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Observer EDITORIAL:
Where's the effort for our slice of the sport tourism market?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Afew weeks ago, MVP track club athletes, among them Mr Asafa Powell and Ms Sherone Simpson, travelled from Jamaica to Australia where they participated in a training camp and competed in warm-up meets.
The intention of going to Australia to train, we have been made to understand, had more to do with the hope of mentally conditioning the athletes, particularly Mr Powell and Miss Simpson, for a repeat of their performance in 2006.
Readers will remember that that was the year when both Mr Powell and Miss Simpson dominated world athletics, winning every race in which they competed and, in the process, making Jamaica proud.
The fact that this is an Olympic year was not lost on the MVP officials, and as such they saw even more need for the trip Down Under.
Outside of the fact that Australians love sport and are among the world's most competitive athletes, sport in that country is very big business, even as it serves as a tool of social regeneration.
So the Australians have spared no effort in investing in sporting facilities, management and science that assist their athletes to perform better on the world stage.
In fact, their system has been so successful that it has literally become a blueprint for accomplishment and has been copied by other countries.
Last week, we learnt that the camp in which the MVP athletes participated also attracted other big names in world track and field. So it is obvious that the Australians have decided to maximise the economic benefits available from their sporting infrastructure.
We raise this issue against the backdrop that successive governments have intermittently toyed with the idea of marketing Jamaica as a winter training destination for sport teams from overseas.
As is usual with our politicians, and some bureaucrats, the issue, when it is raised, is discussed with a lot of passion. Everyone can see and expound on the potential benefits. But the idea remains just that - an idea.
We acknowledge that sport, when measured against more pressing needs such as health, education, water, roads and housing, will command the least of the country's scarce resources. However, it can't be beyond us to find the funds to invest in the kind of facilities that will make Jamaica attractive as a winter training destination.
For there are indeed great economic benefits to be derived from any such investment. And frankly, the countries that now market themselves as winter training destinations and are reaping good benefits really have nothing over Jamaica in terms of climate and atmosphere.
In the run-up to the 2007 Cricket World Cup we were told that the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium would have been fully equipped to capitalise on this market. However, after the World Cup, the stadium was left idle, and the last thing we heard was that a church was interested in leasing it.
While we have no quarrel with the church using the facility, the fact is that this stadium can help to bring well-needed foreign exchange into the country, as well as assist in the development of our young athletes from western Jamaica.
The Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) has already earned a reputation for staging world-class events. We would have expected, therefore, that the executive arm of the Government would have sought the JAAA's advice on how to maximise the use of the Trelawny stadium and other sporting facilities in an effort to capture for Jamaica, a share of this lucrative sport tourism market.
The lure of Jamaica's athletes worldwide is so great that we are convinced that people would pay good money to come here and see them compete. And when the fastest man on earth is Jamaican, that makes the destination even easier to sell.
Except for the views expressed in the column above, the articles published on this page do not necessarily represent the views of the Jamaica Observer
Where's the effort for our slice of the sport tourism market?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Afew weeks ago, MVP track club athletes, among them Mr Asafa Powell and Ms Sherone Simpson, travelled from Jamaica to Australia where they participated in a training camp and competed in warm-up meets.
The intention of going to Australia to train, we have been made to understand, had more to do with the hope of mentally conditioning the athletes, particularly Mr Powell and Miss Simpson, for a repeat of their performance in 2006.
Readers will remember that that was the year when both Mr Powell and Miss Simpson dominated world athletics, winning every race in which they competed and, in the process, making Jamaica proud.
The fact that this is an Olympic year was not lost on the MVP officials, and as such they saw even more need for the trip Down Under.
Outside of the fact that Australians love sport and are among the world's most competitive athletes, sport in that country is very big business, even as it serves as a tool of social regeneration.
So the Australians have spared no effort in investing in sporting facilities, management and science that assist their athletes to perform better on the world stage.
In fact, their system has been so successful that it has literally become a blueprint for accomplishment and has been copied by other countries.
Last week, we learnt that the camp in which the MVP athletes participated also attracted other big names in world track and field. So it is obvious that the Australians have decided to maximise the economic benefits available from their sporting infrastructure.
We raise this issue against the backdrop that successive governments have intermittently toyed with the idea of marketing Jamaica as a winter training destination for sport teams from overseas.
As is usual with our politicians, and some bureaucrats, the issue, when it is raised, is discussed with a lot of passion. Everyone can see and expound on the potential benefits. But the idea remains just that - an idea.
We acknowledge that sport, when measured against more pressing needs such as health, education, water, roads and housing, will command the least of the country's scarce resources. However, it can't be beyond us to find the funds to invest in the kind of facilities that will make Jamaica attractive as a winter training destination.
For there are indeed great economic benefits to be derived from any such investment. And frankly, the countries that now market themselves as winter training destinations and are reaping good benefits really have nothing over Jamaica in terms of climate and atmosphere.
In the run-up to the 2007 Cricket World Cup we were told that the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium would have been fully equipped to capitalise on this market. However, after the World Cup, the stadium was left idle, and the last thing we heard was that a church was interested in leasing it.
While we have no quarrel with the church using the facility, the fact is that this stadium can help to bring well-needed foreign exchange into the country, as well as assist in the development of our young athletes from western Jamaica.
The Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) has already earned a reputation for staging world-class events. We would have expected, therefore, that the executive arm of the Government would have sought the JAAA's advice on how to maximise the use of the Trelawny stadium and other sporting facilities in an effort to capture for Jamaica, a share of this lucrative sport tourism market.
The lure of Jamaica's athletes worldwide is so great that we are convinced that people would pay good money to come here and see them compete. And when the fastest man on earth is Jamaican, that makes the destination even easier to sell.
Except for the views expressed in the column above, the articles published on this page do not necessarily represent the views of the Jamaica Observer
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