Grange: Make the best use of China's sport coaching

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, has urged participating associations in the technical cooperation project on sport coaching between Jamaica and China to make the best use of the opportunity.

Grange made her call yesterday as she welcomed a new batch of Chinese coaches at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

"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," Grange said.

Focus on seven disciplines

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 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 Pan American Games this year and the Olympics next year," the sports minister added.

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

"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 handover ceremony to be held before the end of the month," the minister said.