Sports stakeholders in Trelawny call for increased use of Multi-Purpose Stadium

STAKEHOLDERS IN Trelawny have called for greater use of the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium to nurture young talent and to assist in the overall development of sports in the parish.

President of the Trelawny Football Association (TFA), Desmond Simpson, would like to see the facility used to host more football and other sports while President of Trelawny Cricket Association (TCA) Chester Anderson would prefer to see the facility hosting major international cricket tournaments.

When The Gleaner spoke to Simpson, he outlined that while the stadium was currently being used to host some football and cricket matches, he would like to see other sports being played there.

“I think primarily what they need to do is to find a way to convert the stadium into not only a stadium for cricket, but getting it to be a stadium for different sports. As it is now, the stadium does not have a court if you’re thinking of netball or tennis. I don’t think it can accommodate any other sport presently other than football or cricket,” Simpson said, while acknowledging that the stadium was primarily built for cricket.

“Right now, the size of the football field is not really the size that we want. It is just a bit smaller than the size recommended for an international football field. This is primarily because of the location of the pitch in the middle, and we didn’t get the field going across it. We were asked not to have the players running on the surface of the cricket pitch. We just have to position it differently to avoid that.”

According to Simpson, last year, the TFA hosted their Major League finals at the stadium and since then other football entities have shown interest in using it.

In September 2024, the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium opened its gates to Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) schoolboy football for the first time.

However, Anderson believes that although it is a multipurpose stadium, the facility that was developed for cricket and utilised for local games, needs more international games.

It has already hosted major tournaments much to the satisfaction of players.

“I am hoping we will be getting more first-class games there. It’s not really an international stadium. It’s a first-class stadium. The stadium is the home of the TCA and allows us to play all of our games put on by the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA). Even now, our local competitions really do not get to play at the stadium. I would love to see more cricket being played there,” Anderson told The Gleaner.

“Trelawny is not in a position to put on international or first-class games. We have to rely on the JCA or Cricket West Indies for games of this calibre. In all fairness, Jamaica has not been allotted many first-class or international games lately.”

The last first-class game played there was in 2019, Jamaica versus Guyana. Those games were stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think based on the geographical location, we are the heart of the tourism sector, I think those involved in sports tourism can partner with the TCA to help to get more first-class games at the stadium,” he added.

In the past, the stadium has hosted both international cricket and football.

The popular view is that the stadium has become a white elephant through lack of consistent use.

Meanwhile, Martin Spaulding, operations manager of the Trelawny Multi-Purpose stadium, stated that apart from sports, other recreational activities are held at the facility.

Some of these include community and hotel parties and church events.

However, he believes that the stadium will do well with a synthetic track.

“If we put a track there, it will attract more people. The stadium is big enough to find space to do that. With the youngsters from the western region having to travel to the eastern region for track and field events, this will benefit them.

“If a track is built at the stadium, that would be great. The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, and many-time Olympic medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown are from Trelawny,” Spaulding said, while adding that it was possible - if they searched around the parish - that they could find about 10 more top sprinters.