Pocket Rocket Foundation scholar Peter-Gaye Gray has challenged the programme’s newest scholarship recipients to see their awards as more than financial support, urging them to use the opportunity to build the confidence, discipline, and skills needed for life beyond sport.

Gray delivered the charge last Thursday as the Pocket Rocket Foundation welcomed its 2026 cohort during its annual Scholarship Awards at the Wolmer’s Girls’ School Hall in Kingston.

“A scholarship isn’t just an award. It’s someone believing in your potential,” Gray, deputy head girl at the Convent of Mercy Academy (Alpha), told the incoming scholars.

Reflecting on her experience in the programme, Gray said she initially viewed the scholarship primarily as an opportunity for financial assistance but, “I soon realised that the Pocket Rocket Foundation was about so much more than that. It was about becoming part of a community that believed in me.”

Her message came as demand for the foundation’s scholarship programme continued to grow. More than 500 applications were received for the 2026 scholarship cycle, a 33.75 per cent increase since 2025, with interest also coming from outside Jamaica.

The programme continues to attract student-athletes from across the island, with this year’s recipients representing 15 high schools and 10 sporting disciplines.

This year’s cohort includes students involved in track and field, football, volleyball, table tennis, netball, basketball, lacrosse, swimming, cheerleading, and gymnastics, with scholars drawn from institutions in Kingston and St Andrew, Clarendon, Manchester, Hanover, St James, and Westmoreland.

For Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, founder and chairwoman of the Pocket Rocket Foundation, the growing interest reinforces the responsibility that comes with supporting young Jamaican athletes.

Pocket Rocket Foundation scholar Peter-Gaye Gray (centre) is flanked by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the foundation’s founder and chairwoman, and Dr Jermaine McCalpin, executive director.

“We understand the lives that we are touching,” Fraser-Pryce said, acknowledging the commitment of the foundation’s board, volunteers, and partners.

“You don’t know if you can become a professional athlete. We don’t know that. But at the Pocket Rocket Foundation, we are investing in people,” added Fraser-Pryce.

This year’s cohort also reflects achievement beyond competition, with scholars excelling in academics, leadership, debating, mathematics, reading, and technology while pursuing ambitions ranging from medicine and data science to marine biology and professional sport.

Gray encouraged the recipients to develop those interests alongside their athletic pursuits, reminding them that the qualities built through sport can serve them long after competition ends.

“The reality is that sport will not last forever,” said Gray as she encouraged the students to carry the discipline, resilience, teamwork, and time-management skills developed through sport into other areas of their lives.

Fraser-Pryce similarly challenged the scholars not to allow their circumstances, sporting identities, or the expectation of others to limit what they believe is possible. “We are standing on the shoulders of someone who decided that they would take a chance on us,” she said.

With demand for the scholarship programme continuing to grow, Fraser-Pryce said the foundation’s focus will remain on giving Jamaican student-athletes the support, exposure, and development opportunities needed to succeed both in competition and beyond it.