The unfortunate but not entirely surprising JAAA/JOA imbroglio, which has played out in a very public way at the 33rd Olympiad has resulted in Team Jamaica losing face at the games.
As my dear brother Prof. Rainford Wilks likes to say, ‘A blind man on a galloping horse could see that’, a rather apt adage as such a man could see that before and during the Paris Olympics :
- There was and is conflict between the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA);
- There is distance between the JAAA and its key stakeholders, the athletes.
- The Track and Field coaching community and the JAAA are constantly at loggerheads.
Perhaps the airing of these issues on an international stage will bring the kind of attention and consternation necessary to bring about a much-needed addressing of these issues and pave the way for a reasonable resolution.
Who is responsible for what?
The JAAA is the national body responsible for track and field and responsible to World Athletics, the governing body. The JOA is the local body with responsibility for Olympic sports, serving as the umbrella organisation for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Although the JOA lacks autonomy over any national sporting body, it serves as a guide for the IOC’s responsibility in staging international competitions. It seems, therefore, that the role of the JOA is more like that of a liaison officer, as no national sporting body is subject to it.
Despite the establishment of certain norms and expectations over the years, the conflict between the organisations may stem from this lack of autonomy.
For instance, when individuals serve in both organisations, it can easily lead to a conflict of interest. There was a time when the incumbent JAAA President was a JOA director. Some even suggest that Garth Gayle, the JAAA President, played a pivotal role in JOA incumbent President Christopher Samuda’s initial election campaign.
Subsequently, Gayle walked away from the JOA while remaining head of the JAAA. Without imputing cause, there is little doubt that the relationship between these two significant sporting bodies has not been the same since.
Athletes are NOT to blame for the fall out
Prior to Paris, word began circulating that the JAAA was unable to select all the officials they considered necessary for proper team management during the Games. Recent information emerging from Paris suggests that the IOC’s “Rule Book” permits fifteen personal coaches; the JOA is accused of restricting that number to nine, and although athletes would have preferred to have their personal coaches at the games, the restriction prevented that.
Without passing judgment on the situation, the conflict has affected performance, and the athletes are not to blame.
Sometimes those involved in sport administration come to believe that they are the key players. This results in administrators misinterpreting their roles. The impact manifests itself on the field, and the blame often falls on the athletes, as the general public may not understand that the real breakdown occurs within and between administrations.
Problematic relationship between JAAA and stakeholders
But what of the distance between JAAA and its key stakeholders? The seeming inability to select teams for the recent World Relays and the Olympics are clear signs of strained relations between the organisation and athletes.
For the recent World Relays in the Bahamas, the JAAA was unable to select the team of choice not because of injuries but because many athletes did not make themselves available.
Jamaica, not having qualified for the 4x400m relay at the Olympics, made adjustments to the schedule of the National Championships in order to allow for the top 400m runners to be available for a last chance to qualify in a run-off on the last day of the trials.
This involved reducing the number of races for the key players and having the finals of the 400m run on the Friday evening, thus allowing for the top three finishers to have all of Saturday to rest before the run-off on Sunday.
Again, not one of the three top finishers was available for the run-off when Sunday came around, which resulted in Jamaica failing to produce a team for the men’s 4x400m relay at an Olympic games for the second time in our history.
Jamaica’s track and field legacy under threat
Track and Field is by far the most successful sporting discipline for Jamaica at the international level. Over the years, this small, under-resourced island has battled its way into track and field supremacy, and it is now the country to contend with.
And so it is quite unfortunate that the JAAA and the JOA have allowed petty squabbles and personalities to tarnish our good name.
Additionally, it is unacceptable for the JAAA to run an office with understaffed employees, some of whom are clearly incapable and unqualified to perform the crucial tasks required to uphold and further develop this legacy.
So the question now becomes, how do we resolve the glaring issues between the JOA, JAAA, athletes, and coaches that threaten to hamstring Jamaica’s track and field legacy?
Here are a few of my suggestions:
Professional and timely communication is vital
Communication is the most vital aspect of managing a team of this caliber. Coordinating and facilitating communication between the administrative body, coaches, and players is a fundamental mandate of the JAAA, but for some reason has proven to be the weakest area of the JAAA’s operations.
As it stands, there is a seeming lack of professionalism and timeliness in communication that has caused very public fallouts that do not bode well for the organization’s image and perception.
All parties, including coaches, athletes, and the JAAA, must acknowledge and value the interdependence that this relationship fosters. That means setting egos aside and working together to create a robust, harmonious, and highly professional communications system.
JOA Transparency & Forthrightness
The JOA has a semblance of a professional outfit, but transparency is not the natural order based on observations from a distance. If the JOA is to successfully fulfil its commitment to support the development of high performance in athletics, it has to find ways to overcome this seeming lack of transparency and forthrightness.
Government has a role to play
While it is established that the government cannot interfere with the operational aspects of sport, and that may be a good and necessary thing as partisan politics can further complicate administration, it is, however, incumbent on governments to facilitate the development of this vital resource.
Responsible governments must engage with sporting bodies in a professional manner, establishing a relationship that will ensure the necessary investment and foster the best environment for growth at all levels.
Jamaica’s track and field success, good as it is, could be multiple times better with a more well-ordered approach to sports development. One classic example is that the track at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay should never be lying waste for seven years, with no indication as to when it will change.
Umbrella body needed
I advocate for an umbrella body that is responsible for marshalling all the critical parties. Instead of being authoritative, the body should facilitate synergies.
All players must fully participate in the development of this body, establish its remit and modus operandi, and include timely reviews of these as part of its mandate.
Established standards for track and field clubs
The advent of track and field clubs has had a remarkable impact on the track and field scene. These came in circumstances whereby so many of our Boys and Girls Champs standouts were just not transitioning after taking the traditional trek to North American universities.
As good as this has been, it has happened in a somewhat unstructured manner and requires established standards in order to ensure full protection athletes.
Local universities should play a greater role in athlete development
‘Universities are well placed to nurture athletes, build technical and support expertise for national teams, provide world-class training facilities’ and as such local universities can and should establish more and better opportunities for continuous scholastic and athletic development. Especially those who’d prefer to hone their talents at home.
In a 2021 University World News article, Leonz Eder, acting president of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), iterated that ‘universities should help to create ideal conditions for ‘dual careers,’ in other words, ‘enable students to perform both in their studies and in competitive sport.’
Beyond marketing props, corporate Jamaica should invest more in athletes
Corporate Jamaica is lacking in terms of substantive investment in athletes outside of brand ambassadorships and needs to take a page from their international counterparts, who over the years have found creative and mutually beneficial ways to profit from their involvement in sports development.
The preceding suggestions are by no means exhaustive, but one hopes that they can spur further discussions and ultimately act as a catalyst to maximising our real potential.
