JAMAICA’S para-athletes possess a wealth of talent but have rarely had the chance to showcase it locally. That trend may shift this week, and Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA) President Christopher Samuda is hoping to see a significant investment in the movement.

On Saturday the JPA is to host the Grassroots Para Sport Festival at Liberty Academy in St Andrew, where a number of local para-athletes will compete in various sports including track and field, powerlifting, archery and fencing.

The objective of the new initiative, which is part of the JPA’s I Am Phenomenal campaign, is to have greater public awareness and practical education about para-sports.

Samuda told the Jamaica Observer that the event will be important in changing public perception of the paralympic movement.

“In the para-movement we have always encouraged a vision of self-development that not only incorporates one’s own confidence in one’s ability to perform and to impact, but also demonstrates that you are part of sport humanity and that you are playing a vital role as a member of the sporting humanity in Jamaica, and you are bringing to the sporting fraternity a perspective that we are abled with a difference,” he said.

“Those who have not been exposed to the para-sports movement, we hope will come out of this festival with a very positive image of para-athletes and understand not only the challenges which they face but also their will and determination to succeed and, as I’ve always said, to go beyond the podium. And we have had instances like that in the past where we have faced enormous challenges but we have been able to come out with golden performances.”

The event is one of many the JPA will execute in partnership with the Americas Paralympic Committee, the Latin American Development Bank, and Caribbean Development Bank.

However, the JPA boss is urging more involvement from the private sector in support of a meaningful initiative.

“Corporate backing is very important for the development of any movement and so we are targeting certain corporate interests to ensure that not only they attend, but it is part of our educational campaign for the private sector and those financial backers who would want to not only give us a cheque for particular events but also to come as a partner, a long-term partner in the Paralympic movement,” he said.

“And understand that this is something that is not only human interest compelling, but it can also be a ‘bang for the buck’ experience for them. So, we are hoping that we will have a significant turnout of corporate interests. And it will just not simply be for branding value, but we want them to see themselves as part of this progression in para-sports development and also to bring on board their own ideas as to how best we can further deepen the impact of para-sports in Jamaica.”

Samuda believes the athletes will receive a major boost from performing before an audience that is still relatively new to the paralympic movement.

“We also hope, by this festival, to ensure that our para-athletes’ self-development, which is part of one of our main objectives, is effective through sport. And they not only will be part of the demonstration, but they also will be assisting their own athletes in terms of demonstrating the various sports to those who attend,” he said.

“All hands are on deck, everybody’s on board, and we are hoping that this will serve as a model going into the future for sport associations nationally, if not internationally and regionally, to see how we can bring together stakeholders in sport in order to achieve admirable objectives in the para-sport movement,” Samuda added.

Jamaica’s Santana Campbell participates in javelin training in 2019.

Joshua Pinnock competes in the men’s Under-18 F40-41 shot put event during the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, in August 2017.