Sports Development Foundation

SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2021 20 I NTHE last 25 years, therehavebeen major changes in Jamaican sports, especially in the area of funding. Prior to 1995, sports in Jamaica was almost entirely amateur, with the vast majority of our athletes going overseas on scholarships in order to enhance their personal development. Footballers, track and field athletes, and, to a lesser extent, basketballers, andothers, honed their talents on the UnitedStates (US) Collegiate circuit in preparation for national representa- tion. Sporting events in Jamaica were few and far between and did not attract the level of sponsorship or marketing as happens currently. The establishment of the Sports Development Foundation (SDF), 25 years ago, led to the transformation of this situation. With the limited availability of fund- ing, organisers had to scramble for funds, particularly in the case of those sports that did not have a saleable product. Funds were derived mainly from individual contributions and donations from the corporate sector. According to Fennell, this limited the development and exposure of sports. Prior to 1991 stakeholders in the Jamaican sporting fraternity became aware of developments in Barbados and the use of the “Scratch andWin” game to generate funding for cricket in that island. “The Scratch and Win” game, at the time, provided substantial funding, and it was thought that this could be expanded to other parts of the Caribbean. In fact,we inJamaica felt that thiswas somethingwewantedtoadopt and even expand,”Fennell recalled. The then President of the Jamaica Cricket Board of Control (JCBC), now Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), Allan Rae, who was a member of the National Sports Council, suggested that “Scratch and Win” would ben- efit Jamaica and proposed to the Government that this could be a way of funding cricket development. The thenMichael Manley- ledGovernment rejected the idea on the basis that the funding had to be for more than just cricket and cover all sports. The idea of using funds derived from lottery gaming was further bolstered with a trip by Mr Howard Hamilton, the then General Manager of Shell, to Australia for a Test match. He“discovered”that the Sydney Opera Housewas built with funding from the Australia Lottery. He made the pro- posal to Government to start a local lottery and use funds available to do major repairs to the National Stadium as well as other sporting initiatives. By then, other examples were coming to the fore. It was learnt that in Canada, lottery-generated fund- ing was utilised for clearing massive debts incurred from the hosting of the Montreal Olympics in 1976. In January of 1991, the Sports Development Agency Ltd was formed under thechairmanshipof attorney-at- lawHowardMitchell, andwiththegrant- ing of a licence by the Government, a special condition was that 25% of the net proceeds from the games had to be transferred to a sports develop- ment fund for the development of sport in Jamaica. A special commit- tee was established to manage this “Sports Development Fund”. The com- mittee included, among others, the late Howard Aris from athletics; Deon Bell from tennis; Howard McIntosh of football; EmileSpence fromcricket; and Michael Fennell, then president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, as chair. All of this cameabout after intense lob- bying on the part of the said Howard Hamilton and his colleagues using the commitment to the financingof sports as amajor negotiating tool. This committee developed criteria for the allocation of funds, and a par- ticular case that should be highlighted was a contribution of J$2 million to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to facilitate the employment of Mr Rene Simoes as coach of the Jamaica football team. Another major project financed by the fundwas the provision for Jamaica’s participation in the 1995 Pan American Games inMar del Plata, Argentina. The Sports Development Fund was eventually formalised into the Sports Development Foundation in 1995, a company limited by guarantee and registered under the Companies Act. Since then, the SDF has provided funding on a consistent and sustained basis to federations and provided assistance to government agencies such as the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sports, the Institute of Sports, the Social Development Commission, and Independence Park Limited, as well as substantial assistance to schools and communities, helping enormously with infrastructure, the development of sports administration, sports man- agement, and athlete welfare. Fennell readily affirms that the SDF Mike Fennell REFLECTIONS OF MICHAEL FENNELL ON ... THE SDF AND THE FINANCING OF SPORTS