Dalton Myers | The year that was, the year that is to come

As 2019 draws to a close, I am left to reflect on the year that was in sports. It was not a bad year for Jamaica in sports but there were several concerns that must be addressed in 2020.

One of the highlights for me was seeing the Reggae Girlz compete at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup; the goal by Havana Solaun made it even better. I know they did not win a game and the World Cup prove more to us how far behind we are in women’s football compared to the best.

It was not just about at the showpiece event in France, but also showing girls and women in sport that they too can dream big and make it. In that same World Cup, we had three of our female referees participating for the first time in this global event.

2019 was also the ‘Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce year’ again, in so many familiar ways. The story of the Pocket Rocket is still written, and only last week she added another award to her cabinet when she was voted Pan American Sports Best Female Athlete at the inaugural Awards Ceremony.

The award is the result of some amazing achievements for ‘Zyon’s Mommy’. Shelly-Ann showed again that she can dominate on the world stage as she did at our National Championships, on the Diamond League Circuit, at the Pan Am Games and the Qatar 2019 World Championships. It seems ‘Mommy Rocket’ keeps reinventing herself each year and can never be counted out. Shelly-Ann is the odds-on favourite to win the RJRGLEANER National Sportswoman of the Year award in January.

Jamaica did well at most major global and regional sporting events this year; creating history in some cases. Whether it was the in the pool where Alia Atkinson dominated, or the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championship where Danusia Francis and team did well, or in squash with Chris Binnie et al, we certainly did well.

It could be on the racetrack, in the pool, on the field or on the court, our athletes continued to make us proud. The country had the largest Jamaica delegation to a Pan Am Games at the Lima 2019 edition. Incidentally, that Games produced an unprecedented number of medals for Jamaica and saw several sports making their debut at the competition.

We cannot forget that Danusia Francis had signalled from then her intention to make it to the 2020 Olympics with some amazing performances on the Beam in Artistic Gymnastics, and at the same Games we won a historic Bronze medal in boxing, with credible performances in other sports.

There were some disappointments though, as we still hear about student athletes abused by coaches, teachers or other persons in their care. This is something we have to keep working on.

Additionally, Netball Jamaica cannot seem to get into the headlines for the right reasons. However, I am told positive changes are coming. The Jamaica Table Tennis Association was also embroiled in constitutional bungling with members taking matters to the courts. On the election front, the delegates at Tennis Jamaica voted to have a new leader, while the delegates in cricket, badminton and football have decided to keep theirs.

As we approach 2020, my only hope is that we continue to push sport as a business and seek each day to improve on the way we operate. The year will be a busy one. There’s the Tokyo Olympics, with several of our athletes seeking to make this trip. Before that, we have the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, and the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi. It will also be another year we will debate whether we can host another major sporting event. I hope in those discussions, we see how we build on the events we have locally like the Racers Grand Prix and the many others we will host in 2020.

Jamaica is rich with talent – there is no doubt about that. However, we have to see 2020 as another opportunity to be a bit more structured in how we operate. Congratulations to all of the athletes, coaches, administrators, athlete personnel, media, corporate companies and fans who made this another successful year for Jamaica.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

Dalton Myers is a sports consultant and host of The Drive Phase Podcast. Email feedback to daltonsmyers@gmail.com or tweet @daltonsmyers