KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) is seeking to build interest in the next staging of its Advanced Sport Management Course set to begin in November and run through to May, 2021.                         

 A module of the course, one of the association’s educational platforms to improve sports, its governance and the capabilities of stakeholders, recently concluded.

The association said the six-module diploma course is offered on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) under its Olympic Solidarity Programme for capacity building to member states globally.

“The Advanced Sports Management Course is one of the main avenues within which the JOA has advanced our educational perspective and our mandate to create opportunities for all to embrace the advancements made in sport and the various roles we are playing in the process of change management,” said Ryan Foster, the JOA’s general secretary/CEO.

“Our eyes should be not only focused on the things that are tenuous, but things that can enhance the way we deliver sports administration and the overall sport product,” he added.

The association said the course is designed for staff and volunteers of national federations and other bodies responsible for sport development in their country. Participants are drawn from senior level in the management of their organisation, or those who have responsibility for managing projects in their organisation, the JOA explained.

Netball Jamaica President, Tricia Robinson, who participated, commented: “The Advanced Sports Management Course offered by the JOA allowed for the increased ability of persons to be able to respond more effectively to change. Participants would have been able to gain skill sets to allow them to undertake a greater variety of work in their respective sporting bodies.”

She added that, “Utilising expert personnel from the varying industries (marketing, accounts) and having them share one-on-one and giving first-hand experiences was priceless.”

The JOA said advanced courses are based on the supplied text ‘Managing Olympic Sport Organsations’ and are to comprise all six modules/chapters in the text, meaning that participants must participate in every module as part of the course requirements.

It said each chapter or module of the book is composed of five days, which includes three distance-learning days (reading the chapter and completing a small case study) and two residential days (general presentation and discussion of the chapter on the first day; and presentation of case study on the second day.

Noting that each course can be conducted over a 12-month period, but the association said there are options which permit a shorter timeframe.

Sports management consultant and course presenter, Paulton Gordon, reasoned that “ultimately, the growth and development of the sporting sector in Jamaica will be contingent on improved governance, strategic planning, execution and administration”.

“The advanced sports management module organised by the JOA provides that platform for a cadre of administrators affiliated with local sporting bodies,” Gordon said.

Gordon, who is also president of the Jamaica Basketball Association, added: “It is important that the national federations capitalise on this opportunity as the modules offered are aligned to what obtains in the international space and is consistently updated to reflect current realities.”

A total of 24 personnel participated in the last exercise, an increase of seven from the 2017-2018 group, the association said. Among the disciplines that benefitted from this latest instalment were aquatics, badminton, basketball, gymnastics, netball, track and field, rugby, hockey, table tennis and the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA).

The JOA’s general secretary also noted that the association will soon launch its landmark crowdfunding project which is geared towards the Tokyo Games.