Probably the more scpetical among us would question the motive of Mr Errol Kerr's desire to represent Jamaica in the Ski Cross event at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.

After all, Mr Kerr is the American-born son of a Jamaican father and American mother and, as we reported in Thursday's Daily Observer, is currently ranked 24th in the world, was a member of the US team and finished second for the US and second overall at the last World Cup.

In the general scheme of things, therefore, Mr Kerr could be regarded as among the world's best skiers who represented a country that is no doubt a powerhouse in that sport.

That he requested a release last April from the US team to represent Jamaica would certainly raise some eyebrows both here and in the US. For Mr Kerr could have stayed and competed for the country of his birth, comfortable in the knowledge that he would hone his skills in an environment that is conducive to extracting the best of sportsmen and in which he would not have a difficulty accessing the necessary facilities.

We, however, prefer to believe that Mr Kerr is being driven by a love for Jamaica, most likely instilled by his father and embellished by his observations of the notable accomplishments of this island's sportsmen and women worldwide.

Of course, the fact that he would play a pioneering role by representing Jamaica in skiing would also, we assume, attract the young man. But what would this world be without the drive and enthusiasm of pioneers, people with a vision of what is possible and who strive, against great odds, to live their dreams?

That, we submit, is the substance of which great men and women are made and is the force that has propelled athletes to compete and triumph at the highest levels.

We remember well the cynicism and amusement that greeted Jamaica's first bobsled team to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada.

In those games, our team was mostly treated as a novelty by other competing nations. However, the team's spirit and determination won them many supporters, and by the next games, in 1992 at Albertville, France, they shocked many of their detractors when they finished in 14th place ahead of the USA, Russia, Italy and France. Our two-man team then rubbed salt in the wounds by finishing in 10th place ahead of Sweden.

Nine years later, the Jamaica bobsled two-man team won the Gold medal at the World Push Bobsled Championships.
The team's achievements, when measured by the fact of Jamaica's tropical climate, have won them respect internationally. They are now regarded as serious competitors.

And just as we wish them well for the 2010 Games in Canada, we hope that Mr Kerr will maintain his form and, therefore, realise his dream of representing Jamaica at those games.

In that regard, we wish him well in his search for sponsorship. We also expect that his efforts will be endorsed by our tourism authorities, just as they did two decades ago with the bobsled team.

For herein lies another opportunity to not only further promote our country to a select market, but to encourage Jamaicans, who so wish, to diversify our involvement
in sport.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World