IN delivering the keynote address at a recent symposium hosted by G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, Jamaica Olympic Association President Christopher Samuda emphasised that sport has long since evolved from a business into a composite commercial enterprise.

“[Sport] has transcended geographic, racial, political and religious divides; as well as domestic, regional and continental economies; is denominated in innumerable currencies; is spoken in countless formal languages, creoles and dialects, in staking its claim as an indispensable and universal index of social, economic, commercial and sustainable development,” Samuda stated.

Speaking to the symposium’s theme, ‘Unleashing the Potential: Physical Education and Sport Wellness for Sustainable Development’, Samuda stated that critical to achieving sport’s sustainability are the skill sets and competencies of human capital.

“This is the greatest resource of sustainable development as people are the originators, industry players, and pacesetters of social and economic development. Despite the march of science and technology which have given birth to robotics and artificial intelligence, people remain the creators, architects and engineers of inventions and progress — and it is no different in sport,” he added.

Samuda, in giving the context for sport’s sustainability, stated: “A commercial, capital-intensive model is an economic imperative in blueprinting and monetising the interrelation of sport, tourism, entertainment, culture, and the environment. And the model must include a national facilities infrastructure plan and a formal administrative network that are parish- or county-based; functional and functioning outdoor stadia; multi-sport indoor complexes leased to and managed by private sector interests with conditionalities relating to community access and talent development; and also activation of a national management and technical training programme aimed primarily at investing our youth with sport-specific skills in those areas which accord with the objectives and goals of the commercial model.”

He maintained that the term “sustainable development”, although traditionally and currently used in an economic context, should have a broader interpretation in accentuating the human element, which “embodies principles of mutual respect, self-belief, equality, team-building and inclusion, cultural values, man’s humanity to man, and a deep and deepening sense of brotherhood and nationhood”.

These, Samuda said, “are the genetics of sustainable development in sport, the characteristics that exemplify responsible citizenship in sport, and the attributes that should trademark the quality of life and living at the G C Foster College and beyond, in the university of life”.