Jamaica’s para-athletes are expected to see increased benefits in the coming years after German sports apparel giants Puma signed a sponsorship deal with the Americas Paralympic Committee (AmPC).

It comes days after Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA) President Christopher Samuda was elected vice-president of the region’s paralympic governing body.

The agreement will see Puma providing financial and technical assistance to help develop several para sports initiatives in the Caribbean, North America and South America.

Samuda said, “It is a coalescence of sporting values and culture that has gone beyond the commercialisation of brands and money and has found its currency and integrity in the aspirations of para athletes who continue to ignite humanity with defining feats.”

Puma Latin America General Manager Carlos Laje says the sponsorship is critical in uplifting the paralympic movement in the region.

Puma will also serve as prime sponsor for AmPC governed events Para Panamerican Games, which takes place in the summer of 2027 in Lima, Peru with a number of Jamaican athletes set to participate.

“Ownership of the games vests in us custody of the aspirations of thousands of sportsmen and women and youth which my executive board colleagues and I recognise is a privilege that comes with a fiduciary obligation to create value and deliver results for them — the human capital of sport,”

Samuda, who also serves as president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, says he intends to put the athletes first after being elected AmPC vice-president, ahead of Canada Paralympic Committee President Marc-Andre Fabien.

“It is far from being a personal victory but a commitment to the athletes of the Caribbean and Americas whom we serve and whose interest and welfare are paramount in the regional sporting construct,” said Samuda.

Earlier this year, the Samuda led JPA secured a partnership with the AmPC and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean to create a paralympic high performance academy in Jamaica, the first of its kind in the Caribbean.

The JPA also hosted its first Grassroots Para Sport Festival last month where dozens of Jamaica’s para-athletes showcased their talents in track and field, powerflifting, archery and fencing.

Samuda is hoping that there’s greater private and public investment in local parasports going forward.

“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.

“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.”

Christopher Samuda (right), president of Jamaica Paralympic Association, speaks to para-athletes Kerona Salmon (centre), Theodore Thomas (back left), and Acee Green (front left), at the rededication of the Paralympic Flame at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on March 11, 2024.  (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Jamaican paralympic athlete Shane Hudson.