Team Jamaica Bickle marks 30 years
THIRTY YEARS ago, a group of Jamaicans in the diaspora came together with the singular purpose of assisting Jamaican school athletes coming to the annual Penn Relays to provide for their comfort.
Today, those efforts have expanded beyond the initial purpose.
It all began when, at a dinner for the athletes after the games one year, the late Ben Francis suggested that the athletes would be better served with the provision of food during the competition. From that discussion, the idea of Team Jamaica Bickle was born.
Irwine Clare, who was part of the group to lead the charge and who became the face of the organisation, told The Gleaner that the name ‘Team Jamaica Bickle’ was the brainchild of the then editor of the overseas Gleaner, based in Queens, New York – Virginia Turner.
To make the dream a reality, outreach efforts were made to several companies and organisations in the diaspora and Jamaica. The goal was to provide the athletes attending the games with hot meals, accommodation and transportation.
According to Clare, among the first companies to come on board were Tower Isle Patties, a Brooklyn-based Jamaica patty-making company; Royal Caribbean Company, another
Jamaican patty-making company based in the Bronx; and Capital and Credit Merchant Bank in Jamaica, among others.
“The goal was to see to the welfare of the athletes and level the playing field for them,” he said.
He said that over the past 30 years, more than 3,500 athletes from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands have been supported by Team Jamaica Bickle.
He recalled that the efforts of Team Jamaica Bickle to feed the athletes started in a parking lot at Penn State University, as the organisation was not a part of the Penn Relays.
SUPPORT
As the demand grew for support of school athletes coming to the Penn Relays, more entities got on board. These included the Jamaica Tourist Board, Victoria Mutual Building Society, GraceKennedy, Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (UJAA), National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations (NAJSO), and Digicel, Dennis Shipping, Trans Continental Shipping, Lomax Foundation, among others.
“The core of the efforts has and continues to be the athletes’ welfare,” said Clare.
While the initial concern was about the athletes getting adequate meals, being transported to and from the games, and having accommodation, the services have now expanded to include medical service support, among other services.
Team Jamaica Bickle has also introduced a school defibrillator programme, where defibrillators are provided to schools in Jamaica.
“This programme has assisted many student athletes who have found themselves in distress on the tracks,” Clare told The Gleaner.
Team Jamaica Bickle has also provided counselling services to schools and a major beneficiary of the organisation’s efforts is the G.C. Foster College, which has been provided with more than US$150,000 over the years.
While Team Jamaica Bickle was established to assist Jamaican school athletes to the Penn Relays, its services have now been expanded to including student athletes coming from other Caribbean countries to the event.
Clare said Team Jamaica Bickle has become a platform to highlight things Jamaican, hosting many Caribbean and American elected officials, where the Jamaica culture has been on display.
“Team Jamaica Bickle has evolved from its humble beginnings of only providing for the welfare of our student athletes coming to Penn into a more philanthropic organisation, hosting many things Jamaican,” he said.
On April 14, Team Jamaica Bickle will host its annual benefit gala luncheon in Long Island to raise funds to assist the organisation in its work.
Clare said that at the luncheon, Tower Isle Patties will be honoured for its contributions over the years to Jamaican student athletes coming to the Penn Relays.