Team Jamaica hit the ICU Worlds scene first in 2012 with their bright yellow signature uniforms representing the island nation. The very inexperienced team threw a routine on the floor that was well received the International Cheer Teams in attendance as they are always supportive of new nations entering the scene. As supportive as they were it was clear the Jamaican team was not ready to be compete with the programs in attendance.

 

Team JA as they are often called did not attend the World Championships in 2013 Ranking: second to last and returned in 2014 Ranking: Last. This time in green, very allstar-esque uniforms. The world cheer community again, very excited to see them but did not see them as competitors. 2015: Ranking Last

The team did not attend the next 2 World Championships. The team then went through a change in team management with the goal of providing more comprehensive training with some help from the International Community, and Coach/ Athletes that studied cheer and were self taught and then Me. 🙂

The next 3 years Jamaica placed 8 beating 9 teams, the next year making critical errors and not advancing and then taking 8 again in 2019.

Over the past few years working with Team Jamaica I have seen amazing athletes faced with some of the most challenging circumstances I have ever seen a team face.

Due to life’s needs, these athletes are unable to take consistent time off of work to have a regular regiment of practice. Their nontraditional practice regiment only allows them to practice one or two weekends a month, at most. Because of a lack of infrastructure and support, the team had to improvise and was able to use the space of one of the more successful high schools within the Jamaican cheer sphere. The available space was unfortunately unable to fit more than 6 layers of mat. They would transport the only mat rolls on the island to the school and spend the entire weekend, Friday to Sunday, in the facility sleeping, camping and sleeping there during the off hours. The challenge of athletes having to come and go during these sessions for other life needs creates consistent absences. Their absence from practice should not be mistaken as a lack of dedication.

Because of the lack of infrastructure, resources, and support (both financial and structural), the different groups of cheer athletes across Jamaica, are forced to fearlessly and consistently practice on a variety of surfaces, most not being fit for cheer. These include parking lots, grass fields, dirt fields, and concrete surfaces.

The road to worlds in 2018 was a tough one. I traveled to the island several times to find that the months between my visit the team was not able to practice at all due to lack of training space, and lack of personnel.

I judge one of the few local cheerleading competitions on the island, and saw various talented athletes of all ages competiting against each other and displaying some of the best showmanship I have ever seen. Just as grateful for 4th place as they were for first, no walking off the stage, no punching holes in walls. This was the cheer I remember back in the olden days.

But back to Team JA. In 2018 the team entered the World Championships without ever running a full out routine.  One of the Coach/ Athletes I had gotten to know communicated with me often told me before they competed the team was extremely unprepared. To no surprise the solid routine that was given to them fell apart on the floor. At that point my frustration had risen and I vowed not to work with the team again.

As the next year rolled around, the team leaders seemed to have a better plan in the works. They had a team selected and convinced me to join them again. Jamaica’s success was very important to me as the only Black nation to represent at the ICU World Championships.

So we went back at it. This time I dedicated to traveling to Jamaica more often. I traveled to the island on several occasions to work with the team. Again, the same challenges,  with missing athletes, late athletes, and cheer being a lower priority.  As my frustration built up, and I did not see the same level of frustration on the faces of the Team Management. I shared this frustration with one of the Athlete/ Asst Coaches, and he simply said “You’re not Jamaican, you dont get it.” Then I realized, I am coming into another culture, with my Americanized thought process and getting frustrated. I had not even tried to look at the challenges through a different scope. Perhaps, I should look at it through the lens on an average Team Jamaica athlete. I then began to come days earlier, hang out with the athletes, visit their homes and families. Go to the local team practices, ride with the athletes to practice.

What I saw was absolutely astonishing. Jamaica as I am sure all of us know is a poor country economically. The island nation of Jamaica has a low median income the island nation of Jamaica has a large income disparity, many blue collar workers earn less that $4 a hour and are taxed at the same rate as many Americans at approx 26% majority of the athletes on the team are unable to afford cars and even the process of getting to practice is tough for many. Thinking about getting a car is an absolute dream to some of the athletes. The team manager who is supposed to be primarily concerned about team operations by default turns into the “Team Mom” (Even though hes a guy). This Manager allowed athletes to borrow his car and use it as a pick up service, or stuffed 10 athletes in one vehicle and took them to practice. This may sound easy, but it was not. This is not like driving 4 blocks to get different athletes, this required the manager to traverse the island on inadequate roads with an island with only one trury expressway within the Kingston City. This task took hours to accomplish and would eat into already insufficient practice time. The team manager also needed to be concerned about the physical well being of the athletes, ensuring they ate and were hydrated as well, but being cautious of his own limitations. I traveled to athletes houses, with several generations under one roof, in very modest conditions

So now I have a new found respect for the logistical challenges of getting to practice, and the limited transportation options as well. As I mentioned Jamaica is poor economically, but very rich in pride, tradition and nationalism. These athletes were also dedicated to self betterment and had many other priorities. 6 of the athletes were perusing their college educations these programs ranged from about 2500-6000 USD per year. These student athletes also worked part time and fought hard for scholarships in order to afford college. Other athletes while not in school worked full and part time jobs, supported their households. While Cheer was important the struggle was real.

Ok lets get back to practice. The next time I visited we had the same conflicts, but I was must more understanding of the struggles of the team and pushed forward. We had some productive practices but still some athletes missing. In addition, the Island culture is very family oriented and the communities are very close. As a consequence the practices were visited by various individuals from families to friends and other cheerleaders on the island. These members did not hesitate to share their opinions with the athletes through criticism or positive reinforcement or cheering. If you know me, you know as my choreography wheels are turning I am not a huge fan of noise or distractions. This was another challenge.

  As we edged closer to worlds, I visited again, this time not only to coach, but to Judge the Reggae Cheer Competition, which is run by the Team JA Team Manager. He always wants an outside perspective and unbiased adjudication of the programs at the competition which he feels he may not get from Island Judges who are likely involved with the programs in attendance in some aspect. This time, many of the athletes from Team JA were coaching or competing on various teams which were competing against each other. These athletes practiced during the day, competed in the evening and help break down the competition after, transported the mats from the competition across town and set them up for practice. Many of the athletes were tired, but it was one of the final practices before Worlds and I insisted the athletes push through. We ended up practicing until 4am, the athletes slept on the mats in the facility and we started all over again the next day.

It was a mixed bag for me, while I understood the challenges the team faced, I am a firm believer that while on the floor you take every second to enhance yourself and your team. I am a very aggressive, high energy coach. That dynamic was foreign to many of the team member, repetition after repetition, over and over, one more time means 12 more times. That is me all the way. I often found way too much time was being wasted at practice, as I focused on one group, the other groups would stop. This of course brought out the horns, there were many times I had to yell, drop some F bombs, and walk out in order not to go to Jamaican jail, but at the end of the day, they always tried, they sacrificed more than most to get where they are and their Journey is not like many others. I have visited teams all over the globe and not many of them have such challenging circumstances.

In Jamaica, like many other countries, cheerleading is not as popular of a sport, in fact is not recognized as a sport by the Ministry of Sports. There is no financial support to these athletes. The International Cheer Union recognizes the Jamaican Cheer Federation but the level of support is lacking.

A trip to the Worlds competition is quite the feat. With the average trip to the Worlds Competition cost beginning at $2000 with transportation, accommodations, US VISA fees, food and entry fees. These athletes must save extensively to afford this trip. The Worlds trip is equal to a year in college many of JAs former athletes were unable to attend purely because of cost. Saving $2000 making minimum wage is difficult, imagine how difficult it is on $4 hr. This has been a repetitive issue not only for Jamaica but for nations with athletes of a lower socio economic status. Should the ICU Worlds competition truly be a worlds competition or a competition of the economically able?

Want to know about the Team JA Worlds Experience. See the 2019 ICU Worlds Blog