Dear Editor,
This is an open letter to Inter-secondary Schools Sport Association (ISSA) President Dr Walton Small:
First, let me congratulate you and your executive for continuing to be of service to one of Jamaica's most important yearly athletics events. However, I must express my absolute disgust about the "pop down" way in which the event is being managed.
For one, how on Earth can people secure tickets for the event days in advanc but are unable to get into the venue because it is too crowded? Most events at stadiums around the world do not have this problem as event organisers see to it that everyone who purchases a ticket gets his/her rightful place.
Secondly, your handling of this so-called guerilla marketing issue, involving Digicel, is a joke. Outside of Digicel's brilliant marketing move and generous support for a sterling athlete, why do we not bring the event to a higher level so as to ensure that more athletes are able to get lucrative deals from sponsors, whoever they are?
Dr Small, it appears to me that you are grossly underestimating the value of the Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships. If properly positioned, the championships could easily earn several millions more in sponsorships, and the athletes, most of whom are from poor backgrounds, will get big opportunities.
Lastly, Dr Small, would it not be of some concern to any intelligent individual that you, as president of ISSA and principal of a prominent boys' school, oversee the uncomfortable reality that one of the star athletes at the school you head has a lucrative sponsorship package from LIME, a major sponsor of the championships?
As we go along, it is time we Jamaicans take seriously how important events such as 'Champs' are handled. We must put the best and brightest to work so that our athletes, schools, and people on a whole benefit tremendously from the athletics prowess resident among us.
Dr Small, are you up for the job?
Andrew Wilton
Havendale, Kingston 19
andrew.wilton11@gmail.com
Let's manage the potential of 'Champs'
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This is an open letter to Inter-secondary Schools Sport Association (ISSA) President Dr Walton Small:
First, let me congratulate you and your executive for continuing to be of service to one of Jamaica's most important yearly athletics events. However, I must express my absolute disgust about the "pop down" way in which the event is being managed.
For one, how on Earth can people secure tickets for the event days in advanc but are unable to get into the venue because it is too crowded? Most events at stadiums around the world do not have this problem as event organisers see to it that everyone who purchases a ticket gets his/her rightful place.
Secondly, your handling of this so-called guerilla marketing issue, involving Digicel, is a joke. Outside of Digicel's brilliant marketing move and generous support for a sterling athlete, why do we not bring the event to a higher level so as to ensure that more athletes are able to get lucrative deals from sponsors, whoever they are?
Dr Small, it appears to me that you are grossly underestimating the value of the Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships. If properly positioned, the championships could easily earn several millions more in sponsorships, and the athletes, most of whom are from poor backgrounds, will get big opportunities.
Lastly, Dr Small, would it not be of some concern to any intelligent individual that you, as president of ISSA and principal of a prominent boys' school, oversee the uncomfortable reality that one of the star athletes at the school you head has a lucrative sponsorship package from LIME, a major sponsor of the championships?
As we go along, it is time we Jamaicans take seriously how important events such as 'Champs' are handled. We must put the best and brightest to work so that our athletes, schools, and people on a whole benefit tremendously from the athletics prowess resident among us.
Dr Small, are you up for the job?
Andrew Wilton
Havendale, Kingston 19
andrew.wilton11@gmail.com
Let's manage the potential of 'Champs'
-->