Forbes urges corporate companies to fund local scholarships

Saturday, November 21, 2009 10:39 AM

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Sport

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Ian Forbes, managing director at Sherwin Williams Limited, has called on corporate entities to become more involved in sports by funding scholarships for athletes to local tertiary institutions.

Forbes was the keynote speaker last Thursday night at the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Business House Awards Ceremony.

Resic Hanson (left), operations manager Western Sports Limited and Business House president Wayne Shaw (centre), present the Western Sports Division One trophy to Damion Gordon, captain of ScotiaBank Group during the awards ceremony at the ScotiaBank Sports Club last Thursday night.

ScotiaBank Group won the Division One league, while Petrojam took the honours in the Division Two. Carib Cement won both the knockout and five-a-side competitions.

Forbes highlighted the role of the corporate community in supporting young local talents. According to him, recent athletics success at the Beijing Olympics and the Berlin World Championships was proof enough that Jamaica was fully capable of getting the best out of home-based talents. He encouraged the private sector to do more to facilitate this. "We need to offer scholarships to our high school athletes to study and train at our tertiary institutions in the same way as the US colleges do, but it has to be stimulated by private sector interest," he claimed.

"Sports is now big business and we need to rise to the challenge and get involved in seed funding to generate the full potential of what we are already seeing. Look at how Puma and Digicel have benefited from the early spotting of Usain Bolt as a rare talent. They displayed their vision and commitment early and the awesome results are there for everyone to see," Forbes added.

He also took the opportunity to address the importance of sports in the workplace. He said that despite the present harsh economic climate companies will benefit from participating in recreational activities. "I am well aware that the funds that have been put into this competition is the result of long and hard thinking as money is never easy to come by, but moreso now. At times your shareholders might even question the fiscal prudence in this type of investment. However, I am confident that at the end of the day when the satisfaction of having gone through the process and the results are seen, nothing is regretted," he said.

He pointed out that participation has waned over the years and the KSAFA business house competition has fallen on hard times. "From the '90s till today, there has been a decline in the number of firms which have put teams in this competition. The figures back then stood at 51 teams spread over three divisions, now it is 17 teams occupying two divisions. This needs to be addressed so that the original numbers can be restored and even enhanced," he urged.

Forbes also argued that a contented staff can lead to more efficiency and higher output in the workplace. "Happy and healthy staff will produce more, and sports of all forms can contribute to this in a significant way," he stated. Forbes also asserted that these sporting activities can help develop conflict resolution and teach individuals to accept defeat.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Edward Seaga was presented with the Abe Alexander award for outstanding contribution to sports.

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