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Munroe tells Jamaicans to transfer athletic talent to nation building
ERICA VIRTUE, Observer writer
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Dr Patrick Robinson (right) discusses aspects of the book Jamaican Athletics - A model for the world with former Olympian Herb McKenley at the launch recently. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)
University of the West Indies (UWI) professor, Senator Trevor Munroe, has challenged Jamaicans to transfer the talent, discipline and world-class superiority of our nation's athletics life to make all aspects of the country world class.
Munroe, the keynote speaker at the recent launch of Dr Patrick Robinson's book, Jamaican Athletics - A model for the world, reiterated the established fact that Jamaica, per capita, is the number one producer of world-class athletes.
Addressing an audience of more than 150 guests at the recent book launch at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, Munroe said the nation's greatness in athletics must be extended across the wider society.
He pointed to the greatness of Jamaica, which is ranked No 2 in the world of athletics, yet 96 in per capita income, 100 in size of economy and 104 in levels of human development.
Munroe noted that more Jamaicans are ranked in the March 2007 International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) top 20 in the 100, 200 and 400 metres than from any other country in the world, with the exception of the USA.
He said it was a mismatch which could not be explained as only 15 books are listed on Amazon.com about our athletics and 624 on politics in Jamaica.
The author, the presiding Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague, which oversaw the trial for former Yugoslavian president, Slobodan Milosevic, asks the question "why can't we replicate the excellence of our performance in athletics in other areas of national life?"
He attributes Jamaica's success in athletics to a system which trains and nurtures excellence at the junior and senior levels. According to him, a large number of qualified coaches spread across the school system at the junior level and, more recently, at the senior adult level, have contributed to the building of excellence.
Secondly, he points to the rigorous, prolonged training at the junior level towards the secondary school championships, which he describes as the "the heart of the system", and finally to the emergence of high-quality, world-class institutions at the senior level.
Dr Robinson lauds coach Stephen Francis and the Maximising Velocity and Power (MVP) Club for, in effect, "liberating Jamaica's athletes from dependency on a foreign system".
In this regard, he compares the effect of Francis' work in athletics to the achievements of Louise Bennett in speech, Rex Nettleford in dance, Bob Marley in music, "in promoting the development of something that is uniquely Jamaican and more importantly, contributed to the development of a national identity".
Dr Robinson thanked collaborators Laurie Foster and Jimmy Carnegie for their contributions to the publication.
Guests were drawn from the sporting, legal, political and business fraternities.
Presentations of the book were made to former Olympians, The Hon Herb McKenley and Deon Hemmings-McCatty, Minister of Education and Youth, The Hon Maxine Henry-Wilson and to Donald Quarrie, which was accepted by his nephew.
Dr Robinson presented a cheque for $100,000 to the president of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), Clement Radcliffe, to assist in the organisation's developmental programmes.
Among the guests attending, were Opposition Leader Bruce Golding and his wife Lorna; Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe; President of the Court of Appeal, Paul Harrison; former President of the Court of Appeal, Ian Forte and his wife, Marlene Malahoo-Forte; brothers Hugh and Richard Small; businessman Lascelles Chin; former Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) president Clarence Clarke; Stephen Vasciannie; Sports administrators Pat Anderson, Freddie Green and Alfred Francis and former Olympian Juliet Cuthbert.
ERICA VIRTUE, Observer writer
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Dr Patrick Robinson (right) discusses aspects of the book Jamaican Athletics - A model for the world with former Olympian Herb McKenley at the launch recently. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)University of the West Indies (UWI) professor, Senator Trevor Munroe, has challenged Jamaicans to transfer the talent, discipline and world-class superiority of our nation's athletics life to make all aspects of the country world class.
Munroe, the keynote speaker at the recent launch of Dr Patrick Robinson's book, Jamaican Athletics - A model for the world, reiterated the established fact that Jamaica, per capita, is the number one producer of world-class athletes.
Addressing an audience of more than 150 guests at the recent book launch at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, Munroe said the nation's greatness in athletics must be extended across the wider society.
He pointed to the greatness of Jamaica, which is ranked No 2 in the world of athletics, yet 96 in per capita income, 100 in size of economy and 104 in levels of human development.
Munroe noted that more Jamaicans are ranked in the March 2007 International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) top 20 in the 100, 200 and 400 metres than from any other country in the world, with the exception of the USA.
He said it was a mismatch which could not be explained as only 15 books are listed on Amazon.com about our athletics and 624 on politics in Jamaica.
The author, the presiding Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague, which oversaw the trial for former Yugoslavian president, Slobodan Milosevic, asks the question "why can't we replicate the excellence of our performance in athletics in other areas of national life?"
He attributes Jamaica's success in athletics to a system which trains and nurtures excellence at the junior and senior levels. According to him, a large number of qualified coaches spread across the school system at the junior level and, more recently, at the senior adult level, have contributed to the building of excellence.
Secondly, he points to the rigorous, prolonged training at the junior level towards the secondary school championships, which he describes as the "the heart of the system", and finally to the emergence of high-quality, world-class institutions at the senior level.
Dr Robinson lauds coach Stephen Francis and the Maximising Velocity and Power (MVP) Club for, in effect, "liberating Jamaica's athletes from dependency on a foreign system".
In this regard, he compares the effect of Francis' work in athletics to the achievements of Louise Bennett in speech, Rex Nettleford in dance, Bob Marley in music, "in promoting the development of something that is uniquely Jamaican and more importantly, contributed to the development of a national identity".
Dr Robinson thanked collaborators Laurie Foster and Jimmy Carnegie for their contributions to the publication.
Guests were drawn from the sporting, legal, political and business fraternities.
Presentations of the book were made to former Olympians, The Hon Herb McKenley and Deon Hemmings-McCatty, Minister of Education and Youth, The Hon Maxine Henry-Wilson and to Donald Quarrie, which was accepted by his nephew.
Dr Robinson presented a cheque for $100,000 to the president of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), Clement Radcliffe, to assist in the organisation's developmental programmes.
Among the guests attending, were Opposition Leader Bruce Golding and his wife Lorna; Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe; President of the Court of Appeal, Paul Harrison; former President of the Court of Appeal, Ian Forte and his wife, Marlene Malahoo-Forte; brothers Hugh and Richard Small; businessman Lascelles Chin; former Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) president Clarence Clarke; Stephen Vasciannie; Sports administrators Pat Anderson, Freddie Green and Alfred Francis and former Olympian Juliet Cuthbert.
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