Ian Andrews ... 'Mr Sports' - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE 'MR. Sports' title tagged on Ian Andrews from age 11 at Mona Primary defines him to this very day. He is all that and more. It is little wonder then that at age 38, he is helping to chart the direction of Jamaica's sporting talent as executive director of the Institute of Sports (INSPORTS).
The one-time competitor, radio and television presenter who was born in Birmingham, England, in 1966 and came to Jamaica as a four-year-old, has participated in several disciplines himself and was even a Champs medal winner.
An only child, he was raised in Greendale, Spanish Town by his mother, Enes Andrews, and attended Spanish Town Primary until age 11 when relocation to Kingston meant a shift to Mona Primary.
'Mr. Sports' tells his story in a One-on-One interview with The Gleaner.
QUESTION: Your line of duty has been deeply connected with sports, why is this so?
IAN ANDREWS: Because of my passion for it. As a student at Mona Primary, I was known as 'Mr. Sports'. I was champion of champions there. I left and went to Jamaica College (JC) and came under the guidance of none other than the legendary Sidney Ignatius 'Foggy' Burrowes. Burrowes is one of a kind and if half the teachers in the school were like Burrowes then the society would have been a better place. That man had a tremendous place in my early life at JC. There the foundation was laid.
When I went into first form I wanted to do everything football, table tennis, track and field. But , due to my mother's influence I had to do one. She said choose one and focus on that one.
I thought I was a sprinter when I went there (JC) first but I couldn't understand why I couldn't come in first. Foggy was just preparing me for greater things because before he left I went up the 800m and 1500 and with the sprinting base that I had I did fairly well at the 800m and 1500m.
Q: What sort of success did you have at Champs?
IA: I actually got a medal at Champs, the Class Two 1500m silver. I was the favourite to win both the 800m and 1500m at Champs because I was unbeaten all season. I had the fastest time going into the final (1500m), that is a very dirty race and because I was the favourite I was the target of some very rough treatment. I was in a winning position when I ran into an elbow of the winner. I believe had that race been run now under those conditions they would have disqualified him. A rather bizarre incident took place where just before the race was run the lights went out. When my coach protested he was told that the lights went out and they could not see. After that I was psychologically bruised.
After that I lost interest, and my schoolwork was important as I was between fourth and fifth form. In those days, in the '80s it's not like now where sports is seen as a serious means to an end. In those days sports couldn't necessarily put food on the table. Things have changed and athletes are now making millions of dollars, thankfully, for their efforts and talent.
Q: There have been a number of dangerous activities taking place at Champs in recent years. Was that event as dangerous during your time at school?
IA: Oh yes. I can never forget as a youngster in 1981, in the medley relay the schools vying for top spot at the time were Clarendon College, Kingston College, Calabar and JC and in the most unprecedented incident, the anchor leg runner for Calabar, on the backstretch, just kicked the legs of the KC runner. As we all know Champs just mashed up. The orange wars of fun just changed into bottle wars. To my mind, the one-year ban was not sufficient.
Q: You first started out in media at Radio Jamaica and you seemed to be doing quite well, what caused you to switch to television?
IA: I was trained in television at CARIMAC. I did a degree in Mass Communication and Social Sciences and my major was television. At the time the JBC did not seem the place to go for a career and I was recruited by RJR. At the time Patrick Anderson had resigned. Television was my first liking and I was offered a job by the board at CVM. It was a good feeling to be a part of the second television station in the history of the country's media. It was an opportunity to be a part of history.
Q: What challenges did you face at CVM?
IA: First of all, to convince the general public that CVM was not just a one-off experiment but a serious station dedicated to inform, educate, entertain and disseminate information in a way different than people were used to. We were of the view at CVM that the now defunct JBC did not dig deep into the issues at hand. Our challenge was to give a fresh perspective, another side, and to give more information in sports. That now raised the bar of what people expected of sports in this country.
Q: You are now the executive director of INSPORTS, what does your job entail?
IA: The job is really to promote, develop and assist financially schools at the basic, primary and junior high level and in the communities at the grassroots level. I head that team, because we've a team of sports officers who go out into the schools and communities with the aim to unearth talent and make recommendations to the national associations and teams. If you look at all the teams we have now, a number of persons from these programmes play on them. We have a team of officers and we also have a team of managers, including Glen Mills, Marie Tavares and Bruce McFarlane.
Q: In terms of human and physical resources, are the support systems substantial enough to effectively carry out the organisation's tasks?
IA: There's room for improvement in all areas and human resources is no exception.
Q: What criteria is used in the selection of field officers, trainers?
IA: The criteria that is used was not really set by me, I inherited it. A lot of them are teachers themselves, they are trained at G.C. Foster College and some are coaches.
Q: What are the sort of decisions that you make impact on the deployment of resources?
IA: One of the decisions that I have to make right now is to acquire funds to run some of the programmes because, like everything else, there's not enough money. I've been working alongside corporate Jamaica to coax them into coming on board to support these programmes. Corporate Jamaica must be a part of our progression. We're also looking at reactivating some of our bilateral agreements. If we can get the international funding, half of our troubles will be over. Right now wer'e working with the ones in Asia and Latin America.
Q: You possess another talent that is well known through singing the National Anthem at matches for the Reggae Boyz at the National Stadium. Did you inherit your vocal talent or develop it in a Sunday School or school choir as many kids do?
IA: No, I never actually sang in a choir while at school. In fact, most of my peers at school were surprised when they heard me singing. That was latent talent, hidden talent. I was a late bloomer where that was concerned.
I also sing at functions and this is a good stress relief. I sing mainly at private functions and do a bit of cabaret from time to time. I also did flirt with recording at one point.
Q: How did that work out?
IA: I did a little song called Lovely Day. It got some good reviews in England but anything one does, I believe you have to be totally committed to succeed at it.
Q: Had it not been for a full-time sports profession, what other pursuit would have been your first choice?
IA: Through my school years, I had my sights on doing law. I really thought about doing law. It is so ironic that 90 per cent of my contemporaries at CARIMAC are now lawyers and qualified judges.
Audley Boyd
