‘Back us!’
Lacrosse boss hunts sponsorship support on the back of World Championships performance
Published:Sunday | July 2, 2023 | 1:48 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
AFTER SOARING to the top eight in the Men’s Lacrosse World Championships, Jamaica Lacrosse Association (JLA) president Calbert Hutchinson is hoping that the momentum can sway local corporate partners to be a part of the growth of the game locally.
Jamaica completed their campaign on Friday, finishing eighth in the championships after going down 8-7 to Israel in overtime in their seventh-place game in San Diego, to finish with a 5-2 record. It is the highest they have placed in a major tournament after finishing 13th in 2018 when they made their tournament debut.
Hutchinson hopes that the surge in Jamaica’s international profile will translate to an increase in corporate sponsors,
“What it has done, it has definitely raised the profile of Jamaica lacrosse. Any time our profile is of such, we see our local players receiving multiple lacrosse scholarships to go to the US and study and play lacrosse,” Hutchinson told The Sunday Gleaner.
SUPPORT ON THE GROUND
“We see multiple interests within the lacrosse world as it relates to the development of the sport in Jamaica. What I am hoping is for local entities, corporate Jamaica and more governmental support for the development of the sport on the ground.”
Hutchinson says that his organisation is seeing Jamaica’s success translate to potential opportunities in visibility and support for the grassroots programme, specifically in line for the Pala Sixes Cup Jamaica will be hosting later in November.
“We have seen it translating into more interest in sponsorship. I have been in communication with members of the ESPN executive to see if we can get media rights for the Pala Sixes event in Jamaica. We have 14 countries signed up so far, which will translate into 28 teams. We are looking to use this moment to garner more local sponsorship,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said proposals would be made to entities after the championships, which concluded yesterday, in the hope that the association will be able to get the injection they need to build off the performance.
Although recognising the enormity of the challenge in hosting the Pala Sixes event, the JLA is excited by the prospects that it will bring, given the team’s recent success.
“We are excited but at the same time a little bit nervous about the magnitude of this event, the Pala Sixes event. But I am pretty sure that we have the right team that I have been working with that will follow through with an outstanding execution of this event,” Hutchinson said.
“We are very pleased with our overall performance, and we will see where this will take us.”