SANTIAGO, Chile — Chief Executive Officer Ryan Foster describes the investment made by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) in Team Jamaica for the Pan American Games, now on in Santiago, Chile, as money well spent.

Jamaica will field 90 athletes in 16 sporting disciplines, a feat which the JOA says it is proud of as it is consistent with its governance model, which it has branded “business unusual”. This speaks to the JOA’s efforts to have its over 50 member associations operating as sporting businesses regularly competing at the highest level regionally and globally, in turn making themselves more viable brands for revenue gain and growth.

But Foster says that putting together a team of this size is neither easy nor cheap. Sending a team to these games this year has cost the JOA $50 million.

“One of the things we have done is to look internally,” Foster told the Jamaica Observer. “How can we expand the current amount given to us by our existing partners? With that said, we were able to increase our partnerships in terms of investment from our main partner, Puma, who has invested more in the JOA. It enables us to spend more on our member associations.

“Since Supreme Ventures, Marathon Insurance Brokers, and Mayberry Investments have come on board, they have invested over $150 million with the JOA. What that has done is to ensure that we now can reinvest those funds into our member associations.

Foster says the size of the squads sent to recent major games has proven this.

“It was our largest delegation in the Commonwealth Games in 2018, our largest delegation at the Pan Am Games, our largest delegation in the CAC [Central American and Caribbean] Games that just took place last summer, and the diversification in the medal table has shown that we have grown and the investment is worth the amount that has been spent.”

Jamaica will now look to improve on its 19 medals earned at the previous Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, four years ago. That consisted of six gold, six silver, and seven bronze, its highest-ever tally at a Pan Am Games.

The JOA says the games will be taken extra seriously this year by itself and its athletes as it now offers them an opportunity to automatically qualify for the Paris Olympic Games next summer.

The Games started on Friday, but Jamaica gets into action on Saturday in diving, swimming, badminton, women’s 3×3 basketball, boxing, gymnastics, taekwondo, and weightlifting.