Sport development requires co-operation and synergistic partnerships and the collaboration between the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the Jamaica Lacrosse Association (JLA) is poof positive of this.

A strong partnership between the local governing Olympic body and its member in a joint bid to host the Pan American Lacrosse Association‘s Sixes Tournament, resulted in success with Jamaica set to host in November what both sporting bodies have labelled “A Lacrosse Explosion in Jamrock.”

President of the Jamaica Lacrosse Association, Calbert Hutchinson, in reflecting on the partnership quoted Robert Louis Stephenson saying, “Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.”

He went on to relate it to the JLA’s experience with the JOA saying “the JLA is staying awake by giving thanks to those who have and continue to provide support and guidance.”

JOA President, Christopher Samuda, in lauding the JLA  in converting the sport locally into a household name and for its partnership with the JOA, said “The vision of the JLA has led to a pioneering blueprint in sport development as both bodies join forces in hosting an international event that will be financially viable for our member while giving the sport a well earned fillip and profile locally and globally.”

Sport will remain or only become sustainable if its business and commercial value are understood and synergies created that fuel real development.

JOA Secretary General and CEO,  Ryan Foster, in underscoring the value of this partnership remarked that “this is the first business of sport framework of its kind in the local Olympic movement where the JOA and the JLA are shareholders engaging in a  commercial space  with a mutual commitment to monetize the sport while investing solidly in its human stock so as to  secure for the JLA capital for its players, dividends  for the association’s coffers and tangible brand benefits.”

The Sixes tournament later this year promises to  be a “November to remember” event and as a preface to it there were fireworks  recently in San Diego at the World Championships  where the Lacrosse Jamrock warriors created an explosion by defeating fancied European and Oceana teams to gain a historic berth in the quarter finals, the only Caribbean, Central and South American team to cement that position on the world stage.

“Lacrosse continues to explode with energy and dynamism and the JOA is pleased to be with them as history making feats are ignited” Samuda said.

The sport locally in the last four years has made tremendous strides under the Hutchinson led administration and internationally it has been gaining currency. With such progress, the advocacy of the JOA and JLA for it to become an Olympic sport is now an action item on their joint agenda.

Jamaica Olympic Association President Christopher Samuda released a statement on Tuesday congratulating five-time World 100m Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on being named the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year on Monday.

Fraser-Pryce won the award on her sixth attempt in a ceremony in Paris.

“I salute Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on attaining this global feat – Laureus Sportswoman of the Year,” Samuda said to begin the statement.

The statement continues: “An indisputable sporting asset of Jamaica and the world, she has conquered and continues to conquer horizons with character, graciousness, and abiding humility.

Her indomitable spikes continue to imprint on the track of life a quality that is priceless and will be enduring. Her record-breaking speed continues to represent not only the prowess of athletics but, more importantly, the nobility of the sport.

A fitting honour for “mommy rocket,” she has rocketed into the apogee of the constellation where she continues to build an admirable legacy which historians will inscribe with reverence and respect.”

Jamaican judokas delivered outstanding performances in the Dominican Republic on Thursday, to qualify for the upcoming 2023 Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games.

Olympian Ashley McKenzie won all four of his fights the 60kg category, defeating Moises Rosado of Mexico in the final.

“I hope that winning here today sets the team in the right direction,” he said.

“I am pleased as we won our medals as a team. I am also happy with the gold as it’s my first competition back for a long time and just wanted to show what I was capable of.”

Meanwhile, Tom Davis, the 2019 Commonwealth Judo Championship gold medallist fighting in the 100kg class, defeated Alexis Esquivel of Mexico before narrowly losing to Antonio Rodriguez of Venezuela in the semi-final.

He would rebound to defeat Alexander Strachan of Bahamas to claim the bronze medal.

In the plus 100kg category, Steven Moore defeated Juan Landazuri of Colombia and then overcame Marvin Salazar of Nicaragua in the semi-final. Facing current world champion Andy Granda of Cuba in the final, Moore came up short but walked away with the silver medal.

Max Stewart, a new member of the team lost in extra time tot 2018 world silver medallist Ivan Silva of Cuba leaving him to settle for repechage. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, overpowering Derick Burgos of the Dominican Republic before going on to defeat Carlos Perez of Venezuela to win the bronze medal.

“It was great to be back on the mat again after a long-term injury. Regardless of the result, it was an amazing feeling having the team behind me every step of the way and I’m excited for my future as a Jamaican judoka,” he said afterwards.

Tokyo 2020 Olympian Ebony Drysdale-Daley also showcased her talent in the 70kg category.

She defeated Karen Murillo of Colombia before facing Creymarlin Valdez of the Dominican Republic in the quarter-final. The Jamaican judoka stunned her Dominican opponent with a left sided koshi-guruma technique and proceeded to the semis where she was compressed by Idelannis Gomez of Cuba.

She then fought Luisa Bonilla of Colombia for the bronze medal but lost and finished fifth overall.

Team leader Luke Preston expressed his pride at how well the team performed.

“I am very proud of the team’s performance,” he said. “Every single player fought for a medal and gave it their all. What impressed me just as much as the wins on the mat was the team spirit. Jamaican judo can be very proud, and the future is bright.”

Jamaica Olympic Association President (JOA), Christopher Samuda was also impressed.

“The JOA’s continued investment in our members is paying dividends. Judo, as is the case with others, is now flexing confidently its muscle and punching admirably above its weight,” he said of the performance of the athletes, who’s association became a member of the JOA in 2019.

“We, the JOA, are in the real business of creating opportunities, actualizing talent and building regional and global stages on which aspirations can be realized.”

JOA Secretary General/CEO, Ryan Foster hailed the speed at which the sport of judo had established itself within the Jamaican sports landscape.

“Since the 2020 Tokyo Games, the sport of judo has made tremendous strides under the leadership of the association’s president and general secretary, Dwayne Barrett and Szandra Szogedi, respectively, and the partnership between the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the Jamaica Judo Association (JJA), continues to seize history-making opportunities in the sport,” he said.

“The five judokas who went to the Dominican Republic to qualify for the 2023 El Salvador CAC Games reaped success in stocking the association’s cabinet with medals which looks set to be decorated with more when the games in El Salvador get on the way on June 23.”

President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, will, for the first time, set foot on the soil of Jamaica as he pays an official and historic visit to the island.

Mr Bach is set to arrive in Jamaica late Friday.

During his brief visit, the world governing Olympic body’s head will undertake a hectic schedule and President of the Jamaica Olympic Association, (JOA), Christopher Samuda, expects a very successful visit.

 “President Bach’s engagement will serve to deepen and embolden our continuing commitment to the values of Olympism as a way of life in sport while providing a welcomed opportunity for an interface with members of the local Olympic family,” said Samuda.

In July 2018, a petal from the flame of the cauldron of the 2012 London Olympic Games was established at the Sir Donald Sangster International Airport, in Montego Bay by the current JOA administration “as a landmark embodying the ideals of a global sport movement, giving earnest hope to the burning aspirations of Jamaica’s sportsmen and women in their pursuit of excellence and kindling the ambitious light of our youth to emulate” JOA Secretary General and CEO, Ryan Foster, said.

At the heart of the President Bach’s visit will undoubtedly be fraternal unity as the top brass of the JOA and IOC executives meet on common ground in advancing the Olympic agenda.

“A meeting of the minds in sport, a mutuality of purpose and will and commonality of values will characterize discussions and anchor outcomes” President Samuda stated.

President Bach, a Montreal 1976 Olympic Games gold medalist in the discipline of foil in fencing and a lawyer by profession, will depart the island with his delegation on March 5 on the way to the Dominican Republic after “what we have every confidence will be a milestone in Jamaica’s Olympic experience” Secretary General Foster concluded.

As the national women's softball team prepares to leave the island shortly, they do so confident in the backing they have received from the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA).

The team leaves for the US Virgin Islands where they will participate in a qualifying tournament for the Pan-American Games as a precursor to an Olympic bid.

The national association is funding the aspirations of softball on a journey which, hopefully, will be historic.

“History making and their love for country compel our support for softball and I have watched them in training exemplifying commitment and going beyond the challenges of not having the luxury of resources in the sport to creating a wealth of talent,” said JOA President Christopher Samuda.

The national team has been in training at their home ground at Up Park Camp and for JOA Secretary General/CEO,  Ryan Foster, “the JOA is proud of and committed to the softball artillery as part of our armoury of building capacity in several sports in giving them a fighting chance in the international arena of combat. This investment is bankable.”

Softball Jamaica’s President, Marvalyn Campbell, thanked the nation’s governing sport body “for believing in softball and responding every time to the call which will not be forgotten and for which the team is very grateful.”

The JOA Executives also lauded the directors of Softball Jamaica for growing the support and providing our sportsmen and women opportunities for self-actualisation and national representation.  

JOA President, Christopher Samuda, was in a “business unusual” mode in addressing the audience at the Tornadoes Swim Club’s recent 2022 Awards Ceremony held at its new home on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

President Samuda challenged Jamaica’s aspiring Olympic swimmers to “deep dive into history and there you will find the inspiration of Tornadoes’ Olympians. Deep dive into the present and there you will discover you, the present generations of swimmers, images of yourself, as you aspire to be on the Olympic stage. Deep dive into the future and you will envision what you must become – the standard by which swimmers will be judged, a model athlete and a legacy creator.”

The past year for the club was very successful with Sabrina Lyn, Israel Allen and Rhiana Gayle receiving athlete of the year awards in their respective disciplines at the RJR/Gleaner National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards Ceremony, a feat which underscores the club’s prowess.

In exhorting the swimmers, President Samuda charged them “to possess a spirit of commitment, an uncompromising spirit to transform the sport by dint of your own performances and the standards which define those performances and to possess the character of a champion that goes beyond and above the podium on which you will receive that gold medal and the admiration of a national, regional and global sporting fraternity.”

But, like an experienced diver who surfaces with the pearl, President Samuda reminded Jamaica’s aspiring Olympians that “when you deep dive you can’t remain under water. You must rise like a phoenix with the prize held aloft in victory, in triumph. For it is only when you rise that you will have understood and overcome the challenges of the deep and appreciate the horizon of the human spirit and be able to tell your story.”

The narrative of sport is equally a national as it is a community story and this truism was emphasised by JOA’s boss in delivering his address. In encouraging Jamaica’s future, he said: “Outside of the household of the Tornadoes swim club there is a community to which you, swimmers, belong and have a duty to be model citizens. The principles of fair play and mutuality in sport, the value of friendships made in sport and the character of humility in victory and resilience in disappointment experienced in sport are priceless qualities which must never depart from you and your experience in your community.”

In the sport’s recent Olympic history, Alia Atkinson, has been carrying the national flag with distinction and President Samuda, in expressing optimism for the future, comments that “there is a reservoir of talent that can provide an Olympic stream but we must, in a structured and almost scientific way, unlock the talent pipeline when they are young in opening the floodgates when they become mature.”

It will be a signal milestone when the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) initiates the "Kingston Liberec Connection" as a model partnership in the global sport film industry.

On a recent visit to the Czech Republic, JOA President, Christopher Samuda,  who was a guest of the Liberec Film Festival Organization, proposed an Olympic partnership  dubbed the "Kingston-Liberec Connection" - between the cities of  Kingston and Liberec in strengthening bi-lateral relationships between Jamaica and the Czech Republic in the sport film industry.

President Samuda, who was also a speaker at the festival, expressed confidence that the proposed partnership will serve to "birth and develop a sporting cultural economy that will see mutual investments in talents across the professional spectrum in the sport-film industry while giving the peoples of Jamaica and the Czech Republic opportunities to experience, in cinema and film, cultural realities of each other in bridging the oceanic divide."

Mayor Zámečník welcomed the proposal and signaled the support of the city of Liberec which has a very respectable and enviable history in sport and the film festival.

Within the context of history in the making, JOA Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Foster said “the JOA looks within but also beyond the boundaries of Jamaica for partners who, with us, will establish landmark executions and lasting legacies for the benefit of generations in the global village of sport."

  Meanwhile, Renata Balašová, director of the Liberec International Film Festival, which has a history spanning more than two decades, endorsed what promises to be an exciting and innovative “connection”.

Entitled the "Kingston Liberec Connection" the initiative comes at a time when the JOA's educational agenda, through its "Stamina" series, will be expanding its reach across the hemisphere building capacity in athletes, coaches and administrators intra and extra-regionally.

"We the JOA are a homegrown product rooted in the soil of Jamrock but this administration considers the apex body also as an international commodity in the business of sport as we play our part in sustaining an ever dynamic universal sport economy," Samuda said.

The Czech Olympic Committee has also expressed its support of what will be undoubtedly a groundbreaking “connection” in modern sport diplomacy.

Seasoned sports administrator Keith Joseph of the St Vincent and the Grenadines is the new president of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC). Joseph won comfortably over his Jamaican challenger Christopher Samuda by a count of 17-9, successfully replacing former president Brian Lewis.

Joseph earned the majority of votes on the second and final day of the XX CANOC General Assembly, attended by 26 of the 30 member National Olympic Committees (NOC's) and Commonwealth Games Federations (CFG's) in Trinidad and Tobago from November 4-5.

Joseph campaigned on a record of achievement of the last CANOC executive, in which he served as the secretary general. The highlight of the last term was the successful staging of the 2022 Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe, which returned to the sports calendar after a 13-year hiatus.

Meanwhile, Lewis himself got the nod from the membership to serve as the secretary general by a vote of 14-12 over Antigua and Barbuda’s Cliff Williams. The Virgin Islands’ John Abramson conceded the post of first vice president to the Cayman Islands’ Carson Ebanks by a vote of 16-10 while Ytannia Wiggins of Barbados (18) and Guadeloupe’s Alain Soreze (19) retained positions as executive member.

Edith Cox was returned unopposed as treasurer.

The Joesph-led administration will appoint a second vice-president as the post was not filled via nominations.

Jamaica’s Christopher Samuda and St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Keith Joseph are the two candidates for the presidency of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) when the organization meets for its 20^th General Assembly November 4-5 at the Hyatt Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The elections will serve to select the members of the CANOC Executive Committee for the quadrennial period, 2022-2026 following Day 1 of the ninth CANOC workshop.

Samuda, who is president of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) or Joseph, the General Secretary of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee, will replace the incumbent Brian Lewis of Trinidad and Tobago who will be going up against Antigua and Barbuda’s Cliff Williams for the position of CANOC Secretary General.

Meantime, vying for the post of vice-president are John Abramson of the US Virgin Islands and Carson Ebanks of the Cayman Islands.

Edith Cox of the Turks and Caicos is the only candidate for the post of treasurer while Ytannia Wiggins of Barbados, Alain Soreze of Guadeloupe, Bruce Farara of Montserrat and Alan Sharpe of Belize are in the running for executive members.

The nominations commission chaired by Sandra Osborne, SCM, KC, will supervise and manage the voting process to deliver secure results for all Executive Committee elections as well as decisions on selection of the host for the second edition of the Caribbean Games.

The Executive Report on CANOC’s stewardship over the past four years, the report on the Inaugural Caribbean Game and bid presentations for host of the 2025 Caribbean Games, will be the main features on Day 2.

As part of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) commitment to the United Nations Sport for Climate Action (S4CA) Framework and the support to the Olympic Movement to protect our planet, CANOC will be attempting to minimize the use of paper at the workshop and general assembly, offering instead, as many documents as possible in digital format.

It was certainly a Wolmer's reunion when Olympian Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce came to the JOA's Commonwealth Manor at the very "vibes" Edgbaston Hotel and Conference Centre in Birmingham where the Commonwealth Games is taking place. 

JOA President, Christopher Samuda, and JOA Secretary General/CEO, Ryan Foster, who both hail from the prominent Marescaux Road educational institution, Wolmer's Boys' School, welcomed their "sistren' Shelly-Ann, who attended Wolmer's Girls' School, and was on a doctor's visit to Birmingham. 

The Commonwealth Manor in Birmingham is the second edition of the current administration of the JOA, the first having been held at the snazzy and popular Helm Bar in the Gold Coast, Australia, where the 2018 Games took place. 

Shelly-Ann said "yes this is Wolmer's" in an evident show of scholastic camaraderie as she identified with the governors of JOA. 

Samuda, in embracing the collegiate and national spirit, stated: "We are Wolmerians, the maroon and gold champions, and black, green and gold patriots" while Foster, inspired by the enviable history of his alma mater, was moved to say "changemakers and innovators we are and servant leaders we will always be"

The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) will, next month, launch its Olympic Coaches' Scholarships as the local governing body for Olympic sports continues its drive in making more professional the delivery of sports, especially the international games which fall under its remit.

Those games include the Summer and Winter Senior and Youth Olympic Games, the Pan American Games, the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, the Commonwealth Games and beach games staged by regional and world governing bodies.

Enabling and empowering stakeholders remains the primary focus of the JOA which in 2019 created history when it inaugurated its own athletes' scholarships valued at over $JMD 6,000,000.00 to match scholarships, under the aegis of the Olympic Solidarity Programme of the International Olympic Committee (IOC),  are granted to athletes selected by the JOA.

"We've always been a co-partner with our coaches who are the custodians of talent and in acknowledging that fact, the JOA is making another solid and scholarly investment in our human and technical capital in sport," JOA President Christopher Samuda said.

Applicants responding to the call will formally submit their credentials in a pre-determined format and those who are shortlisted will then go through a very practical interview process governed by an expert panel assembled by the apex body, which will determine the successful beneficiaries.

JOA Secretary General and CEO, Ryan Foster, who will manage the process, outlined the value of the scholarships and more importantly the values which the JOA will be promoting, as the benefactor, through this grant.

"It's more than the $2,000,000.00 dollars that each recipient will receive to assist them in educational and career pursuits and to defray expenses incurred in relation to the preparation of their athletes and certain personal expenses, for it will be an experience in the lessons of Olympism in which they will learn  the value of self-management and mastery, goal setting and achievement and ethics and business of sport," Foster explained.

A welcomed opportunity for Jamaica's coaches, the continued grant of the scholarships by the JOA will fill a void locally and "give our coaches a new lease on their sporting lives and signal to them that the JOA is on the frontline with them and their athletes in creating success" Foster further stated.

This initiative comes on the heels of the Olympic Coaches Reward which the JOA initiated at the Tokyo Olympic Games which saw the governing body rewarding coaches of successful medalists to the tune of JMD$5,000,000.00.

Sport development calls for structured strategic management of human resources and a viable infrastructure of which coaches are essential.

"Our coaches are foundational, the cornerstone of the sports architecture and therefore the JOA is building capacity and deepening the pool of competencies while giving them assistance in dealing with certain domestic obligations of life," Samuda remarked.

The JOA Olympic Coaches Scholarships will also provide opportunities for coaches selected to collaborate with global colleagues in the transfer of knowledge in master classes.

The Jamaica Lacrosse Association (JLA) continues to create milestones and recently, its national team became the first team to qualify for the 2023 World Championships which will be held in San Diego, California.

In securing this achievement, the Jamaican sport ambassadors scored victories over Columbia 7 - 2 and the US Virgin Islands 5 - 4 and now stand a real chance of topping the table in the competition currently underway in Medellin, Colombia.

In commending JLA President, Calbert Hutchinson and the team, Jamaica Olympic Association President Christopher Samuda stated that "our member association continues to personify merit in sport and is inspiring its players to go beyond the call of duty in the national colors which is the essence of patriotism and a compelling attribute which all sportsmen and women should have."

The sport of Lacrosse locally is quickly gaining ascendancy which mirrors its growing popularity globally and is providing many opportunities for our youth engaged in competitive sport.

"A primary focus of the JOA is to broaden the options in sport for our youth and create as many opportunities for them to excel on the field of play in self-actualising while motivating them to earn a value-based education that will be their pension after sport. Lacrosse is raising the bar impressively and is taking ownership and passing the shuttle and not the buck'" Secretary General/CEO, Ryan Foster said.

The sport was contested at the Summer Olympics Games in 1904 and 1908 and played as an exhibition sport in 1928, 1932 and 1948 and the JOA supports the growing advocacy to have the sport make a long-awaited re-appearance in 2028 in Los Angeles.

"The calls for the sport's rebirth in Los Angeles are resonating and fittingly so after being absent for almost a century. If the echoes of history don't compel it, then the voices of the present will" President Samuda said.

President of the Jamaica Olympic Association, Christopher Samuda, issued a statement congratulating the Reggae Girlz on their qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on Tuesday.

The Girlz defeated Haiti 4-0 in Mexico on Monday to secure their second consecutive World Cup berth.

“With victory over Haiti, the journey now begins for our Reggae Girlz and as we did on the previous occasion the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) will be on the voyage, down under, with the team of our member association the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF),” Samuda said in the statement.

“History has repeated itself and the JOA commends the Girlz for writing, yet again, another admirable chapter in what we know will be a bestseller in football. Well done Girlz. The fraternity of sport applauds you and the Olympic Movement thanks you for giving our youth, particularly our young girls, invaluable lessons in courage, determination and inspiration,” he added.

Competitive boxing will return to the local sporting landscape with an event dubbed 'Fight Night on Olympic Way' scheduled for this Saturday at 7:00 pm when the Sugar Knockout Boxing Gym will come alive at the Cling Cling Oval in Olympic Gardens. 

The well-stocked fight card includes amateurs, females, and a professional match-up.  

The Sugar Knockout Gym was also launched at its newest location - the Cling Cling football Oval, home of former Reggae Boy, Ian Pepe Goodison, who is president of the football club and supported the boxing gym taking up residency on the top floor of the clubhouse. 

former boxer Lindel Wallace started the gym in 2008 as a way to give back to the young people in his community. 

"I was a boxer.  I trained at Tinson Pen first then Archmore, then I left from Archmore to go to Liberty Hall on King Street, then I left from Liberty Hall when Liberty Hall was destroyed and went to Race Course at Guinness Gym. Boxing is my life and what I love," Wallace said. 

“Well, I boxed for a couple of years before turning professional.  I love boxing so much that when I was done with it, I said I have to really turn into a coach. The first guys that I trained were (Khamal) Russell, (Dwayne) Rose, and Chad Richards.  Russell came out as a champion.  Chad Richards came out as a champion," he added. 

Regarding the gym's current location, Wallace said, "I feel good about it because for a long time I was asking for a place to call home and now I have it.  I need to improve more with my fighters."  He also said that Digicel, UK-based Jamaican Shania Gordon, and the Jamaica Boxing Association provided financial support to upgrade the gym and equipment to stock it. 

Vice President of the gym Felipe Sanchez spoke about the impact he wants the gym to have on the community.

"I have been involved in boxing in Jamaica for over four years. In total, boxing has been a part of my life for over fifteen years, and coming here to the boxing gym in Suga's Knockout Gym, it’s been wonderful to see the sense of community that has been built,” Sanchez said. 

“The youth has built a sense of pride.  We don't just teach them boxing; we teach them responsibility, so for me to see them grow as persons it brings me a lot of pride. For example, we have a club captain weekly who has to make sure that the gym is clean, the lights are turned off, the water is not running, and that the gloves are all accounted for, so this will help them at the end of the day because if boxing doesn't go well, you have to fall back on something else and the perfect transferable skills that you get from boxing can help you. We want to make champions in the ring and also in life," he added.

President of the Jamaica Boxing Association Stephen ‘Bomber’ Jones also shared his thoughts on the developments.

"I am very, very pleased.  Very excited.  We are encouraged by what I saw today, by what we knew would be coming, and by what we know to be coming Saturday,” he said.

“The return of the sport has been long overdue but everything in its time.  What I like most is that the card represents all levels, from the grassroots level to our elite national representative to a pro fight on the same night so the community will see boxing at a very high level.  Most importantly is the return to the sport so this is not a one-off," Jones added. 

He said that the fight card includes eight amateur bouts inclusive of one female matchup, and one pro bout between Jamaica's Headley 'Lights Out' Scott and Mexico's Israel Rojas.  Two of the boxers, one male and one female will come in from the recently launched Top Level Gym in Montego Bay.

Two of the boxers, on the Card,  Jerone Ennis, and Daniel Hylton, will represent Jamaica in the upcoming Commonwealth Games. 

"Going to the Commonwealth Games, this fight is very important to me,” said Ennis.

“This fight will basically be a prep fight.  Not expecting any competition but I have been training hard.  Just come and expect a lot of fireworks from Jerone Ennis," he added. 

 The Mayor of Kingston, His Worship Delroy Williams, Major Jenekie Rowe - boxing officer at the Jamaica Defence Force, and Christopher Samuda - President of the Jamaica Olympic Association attended the launch and endorsed the event. 

"It all started with Lindel.  He has blazed a trail and he has created champions and achievers out of our young people,” Samuda said.

“We believe that young people must have options.  Not everybody is an athlete, not everybody is a footballer or cricketer so we must give our young people options and boxing is a sport that provides a lot of opportunities," he added. 

The Amateur matchups are:

Howard Levy (80 lbs, 10 yrs) vs Alex Grant (90 lbs, 13 yrs)

Tyreek Jackson (112 lbs, 16 yrs) vs Akeem Mignot (120 lbs, 24 yrs)

Damara Bowen (120 lbs, 18 yrs) vs Sharikee Moore (124 lbs, 20 yrs)

Juezier Heron (140 lbs, 23 yrs) vs Daniel Hylton (145 lbs, 22 yrs)

Shaine Blake (156 lbs, 28 yrs) vs Mickel Bernard (155 lbs, 33 yrs)

Renaldo Beckford (175 lbs, 24 yrs) vs Jerone Ennis (175 lbs, 27 yrs)

Kirk Patrick Heron (170 lbs, 26 yrs) vs Tomere Pearson (168 lbs, 25 yrs)

Jordan Blackwood (215 lbs, 16 yrs) vs Alex Walch (210 lbs, 31 yrs)

   JOA INVESTS IN THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF JAMAICA’S TRIATHLETES

Kingston, Jamaica…The Jamaica Triathlon Association (JTA) received a welcome boost recently when they were able to acquire eight new `bicycles with the help of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA).

Through a JOA grant of JMD$1 million the JTA was able to acquire the bicycles and other equipment as well as assist with the promotion of the inaugural Inter-Schools Triathlon/Aquathlon Championships to be held at the National Aquatic Centre at Independence Park in Kingston on Saturday, June 18, 2022.

The championships will include age groups from six to 21 years incorporating primary, secondary and tertiary students.

Christopher Samuda, President of the JOA, said the investment is a further signal of the Olympic association’s confidence in the goals set by the JTA’s administration. 

“Our investment in the sport triathlon is three fold - the athlete, the tool of the trade, which is the bicycle, and the coach, who provides the technical competence which transitions the talent to success,” President Samuda said.

“This is JOA's cycle of development, the returns of which have been fast tracked by the experience and commitment of the new administration led by President Karl Sharpe.

“This is a solid partnership between the JOA and the Jamaica Triathlon Association, which has developed traction and the athlete is the winner and the schools the beneficiaries. One million is yet another clear signal of our confidence in the sport and the value and currency of the administration.”

JOA CEO and General-Secretary Ryan Foster believes the assistance they are providing will also help the JTA build capacity in the longer term.

“The JOA welcomes this extremely important initiative by the Jamaica Triathlon Association. The JOA shares a similar vision with the JTA regarding expanding opportunities and growing the sport in schools,” Foster said.

“We are pleased with the renewed energy displayed by President (Carl) Sharpe and his team and saw it as a right strategic fit which aligns with our vision of looking at the next generation.

“The partnership will see The JOA contributing $JMD1 million towards this competition. The sponsorship will also see the JOA providing the much-needed competition equipment, especially for those schools that do not have the resources to do so. This equipment will provide capacity to the JTA for future events."

 The consensus is that the JOA support will go a long way in helping develop the sport as well as aid in the physical development of young athletes, a view expressed by the association’s president Carl Sharpe.

“They (the bicycles) will help us to unearth talent,” he said.

Sharpe explained that several aquathlon athletes interested in becoming triathletes but they lack the resources to purchase bicycles.

He also believes that because the triathlon is a cross-discipline event, athletes who engage in the sport are likely to achieve greater levels of physical development and as a result are more likely to avoid injuries.

These sentiments were echoed by JTA Director Donna Sharpe.

“These bikes are starter bikes with different measurements that fit athletes with varying heights. The bikes will be used on a loaner basis to get athletes to start riding,” she explained.

“These are some aquathletes who want to transition to triathlon but have no bikes to get started. So they will be used to assist athletes to learn to ride and or train.”

At the inaugural championships, the JTA coaches are hoping to identify talent for the national squad in preparation for the Carifta Triathlon Aquathlon Age Group Championships scheduled to be held September 24th to 25th in Bermuda.

                                        -30-