Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) president Christopher Samuda (right) and Secretary General/CEO Ryan Foster (left) with Marvalyn Campbell, president of the Jamaica Softball Association (JSA) during the handing over of equipment at the JOA headquarters in Kingston. Looking on are other members of the JSA.
The country’s softball has scored a home run, hitting a landmark partnership with the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) that sets a platform for its athletes to achieve a place on the Olympic stage. At the very core, there is an establishment for grassroots development through the JOA’s sponsorship of the Jamaica Softball Association (JSA) that yields equipment, plus the resumption of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) competition in the new year.
The equipment, valued at $1 million, includes batting gloves, batting helmets, balls, softball bat and fielders’ masks. Sponsorship for the high schools league is valued at $1.5 million.
The plan, however, goes beyond just driving development and interest at high school level, but spreading the game right across the country to unearth talent to offload bases for a run at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, United States. All participating schools received gear and at the handing over ceremony JOA president, Christopher Samuda, said: “The equipment we’re going to be giving you this morning … if we put it in a biblical context it is equipment, equipped for God’s purpose and there it has to be purposefully used and I’m very confident the president will fulfill this purpose.
“What we need to do is to ensure that our young people are engaged, engaged in the sport. Not only that they see the sport as an avenue to take them out of particular circumstances, but also to use the sport to represent their country and make their country proud,” Samuda continued.
“The youth are yearning for options and the JSA is giving them options.”
Sharing on the Sport for All mantra that they have been executing, Ryan Foster, the JOA’s Secretary General/CEO announced their school’s league sponsorship and strategy to work alongside national sporting associations to fulfil their goals, much in the way they have been doing for other disciplines he noted being categorised as “minor sports”.
“The Jamaica Olympic Association through this administration is strongly in support of non-traditional sports and through our Equipment Grant policy we’ve extended it to softball and many other non-traditional sporting associations,” Foster said.
“We believe this equipment will not just kickstart softball in Jamaica, but we want to encourage and ensure we give other avenues for our athletes, young athletes to participate in a multifaceted approach to sport. Sport is not just for us, it’s not just for football, track and field, and netball, it’s for everyone,” he stated.
“Softball is one of the sports that we’ve targeted for LA 2028 and they would’ve been beneficiaries of many other avenues that we’d have announced on Saturday (handing over) through our Equipment Grant, but also our Travel Grant and our Coaching Grant that will be given to our member associations who are seeking to qualify for the 2028 Olympics. So we welcome the move by the Jamaica Softball Association in restarting the sport and especially starting at the younger generation in high schools.
“The Jamaica Olympic Association will sponsor the ISSA league at $1.5 million this year,” Foster said.
President of the JSA, Marvalyn Campbell stated that the sponsorship will drive their pursuits, expanding the abilities to reach the summit.
“We had a vibrant secondary schools league some years ago and that died because of lack of funding, lack of sponsorship and equipment because equipment age overtime,” she admitted.
“Without the JOA this would never have been possible. Thanks is such a small word for such a large, large, large, large effort on the part of the JOA, the secondary schools league is being revived and schools, we’re here for you,” Campbell remarked.
“A lot of athletes will gravitate to the sport, a lot of athletes who love the sport, and so we’re looking forward to a vibrant league, so much so we’ll find sufficient athletes to make it to the 2028 Olympics in LA.”
High schools already confirmed are Pembroke Hall, Meadowbrook, Merl Grove, Queens, Immaculate Conception, Ardenne, Holy Childhood, Alpha, Holy Trinity, Vauxhall, Excelsior and St Hugh’s, with Wolmer’s “waiting in the wings”.
Foster related that the JOA wants softball among other sporting disciplines that qualify athletes who expose the nation’s sporting potential at the Olympics, in this case LA 2028. The JOA’s target for sports represented at LA is 10 and the JOA’s Member Relations Manager, Novelette Harris, will also be closely involved with the JSA’s mission.
“Ms Harris and myself will be working very closely with the association to ensure that the equipment is not only placed to good use, but that we will be unearthing new talents in the sport to ensure that we have an Olympic squad for LA 2028… where we will be looking at these athletes to grow them leading into 2028,” said Foster.
END.
JOA awards cash rewards to Olympic medalists, unveils JMD$300m investment for LA 2028
The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) celebrated the achievements of Jamaica’s medalists from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in a lavish ceremony at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston on Saturday night. During the event, the JOA not only rewarded the athletes for their extraordinary performances but also announced a groundbreaking $300 million investment for the 2028 Olympic cycle.
Highlighting the evening was the presentation of cash rewards to the Paris Olympic medalists. Gold medalist Roje Stona was awarded JMD$3 million for his remarkable achievement, while silver medalists Kishane Thompson, Wayne Pinnock and Shanieka Ricketts received JMD$1.5 million each. Bronze medalists Rajindra Campbell and Rasheed Broadbell were each rewarded with JMD$1 million. Additionally, Jaydon Hibbert, the Olympic Spirit Award winner, recognized his outstanding sportsmanship, will receive JMD$500,000.
In his address, JOA Secretary General Ryan Foster emphasized the significance of recognizing excellence and the JOA’s commitment to supporting Jamaica’s athletes. “Excellence is not time bound. It is timeless,” Foster said. “So whenever and wherever the JOA observes it, we will applaud with respect and record for posterity while saluting our Olympic ambassadors, those inspired change-makers of a great sporting heritage of which the Olympic movement is the cornerstone.”
Olympic medalists with their plaques and trophies from left to right: Wayne Pinnock, Rajindra Campbell, Shanieka Ricketts, Roje Stona, Kishane Thompson, and Rasheed Broadbell. At right is rising star Jaydon Hibbert.
Foster also unveiled a JMD$250 million investment plan for the next Olympic cycle, targeting key areas critical to athlete development. The funding will support scholarships and grants for 12 athletes aiming to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, amounting to JMD$80 million over the quadrennial. These funds will cover training, attendance at qualifying events, transportation, nutritional support, and access to advanced technology.
An additional JMD$50 million will be invested in an equipment grant, ensuring athletes have the tools they need to train and compete effectively. Coaching scholarships, amounting to $50 million, will bolster the expertise of national and elite coaches, fostering the development of athletes at all levels. A travel grant of JMD$70 million will ensure that athletes can participate in crucial Olympic qualifying events without financial barriers.
In summing up the JOA’s approach, Foster underscored the organization’s role as a key player in the sporting financial market. “The JOA is a major player in the sporting financial market as we continue to amass capital by brokering innovative partnerships and employing prudent strategies,” he said. “The Olympic Reward is an investment instrument that we have created, the dividends of which are payable to deserving sportsmen and women.”
Looking ahead to the conclusion of the 2028 Olympic cycle, Foster revealed that $50 million is already being set aside for the next Olympic Salute, ensuring that future successes are met with equal recognition. “At the end of this Olympic cycle culminating in LA 2028, we will salute again, and of course, it is hoped that this investment of JMD$250 million will reap even greater dividends for our athletes,” he stated.
Foster closed by reinforcing the JOA’s unwavering dedication to the athletes and their success. “We salute your excellence and will continue to provide avenues to monetize your hard work and your brand,” he said.
The event was a testament to the JOA’s belief in Jamaica’s athletes and their potential to achieve greatness, both now and in the future.
Jamaica Olympic Association endorses Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track series debut in Kingston
The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has thrown its full support behind the highly anticipated Grand Slam Track series, a pioneering track and field competition created by American Olympic icon Michael Johnson. Kingston’s National Stadium will host the inaugural event from April 4-6, 2025, marking a historic occasion as Jamaica kicks off a global series that merges elite competition with cultural celebration in select cities worldwide.
In endorsing the Grand Slam Track initiative, JOA President Christopher Samuda highlighted the series’ alignment with the evolving nature of sports as both a business and a cultural experience. “The economy of sport is continually diversifying its product offerings,” Samuda said. “This move merits support, for yesterday’s novelty in sport is becoming today’s norm of business innovation in a global enterprise where changing the game has become a pre-requisite of staying in the game and winning the grand slam.”
The Grand Slam Track series promises substantial financial rewards for competitors, a prospect that appeals to both athletes and sports financiers. JOA Secretary General/CEO Ryan Foster outlined the benefits, emphasizing that Grand Slam Track supports the JOA’s vision for sustainable athletic growth. “The grand slam track will not only pay dividends for aspirations invested initially in sweat equity and maturing in bonus payments,” Foster said, “which is a qualitative strategy of the JOA, but, more importantly, the meets will provide self-actualising opportunities for athletes and value for money for fans.”
Beyond the prize money, the JOA sees Grand Slam Track as a platform for continuous, high-level competition, helping athletes prepare for the Olympics by fostering ongoing development through regular, intense matchups. “On the other side of the minted coin of sport, top-ranking athletes will be able to constantly measure performance against character as they compete continually against each other,” Foster explained, adding that it is “in conditioning themselves for the premier event, the Olympic Games,” that athletes will truly benefit from the series.
Drawing inspiration from other global sports formats like tennis and Formula One, Grand Slam Track aims to create an experience that celebrates the culture of each host city. This aspect particularly resonates with the JOA’s vision of sports as a cultural and economic driver. “The concept is allied to the advocacy of the JOA,” Samuda noted, “as we treat sporting events as experiences in physical culture, fan engagement, cuisine, music, entertainment, and tourism—all of which are drivers in creating a viable sports industry.”
The JOA’s backing of Grand Slam Track aligns with its commitment to sports innovation, a mission that led the association to launch the “Olympic Destiny” series in 2021. This JOA initiative was designed to prepare Jamaican athletes for the Tokyo Olympics amid the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Olympic Destiny series offered incentives for athletes and fostered historic performances, including Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s national record-setting 10.63s sprint in the 100m. That experience, Samuda pointed out, was “a first in the history of the sport,” underscoring the JOA’s commitment to driving progress and championing local talent on a global stage.
With the JOA’s endorsement, Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track is poised to deliver a unique blend of high-stakes competition and cultural celebration, solidifying Jamaica’s position as a host for world-class athletic events and creating a new chapter in track and field’s evolution.
JOA taking the lead in Sport Education
The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) continues to put training and education at the centre of sport development.
Through the Advanced Sports Management Course (ASMC), a partnership with Olympic Solidarity, and its own activation “Stamina,” the JOA offers stakeholders a curriculum of practical and comprehensive principles and best practices.
Ethics, business, law, finance, brand and marketing, human resource development, science and information technology merge with other subjects in providing an inter-disciplinary menu in sport education.
The JOA directors are taking the lead and continuing to share their professional competencies and experience as well success models with sport leaders in the ASMC, another edition of which will begin later this year.
JOA President, Christopher Samuda, a prominent Attorney-at-Law and an executive board member of regional sport organisations, will construct for participants a successful sport association within a constitutional and legal framework.
JOA Secretary General and CEO, Ryan Foster, will share the breadth of his expertise as a noted and well-respected Chartered Accountant and his experience as chairman of regional sport Finance Commissions in underscoring the importance of financial literacy, competence, planning, accountability, transparency and viability.
Treasurer of the apex governing body, Nichole Case, who is the Divisional Chief Information Officer for the GraceKennedy Financial Group, brings to the table her corporate credentials and know-how in information systems and technology in outlining industry policies and practices for the benefit of sport associations while established businessman and CEO of Mayberry Investments Limited, Gary Peart, will provide invaluable business principles and strategies as indispensable elements of successful sport entities.
The JOA’s clear policy of investing in training and education is geared towards creating a knowledge-based sector as a prerequisite of a sport industry. Secretary General Foster summarizes the philosophy and approach of the national institution. “You can’t create if you don’t educate. You can’t be the best if you don’t invest and we, the JOA, believe that to succeed we must take the lead” he said.
The ASMC is an internationally recognised and intense six-month educational programme covering, in depth, critical aspects of sport administration. “It’s not a talkfest but an edu-sport multi-disciplinary test” President Samuda remarked.
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