Jamaica - A Sporting Paradise

Over half-term in October, eight schoolteachers embarked on an inspection trip to the Caribbean island of Jamaica, alongside two Edwin Doran Sports Travel representatives and a member of the Jamaican Tourist Board.

The purpose of the trip was to discover more about the infrastructure, attractions and the school sport facilities with a view to establish whether Jamaica could become an attractive school sports touring destination.

What resulted was an exceptional trip with every participant amazed and encouraged by the abundance of sport being played at schools on the island, within a destination unrivalled in the Caribbean for adventurous excursions and the opportunity for rest and relaxation.

The trip began with a Virgin Airways flight from London Gatwick to Kingston followed by a short bus journey to the Morgan’s Harbour Hotel in Port Royal, the opposite side of the harbour to Kingston. In spacious and colonial surroundings, the group were treated to a stunning sunset and freshly caught local fish on their first night on tour.

The following day involved school visits to St George’s College and Kingston College, both in the city centre. St George’s is situated a well-hit six away from Sabina Park, Kingston’s test cricket venue. Poking our heads around the gate, we were welcomed by the head groundsman, Charlie, onto the pitch to inspect the wicket and hear how he’d been working at the ground since the age of 12 and was still going strong 54 years later!

All schools in Jamaica take their sport very seriously – cricket, football, netball and track & field dominate proceedings but hockey, tennis, basketball and even rugby are also popular. Schools’ first teams train every day of the week and competition for squad places is fierce. Each year, school relay teams head over to the USA to compete in the high school championships, winning it most years.

The school system is similar to the UK with independent fee-paying schools, government funded state schools and technical schools specialising in design, craft and more vocational subjects. Schoolchildren are very well-mannered and all schools have uniforms.

For lunch we went to Courtney Walsh’s diner – Cuddyz – and would you believe it the big man himself was there to eat and chat with us! He’d also brought his mate Jimmy Adams along so all the cricket enthusiasts in the group were in their element.

That afternoon the group visited Bob Marley’s old house which is now a museum dedicated to the legendary reggae singer. A fun and informative guide takes you round the property, laden with memorabilia and press clippings for a 40 minute sojourn into the great man’s life.

That evening, the group ate at Gloria’s fish restaurant in Port Royal, an outdoor grill-house serving succulent lobster at reasonable prices.

The following day we headed onto Mandeville, via GC Foster’s Sports College, a sports teacher training college with excellent outdoor and indoor facilities available for use for all local schools.

In Mandeville lunch was arranged at Golf View Hotel – a gem of an establishment, unsurprisingly situated overlooking a golf course. Jamaican staples jerk chicken and bammy were enjoyed before a tour of the property which is ideal for sports groups with large reception and pool areas.

From there it was onto the South-West coast to Treasure Beach via two more schools – Holmwood Technical College and St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS). The schools are local rivals at cricket, track and field and netball with STETHS usually contesting the national finals at cricket. A specially constructed “bouncer-net” with a raised concrete platform, situated where the ball pitches, provides good practice for the chin-music their 90mph bowlers usually serve up!

STETHS netballers were in the middle of a training session when the mother and father of all tropical thunderstorms hit. As our group and the school’s coaching staff made for cover, the girls carried on their drill! 15 minutes into the torrential downpour the coaches shouted to the girls to get inside and they ran off to the changing rooms with beaming smiles – the female PE staff in our group said they’d never seen anything like it!

The onward journey to the luxurious Jake’s hotel at Treasure Beach was interrupted by a stop on the side of the road to sample some june pears and honey bananas, as well as the local “fortified” wine – Magnum – it’s effects were being felt when certain members of the tour party professed to having amorous feelings towards the fisher-women selling us peppered shrimp!

Jake’s Hotel is a hidden oasis with individual cottages for rooms, each with a sea-front patio. Adjoining restaurant Jack Sprats was our dinner venue and a chance for some of the group to have their first non-fish dinner. Upon realising that lobster lathered in garlic butter for three nights in a row isn’t the healthiest of options, some palettes stretched to curried fish and meats.

Wishing we could spend more time at Jake’s and promising to visit again, the group set off towards Montego Bay with stops en route at Munro College and Manning’s School.

Munro College is a boy’s boarding state school and has hugely impressive facilities, staff and pupils. We were welcomed with home-made patties and sweet potato bread and a brief chat from the headmaster of the school.

The politeness and excellent articulation of the prefects, as well as the school’s magnificent surroundings gave an air of all the best facets old-fashioned British boarding school. The boys we spoke to were interested in pursuing careers such as medicine and law so there are obviously some high academic standards being reached.

Our final two nights on the trip were spent at the Iberostar Rosehall resort in Montego Bay. The north of the island is clearly geared towards tourists so as well as being an ideal base to play sports fixtures against local schools you are spoilt by the amount of activities on offer.

The following day, after a quick visit to Jamaica’s other major cricket ground, Trelawny, we embarked on a six-hour escapade of adventure in Ocho Rios the likes of which have never been attempted!

First up we visited Mystic Mountain and hurtled down a bobsleigh track then zip-lined amongst the tree canopies. One particular sheer-drop was almost too much for some group-members!

Next we donned our swimming costumes for a climb up Dunn’s River Falls. Getting bored of holding stranger’s hands to help everyone along, and being the adventurous types we soon ditched our guide and made our own way up the stunning falls.

Our final stop of the afternoon was to Dolphin Cove where a lifetime ambition for most participants was realised in a swim with the dolphins. The experience was truly mesmerising for everyone and a fitting end to a wonderful day.

Given chance to reflect the next day, everyone agreed that for cricket, netball and football tours, Jamaica is without peer in the Caribbean. The friendliness of all the people we met and the range of schools and activities on offer would create a fantastic tour.