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Agent upbeat about Lee's prospects
Thursday, June 04, 2009
This is the second of a two-part report. Part One was carried in Wednesday's Observer.
LEE... joined ranks of professional athletes
Claude Bryan, CEO of On Track Management and the agent of World Junior 100m champion Dexter Lee, is upbeat about the athlete's prospects on the professional level.
Bryan, who recognised the Herbert Morrison Technical High Schoolboy's talent just over four years ago, had high praises for sponsors Reebok for taking a chance on an unproved Junior (at the time) who did not attend one of the country's prominent track & schools.
"I have to thank Reebok for stepping in," said Bryan. "This journey did not begin today and I have to credit Todd Klein, because four years ago we took an adventurous journey to Montego Bay, his first time in Jamaica and I indicated there was a young man who could go places. At that time he had no accolades, but credit to Todd who said all right if you think this young man is worth it, let's go take a peek at him."
Beaming like a proud father, Bryan said he had high hopes for Lee whose personal best in the 100m is 10.31 seconds. "Dexter clearly has the mettle of a champion, as evidenced by his two world titles, and if he applied himself there is no question that the sky is the limit at the next level for him."
The immediate goals for the 18-year-old, Bryan said, was his gradual ease into the professional ranks. "There is no immediate pressure being put on Dexter to perform," he stressed, "we just want to work hand in hand with him to take him to the next step".
Quipping that a sub-10.0 seconds time in the next two years would be great, Bryan said: "We recognise that he is still a youngster and cognisant that it would be foolhardy to try and place any undue pressure on him."
Bryan said they were all aware of the quantum leap that Lee would make from running against teenagers to facing the elite of world track and field, "by virtue of making the next step you cannot avoid the (Usain) Bolts, the (Asafa) Powells, the Doc Pattons, the Richard Thompsons and the Tyson Gays of this world; he will have to mingle with them and that calls for more work, he will have to work harder and apply himself, but we are not saying he will have to run any specific times or win anything next year".
He added: "Obviously he does have his eyes on retaining the IAAF World Junior Championships title next year."
Grant he said would play a very important role in Lee's development, even after he leaves Herbert Morrison. "I will venture to say coach Grant will have a very important role to play in his future once he takes off the Herbert Morrison vest and will still have a say in his career because it does not take rocket science to prove that Claude Grant is more than adequate as a sprint coach.
"Grant is more than a coach to Dexter...and I think that role he plays is also crucial to further success and so coach Grant will be very key."
Grant also gave his blessings to the move saying, "as a coach you must feel good that your athlete is reaching his full potential".
Todd Klein told the Observer the key for him was an initial meeting with Grant and the members of the Herbert Morrison team.
"I think it started with Herbert Morrison and coach Grant. When Claude Bryan and I met to discuss the opportunity, we saw that Kingston had a lot of great teams, but we saw where we had an opportunity in Montego Bay and obviously Claude had identified Dexter as someone who he thought had tremendous talent and something we should investigate, so initially it started with Herbert Morrison."
"Speaking with Dexter, he came across as a very sincere person and... I saw a person who had the potential to be more than just a track and field athlete for our brand; there was a bigger opportunity than to be just another number out there, but he fits into our philosophy of having athletes that the brand can activate on and off the track," Klein recalled.
Todd emphasised that Reebok's relationship with Herbert Morrison would continue.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
This is the second of a two-part report. Part One was carried in Wednesday's Observer.
LEE... joined ranks of professional athletesClaude Bryan, CEO of On Track Management and the agent of World Junior 100m champion Dexter Lee, is upbeat about the athlete's prospects on the professional level.
Bryan, who recognised the Herbert Morrison Technical High Schoolboy's talent just over four years ago, had high praises for sponsors Reebok for taking a chance on an unproved Junior (at the time) who did not attend one of the country's prominent track & schools.
"I have to thank Reebok for stepping in," said Bryan. "This journey did not begin today and I have to credit Todd Klein, because four years ago we took an adventurous journey to Montego Bay, his first time in Jamaica and I indicated there was a young man who could go places. At that time he had no accolades, but credit to Todd who said all right if you think this young man is worth it, let's go take a peek at him."
Beaming like a proud father, Bryan said he had high hopes for Lee whose personal best in the 100m is 10.31 seconds. "Dexter clearly has the mettle of a champion, as evidenced by his two world titles, and if he applied himself there is no question that the sky is the limit at the next level for him."
The immediate goals for the 18-year-old, Bryan said, was his gradual ease into the professional ranks. "There is no immediate pressure being put on Dexter to perform," he stressed, "we just want to work hand in hand with him to take him to the next step".
Quipping that a sub-10.0 seconds time in the next two years would be great, Bryan said: "We recognise that he is still a youngster and cognisant that it would be foolhardy to try and place any undue pressure on him."
Bryan said they were all aware of the quantum leap that Lee would make from running against teenagers to facing the elite of world track and field, "by virtue of making the next step you cannot avoid the (Usain) Bolts, the (Asafa) Powells, the Doc Pattons, the Richard Thompsons and the Tyson Gays of this world; he will have to mingle with them and that calls for more work, he will have to work harder and apply himself, but we are not saying he will have to run any specific times or win anything next year".
He added: "Obviously he does have his eyes on retaining the IAAF World Junior Championships title next year."
Grant he said would play a very important role in Lee's development, even after he leaves Herbert Morrison. "I will venture to say coach Grant will have a very important role to play in his future once he takes off the Herbert Morrison vest and will still have a say in his career because it does not take rocket science to prove that Claude Grant is more than adequate as a sprint coach.
"Grant is more than a coach to Dexter...and I think that role he plays is also crucial to further success and so coach Grant will be very key."
Grant also gave his blessings to the move saying, "as a coach you must feel good that your athlete is reaching his full potential".
Todd Klein told the Observer the key for him was an initial meeting with Grant and the members of the Herbert Morrison team.
"I think it started with Herbert Morrison and coach Grant. When Claude Bryan and I met to discuss the opportunity, we saw that Kingston had a lot of great teams, but we saw where we had an opportunity in Montego Bay and obviously Claude had identified Dexter as someone who he thought had tremendous talent and something we should investigate, so initially it started with Herbert Morrison."
"Speaking with Dexter, he came across as a very sincere person and... I saw a person who had the potential to be more than just a track and field athlete for our brand; there was a bigger opportunity than to be just another number out there, but he fits into our philosophy of having athletes that the brand can activate on and off the track," Klein recalled.
Todd emphasised that Reebok's relationship with Herbert Morrison would continue.