On November 20, eight of Jamaica's top coaches and administrators in the field of track and field were honoured by
The Gleaner Company, being designated The Gleaner's 'Man of the Year', in recognition of their services.
In a subsequent Gleaner Editors' Forum, five of the honourees - Neville 'Teddy' McCook, Mike Fennel, Dennis Johnson, Maurice Wilson, and Glenn Mills - shared their personal experiences and perspectives on coaching and sports administration in Jamaica.Today we feature the administrators.
Teddy McCook
Mccook
Neville 'Teddy' McCook is known throughout the world of Athletics as a Council member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). He grew in prominence when, as president of the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association, from 1984-1996, led the way in further developing the country's athletics programme.
For McCook, born in 1939, the journey to world recognition in the field of athletics has been a long and stimulating one.
Like many other 'old boys' of Kingston College, he points to his entry into "that famous institution" at age 11, as a pivotal moment in his life.
Under the influence of the school's founder, Bishop Percival Gibson, he said he quickly learned the importance of identifying the needs of others and seeking to respond to those needs.
"It might seem simple, but it really inculcated a lot into us from that very early age, that we were given a sort of responsibility; that you owed something not only to your institution, but basically to the people around you and that sort of carried me right through to when I went to university, came back and started my administrative work in 1964 as a Track and Field official."
But, as Teddy McCook tells it, track and field was not his first love! Football was what actually caught his fancy more as a young man, but the requirements of his job (which entailed a substantial amount of traveling) made it more feasible for him to get involved in track and field officiating.
The world of track and field has not regretted that decision.
McCook responds very strongly to suggestions that Jamaica does not do enough for its athletes; a criticism that resurfaced recently when a few athletes switched allegiance to other countries.
Pointing to the country's high school athletics programme, he asserted at the Forum that no other country did as much for athletes in the 11-to-18 age group as Jamaica.
Opportunity
"I had the opportunity to make a presentation in Glasgow in September and when I told them we spent somewhere in the neighbourhood of J$300 Million (approximately £2.5 Million) to prepare all these schools from July until Easter (for Boys' and Girls' Championships) they were astonished!"
The money for this and other programmes, including the annual Penn Relays, came substantially from the various alumni associations, he said, at the request of the JAAA and the participating schools.
Regarding this focus on the junior programme, Teddy McCook is unapologetic. "Money is being spent on the juniors and I don't care what anybody says, if there are no juniors there are no seniors and I think that what Jamaica is doing is something that can be copied throughout the world, people would like to copy it because it is probably one of the greatest junior programmes in the world", he asserted.
That, he said, was the secret behind the growing strength of the seniors on the international stage.
Mike Fennel
Fennel
Mike Fennel holds the distinction of being president of the Jamaica Olympic Association since 1977. He is also a past president of the Jamaica Boxing Board and has been president of the Commonwealth Games Federation since.
The Calabar old boy said he developed an early interest in sports at school, where he participated in several disciplines, later representing the country in water polo.
The transition into sports administration, he said, came partly from peer pressure, but also, critically, out of a commitment to service. It started with time keeping at swimming and water sports, then time keeping and counting for knock downs in boxing, before he moved up the ladder in these organisations.
Involvement
Reflecting on his years of involvement in sport and sport administration, Mr. Fennel remains more convinced than ever of the "importance and value of sports".
"We have seen where people generally regarded sports as a play thing and something that people did in their spare time, anybody who had nothing better to do take on sports", he said incredulously.
To the contrary, he asserted, there is growing recognition of the importance of sports "as a social phenomenon and also for health and for education and for developing better relationships."
Furthermore, he stressed, the successes of Jamaica's sporting heroes has have boosted the image of the country immeasurably, even in the face of negative headlines relating to crime and social decay.
"There is no secret that the reputation of Jamaica is quite mixed and varied in many places but whenever we travel with our sports teams, the question is always, how can Jamaica, with all the problems you are experiencing produce sportsmen and sportswomen who represent their country with such distinction?"
Successes
Despite these successes, Mike Fennel acknowledges that the efforts of the coaches and administrators involved are not fully recognised.
"You hear about the people who break World records, you hear about people who win gold medals, you don't hear about the structures that work and the people who work as volunteers".
Furthermore, he said, Jamaicans had been so spoiled by the successes of their sportsmen and women that then tend to under-value the achievements of those who did not win a medal, or even those who fell short of a gold medal.
The media, he said, had to share the blame for this, "in that you have not conditioned the public to understand - what we ask athletes to do is do their best, representing their country; sometimes their best won't even bring them a good last but they have done it with distinction".
Dennis Johnson
Johnson
Dennis Johnson recently retired from a very successful career as head of the sport programme at the University of Technology - UTech (previously CAST). Before that he enjoyed success and fame as a champion athlete.
This champion boy in the 100 and 200 metres in 1958, went on to distinguish himself with national records on the US college circuit and equalling the world 100 yard record four times within six weeks in 1961, and to represent Jamaica at two Olympic Games.
His career on the track behind him, Johnson returned to Jamaica where he took up a job with the Carreras Sports Development project, which took him all over the island, "preaching the gospel of sports".
Then it was on to the CAST/ UTech, at the request of then principal, Dr. Alfred Sangster to take charge of the institution's sport programme.
"When I went to CAST/UTech, I was very happy because it gave me a chance to do my thing and I thought at the time that we could develop people to international standards and so what was in vogue at the time was to coach a high school but I chose to go to a tertiary institution because it is bigger boys and I figured we could arrive at success easier if we begin in terms of international standards and so we started the programme", he explained.
The CAST/Utech years were fruitful ones for the institution and for the athletes who competed, individually, or in the famous "Bolts of Lightening" relay teams. Many of them went on to achieve success on the US college circuit and representing Jamaica, and later, academic and financial success, due in large measure, to the start they had at this Jamaican institution.
Unlike other sport administrators in Jamaica, Dennis Johnson was able to boast of having a healthy budget with which to pursue various projects, particularly, he said, after the transition to full university status.
But Mr. Johnson quickly shares the credit for the success of the UTech programme with others who have contributed, including Anthony Davis and UTech coach, Stephen Francis. Francis, also of the MVP Track Club, is described by Dennis Johnson as "one of the brightest minds I know, full bright scholar, First Class Honours!"
The UTech programme now includes electives, in which students are allowed to engage in certain sports disciplines for credit towards their degree.
Mr. Johnson and his team also managed to improve the physical facilities on the Papine campus, including the addition of an auditorium, a pavilion for the cricket field and a rudimentary swimming pool.
Editor's Note: Tomorrow we will feature two of the coaches - Maurice Wilson and Glenn Mills.
