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Dr Warren Blake

Andre Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

President of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), Dr Warren Blake, will be looking to convince the Government and local stakeholders of the importance of the island hosting major international championship events such as the IAAF Continental Cup or the IAAF World Relays.

Blake, who says he will be looking to meet with Prime Minster Portia Simpson Miller and Minister with responsibility for sport, Natalie Neita-Headley, in the coming weeks, recently returned to the island after serving as team doctor for the Americas region at the Continental Cup in Marrakech, Morocco.

events successfully

The JAAA boss believes the island is more than capable of staging events successfully and is convinced it will help to drive the country's sport tourism efforts, while pushing the continued development of the sport in the island.

"The Continental Cup, I think, is an excellent concept, it brings together the high-level athletes from the different regions and shows which region is the best or strongest. It gives an idea of how regions can match themselves against each other, and I think the athletes found it important in where it gave competitors or rivals the chance to work together as a team," said Blake.

"I will be seeking the ear of the minister responsible for sport as well as the prime minister and the National Sports Council because this is something that is integral in hosting major events - you need the approval of the Government, so this will be the first step and then we would take it to the executive. I don't see a difficulty there because I know it's a priority of the executive," said Blake.

"I think a country like Jamaica, being a track and field powerhouse; we have a large fan base for the sport here and I think this is a competition that Jamaica is well positioned to host and it's something that I will be looking at. I will be making a recommendation that we should seek to host the Continental Cup in the not too distant future," Blake said.

Ja should host a major championship says Blake