MONTEGO BAY, St James — Anticipation is building in western Jamaica as plans take root to host the Special Olympics Caribbean Beach Games at Harmony Beach Park in November this year.

The event, the first of its kind to be staged in Jamaica, is expected to attract approximately 20 Special Olympics programmes in the region participating in swimming, football, volleyball, basketball and bocce.

Harmony Beach Park in Montego Bay, managed by the State-run Urban Development Corporation (UDC), is barely more than a stone’s throw away from Sangster International Airport and a host of hotels on the city’s famous Hip Strip.

The November 18-22 showpiece is to be the second such regional beach games, following in the footsteps of the inaugural 2024 staging in Trinidad and Tobago.

The regional beach games is the brainchild of former Special Olympics Trinidad and Tobago athlete Kester Edwards, who is a sports and development manager at Special Olympics International.

Lorna Bell, executive director of Special Olympics Caribbean, said the staging of the beach games is in keeping with thecommitment to promote regional integration for people with intellectual disabilities.

“The Caribbean Beach Games reflects ameaningful step for the region within the Special Olympics movement. Inspiredby our natural connection to the sea and an idea conceptualised by an athlete from the Caribbean, these games represent both heritage and vision,” she said after a site visit to Harmony Beach Park on March 21.

“Under the chairmanship of [head of the organising committee] Dr Lee Bailey, and with the support and blessing of Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon, the beach games reinforces a shared commitment to inclusion, dignity, and community.”

Bell added that Special Olympics has leaned on the Jamaica Basketball Association, the Jamaica Volleyball Association and the Jamaica Football Federation for support.

Dr Bailey, a well-known Montego Bay-based businessman, said he is anticipating a massive family-oriented event.

“I’m excited… because Montego Bay needs some activity. This to me is like a carnival for Montego Bay because you can get support across the board — it’s going to be a family thing because this is mostly about people who have special needs.

“We want everybody to participate… I want to speak on behalf of the people of Montego Bay and say that they [welcome the event]. We want to get the people and the families involved… and the school children,” said the organising committee chairman.

Marlon Tingling, communications and public relations manager at the St James Municipal Corporation, said work has already started to get major stakeholders on board.

“Mayor Councillor Richard Vernon [has given] the assurance that the [Municipal] Corporation will do whatever is necessary to facilitate a successful games. We have never had something like this in St James, so this is novel, and we’d want to galvanise as much support around it as possible. We want to ensure that as many Jamaicans as possible — especially those who have a soft heart for people with special needs — are able to come out and witness a very successful games,” he explained.

He noted that the beach park has rebounded well after the devastation of deadly Hurricane Melissa last October.

“Like most of western Jamaica, the hurricane did a number on the park and I must give creditto UDC, which owns and manages the park, for the work that was done following Hurricane Melissa. The park is in sparkling condition and was reopened shortly after the hurricane and has been active in terms of hosting events and hosting families,” Tingling said.

Clayton Williams, sporting director of Special Olympics Trinidad and Tobago, was among the group that visited the venue over a week ago.

The Trinidadian, drawing on his technical expertise and experience as an organiser during the beach games in 2024, said the Montego Bay venue is ideal.

“The venue isimmaculate and well suited for the beach games, with one permanent volleyball court and an area [where] we can set up a second. The area for bocce is niceand wide and can have four courts there. The open water area is a magnificentarea because it’s not too far from the shoreline so the public can view theraces nicely.

“The area for football is good and there’s a nice hardcourt for basketball. There is a nice space for the opening ceremony and no chance of congestion for [spectators] and anybody who wants to go to the beach,” Williams noted.

Alecia Newman Walsh, director for aquatics at Special Olympics Jamaica, was also pleased with the venue.

“It was my first time at that beach, and it’s a lovely beach showcasing one of our manyblessings here in Jamaica. I like the fact that post-Melissa this willhighlight Montego Bay. I love the venue, so we just have to work out logistics asto how we will execute open water swimming at this venue,” she said.

Newman Walsh added that the staging of the event in St James will help to widen the scope of Special Olympics Jamaica’s recruitment of potential swimmers in western Jamaica.

Jamaica Basketball Association President Paulton Gordon noted that the partnership with Special Olympics for unified sports has been fruitful.

“We’ve always been very supportive of Special Olympics — twice last year we sent members ofour national teams for unified games in Guadeloupe and in Puerto Rico and that [partnership] was quite successful.

“To have an event of this nature that’s on Jamaican soil we are fully behind [it] and supportive. The location is ideal for an event, it’s spacious and has the capacity for all the games and for spectators. It’s central and smack in the middle of Montego Bay, and the visitors will certainly love it and we are looking forward to a grand event,” said the local basketball boss.

Lorna Bell (left), executive director of Special Olympics Caribbean, and Marlon Tingling, communications and public relations manager at St James Municipal Corporation, talk during a site visit to Harmony Beach Park in Montego Bay.

GORDON… to have an event of this nature that’s on Jamaican soil, we are fully behind [it] and supportive

BAILEY… it’s going to be a family thing because this is mostly about people who have special needs