WHAT YOU put in is what you get. People marketing sporting events for the National Stadium need to do much more in terms of promotion to ensure that the performers and the events are supported to the maximum.

Take for instance, this weekend when the cream of the crop in local track-and-field talent descends on the National Stadium for the National Senior and Junior Athletics Championships which will run from Friday through to Sunday.

A number of advertisements have been placed in the national newspapers, radio and television stations and the organisers, the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA), might well say they have done a lot to promote this stellar event which will showcase some of the world's track and field stars at the junior and senior levels.

Awareness

These advertisements are good to the extent that they create an awareness of the event and some of those very participants like the Asafa Powells, Usain Bolts, Yohan Blakes, Veronica Campbells and Sherone Simpsons, etc.

Is it enough though, to make one feel that what should really be a 'must-go' meet actually turns out that way because it's simply an event not to be missed?

Somehow, I don't get that impression.

In major thoroughfares in Kingston, St. Andrew, Portmore and Spanish Town, where thousands of people travel on a daily basis, at least one billboard in the town centres could have been rented for the purposes of advertising the event.

Additional marketing

These are the areas from which most of the patrons who will attend the meet will come and with such an additional marketing strategy, one could be faced with the possibility that in a single day's worth of travelling, they could come face to face with these signs about this event.

Imagine the sort of impact that would make!

Further, the meet is not limited to athletes just in and around the Corporate Area. like a very successful meet - Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships - it caters to track-and-field people from all over the island, many of whom spend most of their time beyond school years overseas training, or at universities and colleges. So, similar advertising by way of billboards would also be useful in other main towns across the country to attract more people.

To be fair, there is a huge distinction between a meet such as the National Championships and Champs as, traditionally, the levels of support have been markedly different, with a full stadium for the latter as it is a competition among schools, as opposed to individuals fighting their own battle for a spot to represent the country.

Despite this, and while it might be too late in the day to attempt to attract significantly more spectators, better efforts should be made for future championships of this truly great Jamaican sport.

Its ambassadors have placed this country firmly on the world map and made Jamaica proud and, especially in a senior and junior World Championships year, these current aspirants - who include Olympic and world champions at both the senior and junior level, world record holders and world-leading runners - have enough class to fill the stadium, which would lead to greater returns for the JAAA.

Grandstand area

Sadly, only the grandstand area of the National Stadium will be open for the National Champs again.

This trend is similar to what entails when the more popular team sport, football, is on the downside.

Spectator support is better now for football internationals but the promotional methods are generally the same with a number of advertisements in the national newspapers, radio and television stations.

In one major move, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is at an advantage in the way it fashions its product by inviting better quality players to ensure better performances and results, which leads to improved support due to the love of winners.

One reason for this is there is a new technical director who is in the process of identifying talent for World Cup qualification which begins in the first quarter of next year.

At the same time though, winning is important and people not only need to get quality for their money but, on the flipside, have shown that they will willingly spend it when there's quality. The numbers represented in full stadiums in the Reggae Boyz' heydays at the back-end of the '90s, and many other internationals, support this.

Track and field athletics, and certainly the National Championships, is not short on quality. Let's buck the trend and promote it more to maximise the benefits from staging the event at the National Stadium.

And good luck to all the athletes!

feedback: audley.boyd@gleanerjm.com