Pedalling towards success

Outgoing treasurer and public relations officer of the Jamaica Cycling Federation (JCF), Janneille Morgan, is en route to success after emerging as one of the 16 Jamaicans who were awarded the 2022 Chevening Scholarship.

Morgan, who will be pursuing a Master of Science degree in health management at City University of London in the United Kingdom, said she hopes to use this achievement to motivate other young athletes.

“Although this programme is not directly linked to sports, I plan to use my achievement as a Chevening Scholar to encourage and motivate young athletes to pursue academic journeys in their respective fields where possible,” she said.

Sports, she said, has had a positive impact on her overall development.

“I was never athletic or actively involved in sports before I started cycling, however, I have been able to balance my professional career, volunteerism, and my sporting life with maintaining a very active social life,” Morgan said. “Professionally, I am employed to the Tony Thwaites Wing at the University Hospital of the West Indies as the assistant manager for customer service and business development. This is a very demanding and sometimes highly stressful role. Having a structured training programme for my cycling allows me to release some of the tension from my job while I ride in the early morning air or take long rides out in the country on the weekends. It has fostered a greater level of responsibility, balance, and time management. Cycling has also opened the door for me to be part of a larger community of recreational and competitive riders with similar interests.”

Morgan has also returned the favour to the sport as she served on the board of the JCF from September 2020 to 2022.

“I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media and Communication from the University of the West Indies and am a communications practitioner by profession. I decided to translate my skills and expertise to help with the development of cycling locally because I recognised that cycling has the potential to become a very attractive and inclusive sport locally. I saw where the cycling federation could have really benefited from a more robust communications and public relations campaign to not only engage cyclists, but also to attract potential sponsors and donors locally and within the diaspora. I also saw where my involvement in the sport as a female placed me in the position to encourage other young girls to consider cycling as a sport and pursue it,” she said.

She said cycling has also brought her triumph while participating.

“To date, my biggest achievement as a cyclist is recovering from a severely broken leg and missing out on the 2021 championships to earn the title of National Female Elite Time Trial Champion and a second-place finish for the road race for 2022,” she said.