Mosiah did you hear Irwin Claire last night on Klass FM

[Sir X]

or is it Erwin Claire, anyway points made were harsh on the fact that Jamaicas approach to sports in general were unprofessional and amateurish .The theme of the program was how to capitalize on post Beijing & Berlin.

He basically lashed out at the JAAA , he didn't call them out by name but it was clear that he took a tone similar to Sangster and Francis.He said basically they must realize they are dealing with professionals and act accordingly.

You had other callers asking for the JAAA to resign .

I think Aris and McCook spoke , I cannot remember whom but when asked if they had a marketing plan , The JAAA didn't have any and said they had a study done on how to market Jamaica's T&F , someone started to quote from the plan that obviously he hadn't took the time to read.

Our minister of sports was on the hot seat also , when asked why they didn't have a marketing plan post Beijing for Berlin, her reply was basically they didn't have the funds for a marketing delegation and the plan is in the works .

[Sir X]

Correction it was not a marketing plan , but a study on how sports contribute Jamaicas development .

Basically it was a be patient response everything criss and in the works , stop ask mi questions and gwan bout yuh bizniz wi a run dis .

[Don1]

or is it Erwin Claire, anyway points made were harsh on the fact that Jamaicas approach to sports in general were unprofessional and amateurish .The theme of the program was how to capitalize on post Beijing & Berlin.

He basically lashed out at the JAAA , he didn't call them out by name but it was clear that he took a tone similar to Sangster and Francis.He said basically they must realize they are dealing with professionals and act accordingly.

You had other callers asking for the JAAA to resign .

I think Aris and McCook spoke , I cannot remember whom but when asked if they had a marketing plan , The JAAA didn't have any and said they had a study done on how to market Jamaica's T&F , someone started to quote from the plan that obviously he hadn't took the time to read.

Our minister of sports was on the hot seat also , when asked why they didn't have a marketing plan post Beijing for Berlin, her reply was basically they didn't have the funds for a marketing delegation and the plan is in the works .

Irwine Clare.

[Gamma]

heheheheh..... neither as it turns out! LOL!!!

[Assasin]

wwwooooooooooo.

funnny nuh rhatid

[Baddaz]

i listened to that program intently... my take was different from yours... i thought howard aris was very welcoming and open to all questions and gave satisfactory responses as i would have expected from his position...

he articulated the source of funding for the j3a... corporate (approx 90) and the remainder from govt... he explained the challenges with marketing... ownership of intellectual properties... individual athletes rights (they are owners of their property)... the consideration of branding the t&f, since they do not own the name 'jamaica'... he tossed out some names under consideration, jamtrack&field... i thought he was weak there, but he is not a marketing man... still he mentioned that it was a work in progress... i would give him the benefit of the doubt there, although i do believe something simple as 'team jamaica track & field' would suffice... i think they are looking for a catch name for marketing and i believe that is where they are missing the boat... it is the product and not the name...

aris, went into the fact of the world recession which regrettably is happening during the highpoint of ja t&f successes... corporate sponsors haven't had the available funds which is the case everywhere...

he spoke about his piloting of a study which is being chaired by dr. hamilton (who was on the program) to provide data on the overall contribution to the nations gdp by t&f... this data is needed to lobby govt for support based on the contribution of t&f as a revenue producer...

he spoke of the support for athletes noting that the j3a is responsible for the training and certification of coaches (85+)... sourcing travel and accomodation for the t&f teams to all events... he said they have assisted athletes whenever they have asked for assistance... they cannot provide financing for all athletes in the mass participation pool...

he spoke of the various considerations to generate more revenues for j3a... would not want to deduct a percentage of the athletes earnings since it is their earnings and they have to pay mgrs, agents, med personnel, travel etc...

babsy also spoke... grace kennedy ceo orane (last name escape me) also spoke... team bickle... overall a very interesting program...

i think howard aris was very inciteful and honest with his answers... he has good ideas but needs to move to a different model to reflect the changing landscape... i also think that jamaica and the j3a were not prepared for this level of success and they were caught napping...

i could go on but time does not permit me...

[myYout]

Ah dis ah di key "jamaica and the j3a were not prepared for this level of success ". "We need to move to a different model to reflect the changing landscape" kah wi rearrange di track n fiel worl yah now big time. Jus borrow a few ah yuh most imperative pint dem sah, kah yuh hit di nail right pan di head. Wi hab time fi ketch a breathe kah is a worl win ting wi athlete dem deh pan from last year.

[Sir X]

When time permits you, can you explain how your take is different than mine ? If as you state the J3A admits it wasnt prepared for this level of success?

We can excuse Bejing but Berlin ? and round two of the camp gate fiasco , so what are we doing about the up and coming round 3 camp gate bout whats the excuse going to be then ?

Things I want addresed

a) The training schedule/programme of the National Coaching Staff will take priority over that of personal coaches and/or agents. The schedule of personal coaches and/or agents should therefore be structured around that of the National Coaching Staff.

I cannot see this working as these personal coaches are professional coaches with a defined mandate for specific contractural results with various sponsors.

To put them under the priorities of a national coach who doesnt know the nutritional,pyschological and medical regime of thier personal professional coach is madness nominating a head coach with adversaries competing for the same sponsorship interest is ridiculous.


b) A marketing arm , how hard is it to source that to Puma or Nike or any shoe company. 2- 3 million us a year is reasonable.

I think we are on the same page , you are just more politically correct than I am.

I think !

[Gamma]

x, which hs yuh did guh tuh in JA? how about you baddaz?

[Sir X]

hehe ... Baddaz suspect im go KC .

[TDowl]

"i could go on but time does not permit me..." Please use some of my time, because I know you will also say then, that Aris said "he does not know how to market JA T&F".

Please support me here, I would like the JAAA borrow Clare & Orane for just 6 months, so we can all benifit from Professionals.

[Baddaz]

i did not hear aris say, "he does not know how to market JA T&F"... he said there are challenges due to the nature of track & field being an individual sport unlike football... the ownership of intellectual property rights... roi of sponsons...

he mentioned additional sources of income that our success has presented, such as the usa v jamaica meet...

understand that i am not here defending aris, i am attempting to add some balance sans the emotion...

orane and the team bickle gentleman, made some valid points as well... orane also recognised the constraints in regards to generating revenues... copyrights from content distribution, mainly... clare spoke of the growth of the reebok to 8,000 in the stands and the penn relays which is directly attributed to the support of jamaicans...

clare stated that champs consistently had 30K people additional revenues could be derived from ppv outside of jamaica... i think that is a good idea... however, i think there are many considerations before that could be determined to be economically viable...

i will support you on a call for a professional marketing group for the tourism and sports ministry to chart a strategic plan that leverages the success of our t&f to positively impact the country outside of sports... that is where i believe the greatest benefit will be derived...

[Mosiah]

Interesting how you both got a different feel from the program. We know X is on some agenda. I would rather go with your take.

I think it is very easy for us to sit out here and criticise though. I'm not sure we understand all the issues. I thought we messed up from 98! So, I'm not saying I'm satisfied. But I can't see thru the rant and rave sometimes.

[Sir X]

X is on some agenda...o.k baddaz I will yield to the purple and your political correct views , Aris has plans ..but certain constraints...hmmm .

Agenda !!!!! my lord for stating the obvious.

[Baddaz]

x... it wasn't the j3a that admitted they were not ready for the level of success... that was my opinion... sorry for the misunderstanding...

if you check the posts in the back, you will notice that i had called for removal of many in the j3a and replace them with professional managers... that was a result of my disgust with their handling of the berlin affair... i still believe there are some in the j3a who are incompetent...

i also would like the j3a to address and ammend the rules regarding coaches and training... tha has to be straightened out...

you mention marketing arm and outsourcing to shoe company for 2-3 mil... i cannot speak to that but i know it would not be as easy as you state...