KINGSTON, Jamaica – Eight persons from around the world got to witness the spectacle of Jamaican speed first hand at the Issa / GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships this past weekend. Hailing from the USA, Canada, Barbados and Bermuda, the eight were winners of the Western Union “See Champs Live” promotion staged in their respective countries.
The eight lucky jetsetters were; from Canada, Michael Ducasse and Christine Callendar, from the USA sisters Winsome Cunningham and Janet Grey, from Barbados Garfield and Julie Watson and from Bermuda Roxanne Graham and Causuffit Mallory.
The prizes up for grabs included return airfare, ground transportation, accommodation courtesy of the Courtleigh Hotel and Suites, all meals and tickets to the Issa / GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships on Saturday. As a sweetener, the winners (1 from each participating country) were each allowed to take someone else with them.
In the USA, Barbados and Bermuda, the entry criteria was transaction based. Customers were required to simply send money to Jamaica in order to qualify for a chance at the all expense paid weekend. In Canada, the mechanics were different. Western Union partnered with popular radio station G98.7FM and asked fans to submit a “victory pose”. The winning pose was chosen by persons on facebook.
“When I found out, I immediately told my wife I had won a trip to Jamaica. She said, ‘So? Gwaan nuh’. It wasn’t until I told her that the trip was for two that she got excited, joked Garfield Watson. The couple who runs a furniture store in Barbados both are avid track and field followers. Garfield who has not been to Champs since 1999 was especially excited to attend the training ground of sprinting greats like Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce.
4 of the Western Union winners pose with the GraceKennedy sponsored Shelly-Ann Frazer Pryce.
This was a particularly exciting year for the Western Union sponsored track and field event. A total of 30 meet records were broken by the High School athletes and the Western Union winners got to witness the prowess of the next crop of Jamaican Olympians first hand. Credited by some as the reason for Jamaica’s “Sprint Factory of the world” title; the Issa/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls championship is a 4 day festival of track and field events where some 207 High Schools across the island compete.
“Western Union is so excited that we could reward our customers like this. We know just how connected Jamaicans feel to home, no matter where they may live in the world. You may leave Jamaica; but Jamaica never leaves you” surmises Patria-Kaye Aarons, Sponsorship and Communications Manager of GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS). GKMS is the exclusive agent for Western Union in Jamaica and 8 other Caribbean Countries.
Canadian winner Michael Ducasse who is of Jamaican parentage had not been to the island since he was a child. His dinner comment, “I have family here in Kingston somewhere ….I think the town is called Ocho Rios” was welcomed with laughter and a little Jamaican Geography lesson from Patria-Kaye.
Sisters Winsome and Janet share conversation at a Welcome Dinner organized by Western Union.
Winsome Cunningham comments, “I had never been to Champs before this. I went to high school in Jamaica; STATS. My father was strict and as children we were banned from going to stadium. But now going for myself, and seeing how everything was orderly and the students help you to get to your seats; I never knew it was such a nice experience. My sister and I would definitely go back. Thank You Western Union”.
