TELECOMMS giant LIME has provided a sponsorship package valued at close to $2.3 million to support the 23 teams from local schools who will be competing in this year’s Penn Relays.
LIME, in continuing a 20-year tradition, yesterday handed over cheques valued at $100,000 each to the 20 high schools and three tertiary institutions that will be competing in the annual relay carnival.
The meet is scheduled for next Wednesday through to Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA.
LIME, one of the biggest supporters of Jamaican track and field, has also given a significant financial boost to Team Jamaica Bickle, a group of US-based Jamaicans who provide meals, transportation and hospitality to the Jamaican athletes during their stay in Pennsylvania.
In addition, LIME presented each of the 23 teams with Jus Talk calling cards valued at $1,000 so the athletes and other members of the delegations will be able to call home while they are in the USA.
“With 2012 being an Olympic year, we all have huge expectations for our athletes on the world stage, but we cannot forget that the crucial groundwork is laid at events like the Penn Relays,” said Garry Sinclair, managing director, LIME Jamaica & Cayman.
“This is the 20th consecutive year that LIME has been helping to send teams to the Penn Relays and we are confident that, once again, our young athletes will do their best and make us all proud,” he added.
The Penn Relays sponsorship underscores LIME’s position as the biggest supporter of Jamaican youth athletics. Last month the telecoms company contributed $8 million for the staging of the 2012 Boys’ and Girls’ Championships and $18 million for the 2012 Craft Games. The company is also on the third leg of a three-year sponsorship deal with the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA) valued at $21 million dollars.
“We are not only concerned about the current crop of athletes, we are committed to securing the continued growth of Track & Field in Jamaica,” Sinclair said.
“Sports is a powerful tool for youth development and national unity and we are investing heavily to secure Jamaica’s legacy on the track,” he added.
The teams that received sponsorship from LIME this year are Alpha, Ardenne, Bellefield, Bridgeport High School, Calabar, Camperdown, Edwin Allen, G C Foster, Herbert Morrison, Holmwood, Jamaica College, Kingston College, Manchester, Munro, The Queen’s, St Andrew’s, St Elizabeth, St Hugh’s, St Jago, St George’s College, UTech, UWI Sports and Wolmer’s Boys.
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