Kingston, January 2 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, is urging participating sports associations in the Technical Cooperation Project on Sport Coaching between Jamaica and China to make the best use of the opportunity. 

Minister Grange was speaking today as she welcomed a new batch of Chinese coaches at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. 

“I want to charge the associations to ensure, as much as possible, that training starts on time, that athletes embrace the values of hard work and discipline and that your coaches learn as much as they can from this visit,”

Minister Grange said. 

Seven coaches, representing seven disciplines: Synchronised Swimming, Gymnastics, Swimming, Badminton, Women’s Volleyball, Women’s Football and Women’s Basketball, a team manager and an interpreter are now in Jamaica to commence year two of the project which started last year with the arrival of the first batch of coaches. 

During the summer of last year a delegation of 138 athletes, coaches and managers also travelled to China for a period of 60 days for specialised training and competition. 

“I want to remind the associations of the goals that you set for yourselves – to qualify for and improve Jamaica’s ranking in major regional and international competitions including the PanAm Games this year and the Olympics next year,” Minister Grange added. 

Under the agreement, the Chinese government has also donated equipment for the seven sporting disciplines. The donations include a completely outfitted gym for gymnastics, which is already landed. 

“On behalf of the Government and People of Jamaica, I want to express our sincere gratitude to the Government and People of the People’s Republic of China for the equipment. They are securely stored and my office is working out the details with the Chinese Embassy for an official handing-over ceremony to be held before the end of the month,” Minister Grange said.