Sagicor Foundation today (April 20) announced a whopping $6 million sponsorship of the 2016 JTA/Sagicor National Athletics Championships.
Nadene Newsome, Public Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Sagicor, who said her company sees the contribution as an investment “in sports and our youths”, handed over the cheque at Wednesday's launch held at the Jamaica Teachers Association offices in downtown Kingston.
The Championships to be staged at the National Stadium between May 20 and 21, will see Sagicor Foundation providing two- five-year academic scholarships at the secondary level to the champion boy and champion girl.
Newsome said: "The Sagicor Foundation, as a partner of this event is not by accident, as at Sagicor, we see this as an investment in sports, in our youth and recognizing what this event has and continue to advance the development of sports in Jamaica. This forms part of the reason why the Sagicor Foundation is delighted to be partnering with the JTA to present this very illustrious and necessary meet.”
Ingrid Card, Vice President of Group Marketing at Sagicor, added: “This event is the foundation for many of our young upcoming athletic stars, giving them first-hand experience in competing in a structured national event.”
Approximately 1200 athletes between the ages of 6-17 from 800 schools, will compete in 52 events over the two days of competition.
The meet, which has produced stars such as Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Bertland Cameron and Brigitte Foster-Hylton, will see the Parish of St. Andrew trying to defend its title. ?In 2015, it was regained, by scoring 326 points to finish ahead of St. Catherine 311.