JADCO highlights nutrition guide at 2023 Senior Athletes Anti-doping Education Workshop

The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) highlighted the importance of the JADCO Nutrition Guide for Jamaican Athletes, at the 10th annual staging of the Senior Athletes Anti-Doping Education Workshop. The event was held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on Saturday, November 18, under the theme, ‘Protecting Brand Jamaica Through Clean Sport’.

Several senior athletes and their support personnel turned out to support the workshop, where Dr Christine Fray-Aiken, author of the publication provided stakeholders with information on the JADCO Nutrition Guide. This strategic emphasis on nutrition underscores JADCO’s dedication to fostering clean, fair and healthy sport practices by recognising the integral role nutrition plays in the prevention of doping.

JADCO’s Nutrition Guide for Jamaican Athletes focuses specifically on Jamaican food and provides a diet and hydration guide for Jamaican athletes. The nutrition guide can be accessed on the JADCO website at jadco.gov.jm.

‘Fair play and integrity’

Speaking at the workshop, Executive Director of JADCO, June Spence Jarrett, said, “Nutrition is a cornerstone in the foundation of clean sport. By concentrating our efforts on this vital aspect of sport, we aim to provide athletes with the knowledge and resources needed to make choices that align with the principles of fair play and integrity.” She further added, “I would like to thank all the athletes and support personnel who participated in the 2023 Senior Athletes Anti-Doping Education Workshop. Together, let us build a future where the foundation of fairness, ethics and well-being is an integral part of sport in Jamaica.”

Also speaking at the workshop, Master Sports Nutritionist and Associate Professor at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), Dr Christine Fray-Aiken, said, “There are so many athletes worldwide doing all kinds of things where drugs and doping are concerned. Our Jamaican foods are good and our athletes have a natural talent and putting together the Jamaican food and the Jamaican talent can get them anywhere they want. I want them to know that nutrition can get them the performance they are looking for.” She further added, “Events such as these organised by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission are important because I am seeing JADCO reaching out to all age groups, from pre-teens all the way to professional athletes and it is commendable that JADCO is doing this. Athletes from all age groups are getting the right information to keep them safe.”

‘...Know about anti-doping’

Oblique Seville, athlete from Racers Track Club, said, “This is my second time attending this workshop, or maybe the third. Coming here all the time I actually benefit from it because I learn a lot about the doping agency and there are a lot of things that some of us athletes do not know about. I think it is good for us to know about anti-doping because a lot of us make mistakes by taking supplements that are prohibited and that cost some athletes their career.”

Chad Wright, athlete of Legacy Athletics, said, “I benefited from the workshop a great deal, especially because I have not been to one in a very long time and I had a lot of questions to ask and all my questions were answered. I learnt a lot about whereabouts information and the Therapeutic Use Exemption. I had a situation where I could have used the Therapeutic Use Exemption and I did not do so because I was ignorant about the process. I also learnt that the whereabouts information can be updated up to a minute before. I always thought it was hours before. I would encourage other senior athletes to come to these workshops because these are things they need to know, and not just the athletes but also their coaches, so they can advise them about what to do.”

‘Always informative’

Also speaking at the workshop, athlete support personnel, Patrick Dawson, coach at Racers track Club, said, “The workshop is always informative, but somehow adding a nutritionist to tell us about nutrition made a whole lot of difference, and the wealth of information she gave us was well received. We also learnt that taking supplements is not necessary and when you take it you do so at your own risk.”

Leroy Brown, secretary general of the Jamaica Boxing Association, said, “I usually try to bring a certain number of boxers so that they get accustomed to what is necessary and workshops like these provide that information. The important thing is to make the athletes realise that JADCO is not their enemy, but their friend.” He added, “The workshops give information that they really need. First of all, things that they should not do, things that they should do and the things that will improve their performance. For example, the nutritionist highlighted the danger of supplements.

“The athletes may take supplements that have ingredients in them that are not included on the label and they can take them and find themselves in trouble down the road, so for the athletes to know these things is extremely important. This is why I try and bring my boxers in, so that they can learn the things that they should do and the things that they should not do.”

The workshop also included presentations on the functions and responsibilities of JADCO and the doping control process.

The 2023 Senior Athletes Anti-Doping Education Workshop formed part of JADCO’s 15th anniversary celebration. JADCO celebrated its 15th anniversary on Tuesday, July 25, and in recognition of this milestone, the organisation will host several other activities throughout the year.