The recently sealed three-year $45-million partnership between the governing sport institution, the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), and corporate giant Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) is already being activated and a number of sport associations will benefit from the ongoing commitment of the apex national body to ensure the development of sport across the board.

The JOA signed the deal in furtherance of its programme styled “Olympic Invest”, which was rolled out formally last year and has as one of its primary objectives — the sustainability and viability of Olympic and non-Olympic sports.

An area in which funding will be made available to associations under the partnership relates to equipment, which is critical to capacity-building of any sport and the performance of athletes. However, for some associations, the acquisition of equipment has been, over the years, expensive and beyond their grasp.

Describing the historic agreement as “a partnership denominated in trust and embodying a mutual commitment to use sport to inspire aspirations and to fuel ambitions of generations of enterprising youth in motion in sport”, JOA President Christopher Samuda remarked that the business of the JOA is to equip and empower associations in giving them reach to open wide doors of opportunity and success.

The JOA continues to maintain that it is “business unusual” and the provision of equipment is giving associations the required tools of their trade. The various initiatives being pursued by the governing body, such as this partnership, have noticeably a strong commercial element as part of an overarching policy designed to diversify the revenue base in establishing long-term sustainability and profitability.

The JOA and SVL have started a serious conversation about sport development that may very well provide a game plan for not only sustainability and sporting excellence, but also for how the game itself and Brand Jamaica can be properly monetised as a prerequisite to the creation of a viable local sport industry for stakeholders and the economy.

JOA Secretary General and CEO Ryan Foster, in a post-ceremony interview, gave a corporate perspective when he said: “Sport demands a business and commercial solution which rests in strong partnerships, strategic investment, monetisation of assets capitalisation and importantly, equipping human capital.”