Jamaican athletics plots post-Bolt future “... Bolt himself pulls and attracts sponsorship to athletics and people may say that when Bolt goes, there’s nothing it for us. So we have to convince our partners that it is worth their while to stay with us ...
Pl ans are afoot f or t he formation of the Jamaica Athletics Foundation, an organisation to raise funds for the development of track and field in Jamaica. This was revealed in an interview with president of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association, Dr Warren Blake.
The new entity will be reaching out to local corporate entities and Jamaicans overseas.
Blake said he worried about the possibility of dwindling corporate support after superstar sprinter Usain Bolt retires.
“It is a concern because, as you know, Bolt himself pulls and attracts sponsorship to athletics and people may say that when Bolt goes, there’s nothing in it for us. So we have to convince our partners that it is worth their while to stay with us, that we’re running a good ship, that we can deliver the same brand alignment that we have done in the past,” Blake said.
The formation of the foundation is part of the JAAA’s response to that possibility.
“It’s already a legal entity, the Jamaica Athletics Foundation, where we involve some top people locally and some members of the diaspora, and we have got some key people overseas involved,” he added.
Blake doesn’t expect the Sports Development Foundation to be able to assist much after its efforts to install a new synthetic track at the G.C. Foster College for Physical Education.
“Having been head of the SDF, I know the sort of cash flow they have,” he said.
He envisages a foundation that can raise funds, both from corporate entities and crowdfunding, where members of the diaspora give a small amount each month.
He also revealed that the association has been able to avoid its customary year-end borrowing in 2016.
“This is one of the first years in my memory, since 2000, that we have not had to go to the bank to borrow to bridge that gap at this time of the year,” he recalled.