STRUCTURES to advance the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) agenda for education and sport have been bolstered by a Protocol of Cooperation between the country’s apex body for sport, the Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA) and the United States Sports Academy (USSA).

Under terms of agreement the academy will utilise the institution’s expertise and resources to aid Jamaica’s national sporting effort, which is already being upgraded with the JOA Scholarship and JOA Internship programmes that were launched last year.

Due to COVID-19, the recent historic signing ceremony for the USSA was held virtually with the academy faculty and staff on the institution’s campus in Daphne, Alabama, while the JOA and JPA partners signed in Jamaica.

The JOA and JPA teams were led by the president of both associations, Christopher Samuda and JPA director and JOA Secretary General and CEO Ryan Foster.

“This partnership places the JOA, JPA and USSA at the epicentre of sport and sport development, which is education,” said Samuda.

“Education is indeed at the heart of this partnership as the JOA, JPA and the academy work together for those who will be the beneficiaries of knowledge and understanding in the various disciplines in sport — disciplines such as sports management and studies, exercise science, sports coaching and recreation management,” added Samuda.

Within a 24-hour span it was the second occasion marking an agreement with an international partner that was signed off by the JOA, adding to the 10-year historic Memorandum of Strategic Alliance with World Eleven Inc/Argentina Football Association (AFA) which will provide advantages offered by the AFA’s Technology Institute to the benefit of Jamaica’s football.

The USSA traditionally holds face-to-face signings with its international partners and until COVID-19 cases have declined to a safe level, the academy’s programmes will also be delivered online to students and athletes in Jamaica.

“In many ways, the event being conducted virtually is emblematic of the world of sports in 2020,” said Dr Thomas “TJ” Rosandich, academy president and chief executive officer.

“Before this past February, a signing ceremony for a Protocol for Cooperation between the Jamaica Olympic Association and Jamaica Paralympic Association and the academy would have been conducted in Kingston [Jamaica] amidst sessions on programme planning.

“We’ve all seen the changes to the sport profession at the local, regional, continental and global levels this year. However, I view this step today in signing this protocol as an affirmation of the belief that sports will recover and continue to play a major role in society in the days to come,” Dr Rosandich expressed.

The Protocol of Cooperation marks the return of the institution’s post-secondary, non-degree programmes to Jamaica for the first time in a decade.

Samuda commented: “Cross-fertilisation, you may call it cross-pollination, transfer of knowledge — however you may characterise this partnership that has come into being — what is clear is that sport has not only won the battle but the war and that we, the JOA, the JPA and the USSA, are transforming qualitatively the game through education and giving sport a defining perspective of multilateral cooperation. Multilateral for this partnership will birth others in education as we here in Jamaica continue to build out the infrastructure in sport on a solid and secure foundation, and create synergies across physical borders which cannot deny us the bond which today has been established.”

Foster, the main driver behind the JOA Scholarship and Internship programmes, noted the JOA and JPA’s belief in empowerment through education and training, and the legacy it creates for athletes, administrators and other professionals in sport.

“The opportunities that are being made available through this partnership are pioneering — never witnessed before. Members and indeed the wider local fraternity of sport will have more options to expand and broaden their capabilities through the various programmes that will be offered at the bachelor, postgraduate and doctoral levels. With trademark vision and purpose, the JOA and JPA will unite with the USSA, which has a 40-year track record in the delivery of sport education across 65 countries, in creating an enviable model of sport collaboration and development,” said Foster.

“The signal work of Dr T J Rosandich and his team in facilitating this historic partnership, the stewardship and foresight of President Samuda in identifying and negotiating opportunities for the benefit of our membership and stakeholders, and my own passion to build viable partnerships within and beyond Jamaica that give meaning to lives in sport are motivated by service — an opportunity for which our colleagues and ourselves are grateful,” Foster added.

The academy has delivered post-secondary, non-degree sport education programmes in some 67 countries over nearly half a century. Once COVID-19 cases decline to a safe level the institution plans to teach its programmes on the ground in Jamaica.

Dr Rosandich said: “Fortunately, the academy is well prepared to provide the quality sport education and workforce development programmes that the JOA and JPA are seeking.

“The academy is already an acknowledged leader in providing online distance education programmes. As conditions change and travel restrictions in Jamaica ease, the academy is prepared to revert to on-site, face-to-face instruction,” said Dr Rosandich.