Daniel Blake | Sports Writer | September 30, 2025
JPA president urges greater investment in movement on back of rare athletes showcase
JAMAICA’S para-athletes possess a wealth of talent but have rarely had the chance to showcase it locally. That trend may shift this week, and Jamaica Paralympic Association (JPA) President Christopher Samuda is hoping to see a significant investment in the movement.
On Saturday the JPA is to host the Grassroots Para Sport Festival at Liberty Academy in St Andrew, where a number of local para-athletes will compete in various sports including track and field, powerlifting, archery and fencing.
The objective of the new initiative, which is part of the JPA’s I Am Phenomenal campaign, is to have greater public awareness and practical education about para-sports.
Samuda told the Jamaica Observer that the event will be important in changing public perception of the paralympic movement.
“In the para-movement we have always encouraged a vision of self-development that not only incorporates one’s own confidence in one’s ability to perform and to impact, but also demonstrates that you are part of sport humanity and that you are playing a vital role as a member of the sporting humanity in Jamaica, and you are bringing to the sporting fraternity a perspective that we are abled with a difference,” he said.
“Those who have not been exposed to the para-sports movement, we hope will come out of this festival with a very positive image of para-athletes and understand not only the challenges which they face but also their will and determination to succeed and, as I’ve always said, to go beyond the podium. And we have had instances like that in the past where we have faced enormous challenges but we have been able to come out with golden performances.”
The event is one of many the JPA will execute in partnership with the Americas Paralympic Committee, the Latin American Development Bank, and Caribbean Development Bank.
SOURCE: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/09/30/para-mount-importance/
