JAAA to honour Germaine Mason with GC Foster scholarship
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Administrative Athletic Association (JAAA) will honour the memory of one of the country’s best high jumpers, Germaine Mason, by creating an athletic scholarship at the GC Foster College in his name.
The announcement was made by the President of the JAAA, Dr Warren Blake on Wednesday night at the launch of the Jamaican International Invitational Meet.“We intend to honour Germaine’s memory as one of Jamaica’s premier high jumpers by encouraging the young high jumpers to go to GC Foster to further their education. They will need to be able to matriculate to GC Foster so they have to be on top of their academics but we haven’t fleshed out all the criteria as yet. The scholarship will be implemented for the 2017-2018 school year.” said Dr Blake.Mason, who competed for both Jamaica and Great Britain, died tragically in a motorcycle accident near the Harbour View roundabout on April 20. He was 34 years old.Mason was born in Jamaica and trained with the Stephen Francis-coached MVP Track Club before switching allegiance to Great Britain in 2006. Two years later, he won a silver medal for Great Britain in Beijing after jumping 2.34m — a height that equalled his personal best — to finish behind the Russian Andrey Silnov, who cleared 2.36m.The funeral service for Mason is slated for Sunday May 21 at the Hagley Park SDA Church, Kingston 10, a day after the Jamaica Invitational Meet.The service is set to commence at 9:00 am and his body will be interred at Long Road, Grange Hill in Portland.