First Global CEO lauds JOA’s ‘commitment to process’

KINGSTON, Jamaica:

Dedication to a cause often makes the difference. That was the case for 19 graduates who completed the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) Advanced Sports Management Course (ASMC). Ten others who began the journey in February 2025 did not make it.

Radcliffe Daley, president and CEO of First Global Bank which uploaded a five-year sponsorship to the country’s apex sporting body, noted being “impressed” by that outcome for sporting officials working to secure an ASMC passing grade.

He wasn’t impressed so much by the numbers but mostly through the JOA’s discipline in ensuring that participants followed its script.

A professional diploma programme designed for executives and senior staff of sporting organisations, the ASMC fits into the local sports apex body’s vision to inspire excellence in the various disciplines.

The course requires 100 per cent participation and fulfilling six case studies that are reviewed locally before being sent to the Olympic Solidarity arm of the International Committee (IOC), sports’ world governing body.

Daley, during the recent graduation exercise at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, said while having a conversation with Ryan Foster, the JOA’s Secretary General/CEO that he discovered the odd situation.

“I was impressed with that. And one of the things I said to Ryan as I sat at the table is, how many did you start? He said he started out with 29 and ended up with 19,” Daley exclaimed. “But the other thing that I learned from that is the discipline that JOA took to the process, that you can’t be just coming halfway. You must be fully committed to a process.

“And so that commitment to the process is what I’m impressed with, with the 19 who have completed … and also the discipline of JOA insisting that, you know, we’re not creating a half-baked programme. This is something that we need full involvement in. And so I’m really happy, and I’m glad.”

The course covered six modules: Structure and Governance, Strategic Management, Human Resource Management, Finance, Marketing, and Sport Event Organisation.

Programmes like this are managed at the local level by programme directors, who are qualified through training at the IOC.

The JOA’s Member Relations Manager, Novelette Harris, served as programme director and was supported by a team of course facilitators/lecturers for this staging. The support cast included Foster, Daley, JOA President Christopher Samuda; Fabian Stewart, former JOA director and the Jamaica Hockey Federation’s Individual Points Percentage representative; Paulton Gordon, lecturer, University of Technology; and Don Anderson, chairman and CEO, Market Research Services Limited and former JOA director.

Daley said the graduation marked a special occasion.

“One, as a sponsor, we felt it was important that our involvement in sport and sport development is something that is helping our nation. And part of GraceKennedy’s mantra is that whatever is good for Jamaica is something we want to invest in and really make sure that we’re adding value,” he said.

“Secondly, I was one of the facilitators, so I had the opportunity to meet with the different members of the different sporting bodies and share my own perspectives on leadership.”

He revealed that he was coming from a sporting background, having played a leadership role in cricket at St George’s College.

“So it was important to see how I could share more of how we can develop sports in Jamaica, how it is we can really make it into a business, because that, for me, is also an important part of what we need to do,” said Daley.

“We are committed for several years. So we gave the JOA a five-year commitment of our participation as First Global Bank and GraceKennedy,” he said. “And certainly, as we see the value coming out of it, who to tell, we could be there for even five more.