With a number of sporting disciplines renewing pleas for more funding in recent times, Alando Terrelonge, state minister in the ministry of sport, has endorsed those calls for support for female players and programmes in particular.

Terrelonge, alluding to the recent success of the Sunshine Girls, who copped a historic silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, as well as the Reggae Girlz’s historic back-to-back World Cup qualification, argued that the females are as deserving of the same financial backing as their male counterparts.

His call came during the launch of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) schoolboy football competitions at which he urged corporate sponsors to throw their support behind the fairer gender.

“I just got back from Birmingham and I must tell you that while our [track and field] athletes did extremely well, the toast of Birmingham was our netballers. They represented and had fans from around the globe cheering on Brand Jamaica.

“So, to our sponsors, I wish to ring home the point that whilst we continue to support activities such as Manning and daCosta Cup, it’s also important that when we look at team sports, we give the same amount of support to our female teams as we do our male teams,” Terrelonge said.

“It is important simply because one Jamaica united around sports continues to bring fame and glory and continues to enhance the global reputation of Jamaica,” he added.

Terrelonge stated that the talent of Jamaica’s females in sport and, by extension sporting teams, is clear for all to see, as he stressed the need for nurturing and further development.

“It is important that we support our athletes and support them from the grassroots level along the way throughout their careers even before they become elite athletes and superstars. Because between injuries, physiotherapy, dieting, among other things, it is really expensive the journey that our athletes take and it is not about their personal empowerment but the empowerment of Jamaica,” Terrelonge told the Jamaica Observer.

“When you look at the quality that we get from team sports like Reggae Girlz and Sunshine Girls, it is important that we put more funding into those sports because it brings Jamaica on display and adds to our global reputation, not just as track stars but as sports stars, irrespective of the discipline.

“So again, I urge corporate sponsors to hop on-board because they need the support. The Government can’t do it alone, the coaches and athletes can’t do it alone and that injection of capital into their holistic development could go a far way,” he stressed.

That said, Terrelonge argued that sports, regardless of discipline or status, is big business, and with the right investments, could blossom into more than what they are now.

This as Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) president Jodi Munn-Barrow recently expressed optimism that the female team’s success in winning the George Teale Trophy for the first time in six years at the 65th Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship will provide the proverbial shot in the arm her sport so badly needs.

“Our females are doing very well and there is a general call for more female athletes out of Jamaica, but for that to happen they need the support,” Terrelonge said.

“We don’t see any sport as minor; we see all our sports as developing sports and sports that can help our athletes. Sports are about empowerment and enrichment, not just at the personal level for the individual, but also at the global level where Brand Jamaica is on display.

“So we continue to provide support for them, in terms of working with our associations. Whatever the discipline, the ministry and the Government of Jamaica is there. What we need is for corporate sponsors to come on-board,” Terrelonge ended.

— Sherdon Cowan