Carlton Davis speaks on the CHASE Fund, Kyle Butler, Omar Davies, Reggae Boyz & his new book.

Intro what what was the real point of the chase point in terms of sports it has got to be the single biggest contributor to the support of sports in when I was chairman it may have been in the order of 600 million Jamaican dollars and now it's probably near 800 to maybe even a billion saying to Omar my brothers that we are going to we can't continue believing that we're going to make it in in in in International Football I would I don't wouldn't call them reject because they good footballers has a youth problem a lot of problems in a youth problems a government especially a future government has to sit down and how can we invest more in the facilities an exclusive interview with Dr Carlton Davis all right welcome everybody to our second exclusive interview with Dr Carlton Davis it's a real honor to be talking to somebody with such an illustrious career you were cabinet secretary from 1993 to 2008 he was a chairman for the chase fun which is culture Health Arts Sports and education amongst being the chairman of the Special Olympics nht and being named Mr boxit so you know it's a special feeling to have you here sir um thank you for your service to the country and most of all your biggest Accolade might be the fact that you're an Arsenal supporter and a Jamaica you know I don't know you're Mr Jamaica too at this point so um welcome to the channel um um yeah today the main focus is going to be the chase one talking about what it means talking about the National Stadium Sabina Park um talking about what the next government could do to ensure that we have the best sporting facilities using the money that was provided for them um talking about your book and amongst some other things but to get started I just wanted to talk to you about your early years um we interviewed your brother um spoke he spoke about the fact that he is from Clarendon went to he went to glenm um and just yeah what what is your your background like in sports well I had a Carltons background long long history in schort we started out watching Cricket next door the ground is still there to where all my parents lived and we used to watch Cricket played a bit Yeah and um but we followed other sports mainly from the newspapers we didn't have a television on all what technology brings so that is how I got interested in in our British Premier League club Arsenal okay I got interested through cricket funny enough because one of England's greatest cricketers Dennis Compton okay was also a Winger for Arsenal wow yes in those days they quite a lot of a number of cricketers used to play both football and Cricket interestingly more money was in cricket oh at the time so Dennis Compton played for Middle sex in C cricket and England in test cricket and Arsenal in um in in in in football as a matter of he he he won one or two um a cup a cup finals as an Arsenal player so through my I like Dennis Compton as a cricketer like the West IND of you attractive and so on so through that that's how I got to pick Arsenal okay as my favorite team and I have a lot of good company former leader of the labor party Jeremy cin the present leader of the labor party in England of course and and prime minister is um is an Arsenal man right the former Chancellor of the ex Che of the UK whom um Omar knows it's an Arsenal man and but he was on the other side but that was something on which they cated so that's how I got interested I followed Sports tennis um still golf all that mainly by newspapers reading until later in life I was able to see these things myself so how did that impact on you becoming you know prival in the chase one like how how did that job come about well I don't know why that was a How did the CHASE job come about concoction between the prime minister at the time Mr P and Omar who was Minister of Finance I think they they cooked it up that I should take on this job as chairman of the Chas they also know my interest in sport my interest in um at the Arts education General and it is really um early childhood education that was the that was the specific education so I suppose that sort of interest and plus my experience and um contacts and and so on they cooked it up that I was made chairman in late 2002 when the fund was cre so in terms of the foundation talk to me about the the different branches of it so like how the budgeting and what what was the real point of the chase point the real point is the recognition The real point of the CHASE Fund that certain things were not being addressed in financial terms as a matter of course in in the budget and there was this opportunity through the betting and ging that tax which government would otherwise have collected were allocated for this purpose and divided 40% to Sports 15% arts arts and culture and the 35% distributed between health and early childhood education so that is how and the thing was that it could make a big difference I mean in terms of sports it has got to be the single biggest contributor to the support of sports in the the 40% right when I was chairman it may have been in the order of$ 600 million Jamaican dollars W and now it probably near 800 to maybe even a billion but it made a big difference support I remember once there was a list of maybe 40 different sports that received support from the for well so this is like Youth Development like is is the aim more the our top class athlet or is it more Grassroots programs right across the board okay right across the board because um P St um to provide certain support for infrastructure right across the bo not a lot of money but properly managed it it it it did quite a number of good things so when we're talking to Dr Davies or your brother Dr Davies I he he made mention of the fact that so we're talking about the facilities because I had gone down to Independence Park for a press conference for the regular boys game and I looked into the into the sky and to look at the lights and they had to get um one of these lighting companies for the concerts to put in just two row of lights and it was really disappointing for me to see also when I went to Sabina Park I I am a cricket supporter I I used to play cricket and when I looked at the scoreboard not working for the past how many years I I said this you know the World Cup came to the Caribbean and we haven't gotten any games so you know like what it is something let me tell you one of the problems that we are facing in the in the era school is that it takes money to compete right um time was when you could have dealt you could have managed with Talent Shar Talent you know so you had cricketers of your that Gary soers VI Richard R can these share Talent not so anymore guys are training fast Bowers with machines um I was reading somewhere that they wanted um they got Dennis Lily Great Australian fast baller quot some team in India mhm and he asked for a number of things a sprinting coach he asked for a type of wicket and certain machines all of these things take money and I believe frankly that if the Jamaica and the West is more generally are going to try to make it in sport generally I think that we are going to have to lead with our foreign policy like you talk to the Australians to get some support in whether it is in terms of equipment and so on we did it with the Indians with the lighting for sa park because um we are really we are really the finances of sa Park the GE Headley stand was built by us by government okay the nor stand was built by government for the knockdown one stand that was there and we built it for the 2007 World Cup we are really the ones that are carrying it but I think that we are beginning to feel the pressure of supporting all the needs and staying competitive and we are going to have to find some more imaginative means of bringing financing which is not borrowed money because we are limited in that and I believe that we should use our foreign policy we have done it with India but could do more we should do it with Australia New Zealand because they're interested they are certain common things like cricket and netb MH um football of course is the universal and FIFA is done something FIFA is more is more responsive than Cricket in that regard but um if you're going to make it I was saying to Omar my brother that we going to we can't continue believing that we're going to make it in in in in International Football on community football great as on it and tly and Har view um a gentleman once had the idea of setting up six or eight First Premier League football teams in the Caribbean yeah in which you would you know bring bring footballers from wherever Brazil Argentina to to lift the standard we still building International competition depending on those home we can pick up from UK who can't make let's call it SP the SP they can't make the um the English or even the Scottish so you're getting into a very interesting issue and I I don't mean to cut you but recently Kyle Butler K Butler's son came out talking about um he did an interview that we did a a show on recently talking about the fact that these are English rejects so I I I don't know if I would call them English rejects but what what are your thoughts on like I would I don't wouldn't call them rejects because they're good footballers right um good footballers after all in 1998 we um we beat Japan we lost to Croatia 21 and Croatia has always been a good deal and so on I wouldn't call them rejects but if they could have made England they would have chosen that right and so but we can't build as the generations age you know they become less and less Jamaican you know 50 years ago you would find a lot of people for whom Jamaica was fresh yeah not anymore and so we if we want to stay into this great game we are going to have to play it along the lines you know EUR I doesn't I don't think have a lot of in fact there was one at one say they had two two really serious Premier League clubs penal and another one right yet they they having a work class so my own feeling is that if we're going to build football we're going to have to try to get a Caribbean League along the lines that this gentleman Alvin corne had proposed in which you bring in players they may not be top of the grade in Brazil or Argentina or or or England but they would play here to lift the to lift the thing if we're going to really make it it Still Remains a community oriented thing with a lot of talent I mean still C with a supreme Talent right you know but you just can't build and one or to outstanding you have to have a much larger population of very good players so I I think I have two followup questions for that so pivoting back to the chase fund itself he said that 4 % of it was allocated which is to sport yeah my my question is does does should that like how do you prioritize each year like how how does the for for the next governments that come right the money is there I don't know if they're going to try and change it based off which part it goes in but how does one allocate it so that we we increase our sporting and the the second question I had is that for for for example Leon Bailey came out and said that Jamaica can't do anything for him um and we have seen the likes of you Bo give back to his country after being being factually the best of all time in his sport right so I I am a big believer that if you do well you should give back yeah how do we get to a place with the chase fun and athletes that really make it like what what should expectation be to build our Sports in Jamaica footballing heritage in this scenario but just in general I think that one of the things is that we have to come to the realization that sport is a very important activity to make youth useful to make them a like a you Bo reach the top of the world in something and we are going to have to find a way of putting more money in it mhm it it just track and Fe we have been able to do it because money has come into it I mean a Kennedy 50 years ago would probably give a little touch here and there but they are heavily involved in the in in the um Champs M um and we're going to have to find a way of getting more money in sport because it it there's just no other way first class grounds MH good lighting good facilities people don't want to go to to any place and be uncomfortable in the environment you know um all the equipment needed where you're developing fast boarding or batting talent in cricket footballing skills you're bringing um excellent coaches to to it is so important in developing youth right and Jamaica has a youth problem a lot of problems in Jamaica are huge problems whether it's crime people just not doing anything and sport is one way of getting them involved in something and maybe and make a good living I think that several of our top athletes I think they make a good a reasonbly good living right and with proper financial advice they will live well for the rest of their lives but um we haven't so we're going to have to find a way and and a government especially a future government has to sit down and how can we invest more in the facilities and the other programs to make to makes sport more successful because um you're not going to look at look at the con it's about time that we are not thep in the top of the top of the thing you you know you be Dominica and you say well you know you w a much yes you want a much but you're going to have to start beting United States and Mexico and so on the panas and right right you started talking about how Chase Quan would CHASE Fund connect to sports um and providing opportunities for balancing athletes you know giving back getting their sponsors to give back you spoke about Grace Kennedy a little bit but Chase fund how the chase fund can be used for future governments as well as the Sports Development Fund that's where we were yes and I'm saying that chase F needs more money mhm okay that time are there any means of getting more money into it even if you it's difficult to change the around because if you try to make sport 50% say it means cutting early childhood education and cutting health and and so on you know everything is needed is one of these things and I I think that means have with found how you can get more money into it so that you can support these areas and not least of All Sport which as I was saying earlier is so important for Youth Development not only as a socialization measure but something in which they can Master their skills um and and and ear you know the fellow Rob Rob po who's the captain of the West IND West IND OD T20 was talking about poverty they lived in Old har and how to the cricket he was able to buy his mother nice house and so on so that's a sort of thing you want sport to socialize with um Eng to say um that if if it one means of developing their administrators that is why they placed a lot of emphasis on it in the 19 cury you know Battle of water was one on the pl fields of e so you have that socializing work as a team fair play that sort of but at the same time make a good living and as in the case that give the country enormous pres enormous pres that people look up to that sort of thing and so the means of getting more money into the F how maybe some group of people should sit down and see how okay so in terms of Chase fun SDF um Sports Development Fund um the joa the j3s what what's the real difference between all of these sport well this really is a is a funding agency to develop sport j Jamaica Olympic Association um concentrates on Jamaica's participa participation and the is is really the the organization it's the the body you may be interested to know that the gentleman who had something to do with their Foundation nor Washington okay he was he was president of the J Jamaica olymic Association for many years really yes before Mr succeeded in as president of the okay and he drafted did Sports mm and the National Stadium he's the single most important person responsible for the creation of the National Stadium wow in fact um was on his his wife so he um so those were those institutions have specific responsibity Sports Development formation is more General provid the funding support and you know trying to keep keep all the sport Jamaicans play a lot more sport long before your time we were an outstanding um T in country was an outstanding impact he was the youngest male champion and his sister was an outstanding player so we we involve ourselves in a lot of sport um I mean some other tr and football Cricket standout but um all have to be supported in and the only way we can do that is to find the means of getting more money so yeah I feel like I've learned so much and I hope you guys have learned a lot Game Plan as well so for the next government what do you think the game plan has to be for the next let's say the next term the next two terms like for us to get to a place where thank God you know MVP track club for you know track and field is carrying us but you know the Craig Butlers of the world with Phoenix trying to get players like the JIS for Richards to the Premier League but how do we make this sustainable I think that we're going to get have to you know there's a tendenc in government to regard certain offices of State as the high and mighty officers of State prime minister foreign minister Finance Minister security minister yes I think that we're going to have to make sport the sport Minister a very very important not just you know just for support people but and with with an ability to work with the foreign Ministry and the finance ministry to see how we can get support and put funds into SP um all it and also to maintain what we have don't D for example present infrastructure like MVP races and so on you want to make sure that those don't just disappear because those time when if you wanted to be trained you would have had to go to the US could be developed here right you want to make sure that you don't drop that because that's an important infrastructure so much so that we know attracting people from our exactly to to come here we want more of that because that creates the GC Foster College needs to be upgraded once I went there and I was very disappointed in how shabby it look and how shabby the road leading to it look and I want you to found that we putting some of the cas into just making it look making it because it is the Premier um training place for for sport in the Caribbean sport Caribbean in eng speak cariban and so on so what I'm saying is that a future government must lift lift the profile of not just as a s of you know entertainment but as a serious part of all and see it as a culture culture you know culture things you talk about music or art that sort of to see sport as as in cultural not just a game all right so we're down to our final two questions right we're going to Book speak about your book and then to end it to see that we are you know the Gunner YouTube channel we'll talk a little bit about the reg boys um and their coper performance but yeah talk to me about the book talk to me about the process talk to me about how it's how you feel getting it out yeah well I've always felt that I should at some point in life I've done three books on box okay and but that's confined to people who are interested but I thought that my life and by and my family's life um has been an interesting one right and that I should say a few things about it how we grew up what were the sort of influences as we develop and then move on to schools in in the Western and abroad um and my professional activities put them down I mean the thing was about twice the size more and um in fact they you drafted your father and Mr P and C all R more than twice the size but because of ecomics I to it but still I decided to to make um to use photograph this is this is my father when he was in the Royal Air Force in England two of his colleagues and um I have pictures like those I showed you one earlier this is me when I was I used to go track wow and I am I am I am the third person there and call our this is the 4 by 100 relate we call our the four C because all of us are initial C and this is a letter by Mrs Ed man to me wow so you know interesting little things and this is your copy oh thank you sir much appreciated um so yeah just to end it off I don't think we need to we have spoken about the reg boys pretty extensively um I just like to thank you for for joining me on this journey to talk about things that the people need to know you know I think you've done so many amazing things in your life you know you continue to do such amazing things in your retirement including writing a book um and yeah if you guys like this video don't forget to like it share with somebody that needs to be educated as well you know leave a comment seeing telling us who you want to see next thanks maybe we can make it happen and until next time peace [Music]