport, we are transitioning talented surfers who hopefully will attain the coveted distinction of becoming Paralympians in Paris," he said.

With that in mind, early next year, the Jamaica Paralympic Association will be launching its campaign dubbed "Go for Paris" aimed at achieving qualification and to be competitive in at least five sports at the games in the French capital.

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    One of the UK’s fastest deaf swimmers has spent more than 1,000 days campaigning against “discriminatory” policies that deny him funding.

    Nathan Young, a holder of seven national records, is not entitled to any Government or National Lottery money to support his ambitions.

    The reason is that UK Sport, the agency which allocates funding on behalf of those entities, is focused solely on Olympic and Paralympic sports.

    As deafness on its own is not a discipline in the Paralympics, Wirral-based Young, 24, falls outside its criteria.

    He is eligible to compete in the Deaflympics – the multi-sport event for deaf athletes sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee – but Great Britain does not financially back its entrants, unlike some other countries.

    The only central funding available for solely deaf athletes is at grassroots level, with nothing for elite competitors such as Young.

    That has left him needing to work and fundraise alongside his training to ensure he is able to meet the huge outlay needed to compete on the global stage.

    For most of the last three years, he has also spent a large amount of his time running a campaign to get the parameters for funding changed, believing the current rules to be unfair.

    “At the end of the day it’s discrimination,” said Young, whose campaign passed the 1,000-day mark in February.

    “It’s completely isolating a whole disability. If I was a Paralympic swimmer, I would have been getting paid since I was 16 or 17. It could have been a career that I could have had.

    “Right now, I train, I go to the gym but all the other things I should be getting as what you would class as an elite athlete, I don’t get any of it.

    “Others have the best treatment available to them to keep them going mentally, physically and in every aspect. I should be getting physio, doing strength and conditioning but I get none of that.

    “When I’m training right now, I’m thinking I should be working. It’s not what I should be thinking about.”

    Young’s campaigning has involved giving numerous speeches and interviews as well as writing many letters and articles. He has also contacted MPs and, as part of a wider campaign with UK Deaf Sport, has even visited Parliament.

    With UK Sport funding for recent Olympic/Paralympic cycles being around £300million, it is a source of frustration for Young that not even a relatively small amount can be found for Deaflympians.

    “What we’re asking for is so little,” said Young, who might need to find around £3,000 to fund a trip to next year’s Deaflympics in Tokyo.

    “UK Deaf Sport only asked for £4million for us (deaf athletes), which is so little when there’s £300-and-something million for Olympic and Paralympic sport.

    “We’re getting the same responses. We keep pushing it and pushing it but it’s been over 1,000 days now and it’s been an exhausting journey.”

    A UK Sport statement read: “UK Sport’s remit is specifically focused on investing in sports and athletes who are eligible to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    “The Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport. We are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.”

    A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “This Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including deaf people.

    “Sport England has committed £1.2million between 2022 and 2027 to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level through widening participation and supporting the development pathway for talented athletes.”

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    Though Hallgrimsson would have preferred the 2023/24 CNL title, as opposed to the bronze they secured with a 1-0 win over Panama, he believes the achievement represents a step in the right direction on their quest to add to the country’s 1998 World Cup feat.

    “This is just a part of our journey. We were trying to build something for this tournament as there is a saying that ‘success is not a destination, success is not a date, it’s a continuous journey to the right direction’. So, we’re just working on improving this team, as our biggest goal at the moment is to try to reach the World Cup finals,” Hallgrimsson declared. 

    Jamaica’s third-place battle followed a heartbreaking 3-1 extra-time loss to United States in an entertaining semi-final contest that they led from the very first minute, but lost after Corey Burke’s last-gasped own-goal brought the opponents back into the game.

    Still, Hallgrimsson took the positives from the tournament, as he pointed to the psychologically importance and confidence gained heading into the prestigious CONMEBOL Copa America, which also serves as part of the Reggae Boyz preparation for the World Cup qualifiers.

    “This is a good step to play important matches, to play big tournaments, and to play strong opponents like the United States and Panama. They are two of the three highest-ranked Concacaf teams and we showed that we are closing in on this gap, even with the number of players not with us. So, I have to give a lot of credit to the players for the way they presented themselves for Jamaica,” Hallgrimsson said.

    “I think it’s psychological just to know that we can face these teams of this calibre. Again, talking about missing players, I normally don’t talk about missing players, but it gives belief in what we are doing, and I think that is the biggest benefit for us,” he added.

    Those benefits which Hallgrimsson alluded to, includes the fact that player such as Leon Bailey, Ethan Pinnock, Amari’i Bell, Demarai Gray, Michail Antonio and Shamar Nicholson all missed the nail-biting United States encounter. However, Gray and Nicholson played their part in the Panama win after returning from red card suspensions.

    For the Icelandic tactician, the absence of key players provided the opportunity for other to not only show their worth, but also to stake a claim on spots for the Copa America and World Cup qualifying squads. Interestingly enough, it was full-backs Greg Leigh and Dexter Lembikisa that got Jamaica's goals across the two games.

    “This camp has given us more depth in the squad, players really punched in and showed that they want to belong into this starting lineup. Jamaica is richer after this camp,” Hallgrimsson noted.

    “Tactics, it was both because we were missing players and playing good teams so we thought it would be better to play with three at the back. Given that we played 120 minutes (against United States) it was a really good performance, a solid performance from the team so I’m happy,” he ended.

    Jamaica is scheduled to face Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela in Group B of the June 20 to July 14 Copa America, while Dominican Republic, Dominica, Guatemala and British Virgin Islands are their Group E opponents for the World Cup qualifiers, also scheduled to begin in June.

  • BVI down USVI 4-2 on penalties; will join Group E alongside Jamaica, et al in second round of qualifiers BVI down USVI 4-2 on penalties; will join Group E alongside Jamaica, et al in second round of qualifiers

    British Virgin Islands booked their spot in the second round of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, following a 4-2 penalty shootout win over US Virgin Islands in their play-off contest at the AO Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, BVI, on Tuesday.

    After playing out a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg, both teams again failed to separate themselves in a goalless second-leg encounter and so it was down to the dreaded penalties to decide the outcome. In the end, it was British Virgin Islands that held their nerves best from the 12-yard spot to progress to the business round of qualification.

    They will join Jamaica, Dominica, Dominican Republic and Guatemala in Group E for the second round of the qualifiers, which are scheduled to run between June 2024 and June 2025. A total of 30 countries will vie for spots in the final round. 

    The final round which will be played between September and November 2025, will see teams battling for five spots to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted jointly by Concacaf powerhouses Mexico, United States and Canada.

    Of the five teams, three will earn direct qualification, while the other two spots will be decided via a play-offs.

     

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