Minister of Sport Olivia Grange has described as “successful” the first phase in the implementation of a three-year Technical Agreement in Sport between Jamaica and the People’s Republic of China.

Grange was speaking at a ceremony at her ministry last week during which she presented certificates of appreciation to the Chinese team of coaches and officials who came to Jamaica at the start of the year to conduct one month of coaching for coaches and athletes in seven sporting disciplines.

The Chinese coaches were slated to return on Friday after conducting training sessions with athletes, holding coaching seminars and developing training plans in collaboration with local coaches for the athletes being recommended for training in China in the second phase of implementation, which will be in July and August this year.

Sessions for synchronised swimming, now known also as artistic swimming; swimming; basketball for females; football for women; volleyball for women; badminton; and gymnastics were conducted at the GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, the National Stadium, YMCA, and the Jamaica School of Gymnastics.

Grange told the Chinese team, “We are very happy and thankful for the work you did over these past weeks for the advancement of these sports in Jamaica. China is assisting us and Jamaica is assisting China in sport, which is the universal message of peace and love.”

“Jamaica and China have a strong relationship and through agreements between us such as this one on sport, the bond between the two countries is getting even stronger.”

Jianghong Fan, counsellor in the Chinese Embassy, said too that, “although China and Jamaica are already great friends, the project brings us closer”.

Fan said the three-year project had got off to a great start and that he wanted to congratulate the Chinese team and the team at the ministry on behalf of the Chinese ambassador to Jamaica.

Representatives attending the presentation ceremony from the sporting bodies for swimming, synchronised swimming, volleyball, badminton, gymnastics and women’s football all praised the first-phase coaching activities and said their sport would benefit “significantly” from the knowledge imparted.

For the second phase of the agreement, a group of 138 people will leave Jamaica for China in July and remain until the end of August. The group will include athletes, coaches, Government officials, and a news reporter.

Among the activities for the second phase will be, “an integrative method of theoretical teaching and sports practice, with observations of competitions and assessment of results geared to improving the levels of competitiveness and athletic performance of Jamaican sports teams”.

Competitions within Jamaican sports teams as well as with Chinese sports teams will also be organised by the end of the training.

The agreement also calls for China to donate sports equipment to Jamaica, delivery of which is scheduled for October 2018.