As far as the sporting world is concerned, Jamaica currently sits in a comfortable position. International track & field success in 2008 and 2009 has drawn the world’s attention to Jamaica’s abundance of talented athletes. Many Jamaican sports enthusiasts claim that the best has yet to come with regards to Jamaican sprinters. Current champions Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser are still in their early twenties. In addition to that, promising sprinters such as Dexter Lee, Yohan Blake and Ramone McKenzie have been working their way up the ranks. The future looks very bright for Jamaican sprint. The future also looked promising for another group of Jamaican athletes : The 1998 Reggae Boyz.

Jamaica became the first country from the English-speaking Caribbean to ever qualify for a football World Cup when the Reggae Boyz qualified for the 1998 edition (held in France). At the time, it was also the smallest country population-wise to achieve that feat. Qualifying for a World Cup is a major achievement as it is the biggest sporting event in the world. Football’s world stage is no joke : people around the globe take notice of the participants. In Jamaica and abroad, the euphoria surrounding Jamaica’s 1998 campaign could not be ignored. Despite losing by  3-1 and 5-0 scores to Croatia and Argentina, respectively, the Reggae Boyz did not leave France’98 empty-handed as they defeated Japan 2-1.  Overall, the 1998 World Cup looked like an encouraging learning experience. Unfortunately, Jamaica did not build upon its World Cup experience. Jamaica has not qualified for a World Cup since 1998. This is considered an underachievement by a large number of Jamaican fans given the national team’s potential.

Given Jamaica’s current display of excellence in track & field, some Jamaicans have raised the question as to whether or not football is still relevant. The common argument is that football receives ten times more funding than track in Jamaica yet Jamaican football underachieves internationally. While I wholeheartedly believe that Jamaican track & field needs a lot more funding, I am of the view that football is very relevant in Jamaica.

Team sports promote values of unity and solidarity, values that are desperately needed in today’s society. Communities are teams. Organizations are teams. Governments are teams. Businesses are teams. Schoolboards are teams. The list goes on. Team sports brings people together in order to work towards a common goal. Wouldn’t Jamaica need people to unite behind a common goal ?

To be continued…