KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) says the recently sealed three-year $45 million partnership with Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) is already being activated and a number of sport associations will benefit from the ongoing commitment of the apex national body to ensure the development of sport across the board.
The JOA signed the deal in furtherance of its programme styled ‘Olympic Invest’, which was rolled out formally last year and has as one of its primary objectives the sustainability and viability of Olympic and non-Olympic sports.
JOA noted that funding will be made available to associations under the partnership for equipment, in particular, which it says is critical to capacity building of any sport and the performance of athletes. The JOA said the acquisition of equipment has been, over the years, expensive and beyond their grasp.
Describing the historic agreement as “a partnership denominated in trust and
embodying a mutual commitment to use sport to inspire aspirations and to fuel ambitions of generations of enterprising youth in motion in sport”, JOA President, Christopher Samuda, remarked that the business of the JOA is to equip and empower associations in giving them reach to open wide doors of opportunity and success.
The association noted that, along with SVL, it has started a serious conversation about sport development that may very well provide a game plan for not only sustainability and sporting excellence, but also for how the game itself and brand Jamaica can be properly monetised as a prerequisite to the creation of a viable local sport industry for stakeholders and the economy.
JOA Secretary General and CEO, Ryan Foster, in a post ceremony interview, said: “Sport demands a business and commercial solution which rests in strong partnerships, strategic investment, monetisation of assets capitalisation and importantly, equipping human capital.”
