DEVON HARRIS was a young lieutenant in the Jamaican Defense Force when he was recruited to be a pusher for the Jamaican Bobsled Team that competed in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. After leaving the army, Harris went on to compete in the 1992 and 1998 Winter Games as a driver in the two-man sled. Following retirement from Olympic competition, he became a motivational speaker and an author but was always in touch with his roots at the Jamaican Bobsled team. After the team made its return to competition at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Harris took over the role of secretary general of the squad and has been in that role ever since. His role includes recruiting, development, training and finding the funds to keep the team on the ice. SBD Global spoke with Harris about his journey from pusher to boss and the team's efforts to build on its well-known brand.
On becoming the head of the team ...
DEVON HARRIS: When I moved to the U.S. in December ’92, by 1993 I created something called Jamaican Bobsled of New York. And the idea was to raise funds and find athletes from the New York and tri-state area and develop them so that the federation would have a bigger pool from which to select the athletes. ... My move here [the U.S.] had nothing to do with bobsledding, it had to do with my life after the army and after bobsledding. But I never could tear myself away from bobsledding.
On the Shitamachi Bobsled partnership ...
Harris: The Ota region was looking for something to rally around [after the '11 tsunami disaster], to bring a sense of pride and vitality to the region. ... So they decided on sports and that they would build bobsleds. They initially offered the sleds to the Japanese Bobsled Team, but their Swiss coach declined. ... So they started looking around for partners; and here we were rebuilding our program, and they approached us and we said, "Yeah sure. We need sleds." It’s an unusual match, but I think it works because Japan is not known for their sled manufacturing ... and Jamaica is not known for prowess in winter sports, so both of us are taking on our respective niches. We are trying to overcome some tremendous obstacles in order to be at the top of our game.
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| Harris was part of the original team that inspired the '93 Disney film "Cool Runnings." |
On current sponsors ...
Harris: So the biggest one is the Shitamachi Bobsled group. They have provided us with four sleds now, and we continue to work on their sleds to make them better, it’s a work in progress. We also have a company in New York called Tower Isles, the first Jamaican patty company in the U.S. They are based in Brooklyn and have been supporting us, and quite frankly, in addition to the sled, without their financial support we wouldn’t be able to hit the ice. Then there is a company in Connecticut, Greenwich Construction, owned by
LOUIS VAN LEEUWEN. He is of Dutch descent but was born in Jamaica. ... And we have been working with him now going on our third year putting on a fundraising event in the summer, and the proceeds from that have been very helpful.
On finding more funding ...
Harris: Those three are the main things we’ve done consistently over the past three or so years. But one of the strategies we have is to find what I call "Friends of Jamaica," wherever they live. People who are willing to host the team and put on an event. We’ve had a number of events in Salt Lake City ... and we’ve had smaller events like in Syracuse where they invited us up, created a little buzz and sold some shirts. Every dollar counts.
On if the Jamaican Government funds the team ...
Harris: The short answer is no. ... In the past they have, but usually that is a one-off and it is not substantial. That’s not a knock on them, that’s just the fact of the matter. So that’s not something we can ever rely on. ... I don’t think that the resources are not there in the coffers. But if you think about Jamaican sports, the biggest brand apart from Usain Bolt is us, and we were long before him. So it would make sense, but I don’t think there is a real budget for it. It is what it is.
On brand awareness vs. lack of support ...
Harris: I understand that it is a good problem to have. I don’t think we’ve done a good job -- over the last almost three decades now -- to purposefully develop the brand, from a business standpoint. So peer-wise we are well known, but the effort wasn’t made to develop the brand. So that is why one of my primary focuses is to, even as we work to get and keep the guys on the ice, start putting in the pieces that will build a foundation for a solid brand. Just think of the number of people trying to build a business and nobody knows about them. Everybody knows about us, we just need to build a business around it now.
On recent growth ...
Harris: We are basically a start-up with no capital. So it’s moving really slowly, but I can see some of the pieces we’ve been working on for the past three years coming into place. It’s a matter of doing the things we can do, like the small fundraisers and attracting smaller sponsors ... while we keep building and putting in place the things that will allow us to stand on a more sure footing.
On the gofundme page for coach ...
Harris: I’ve been working practically every aspect of this since 2014, and it dawned on me that obviously I can’t do it all myself. So I was introduced to a young lady named KATHLEEN PULITO ... and she has been handling our social media efforts. We had a couple of gofundme campaigns in the past. And in talking to her she said we should do a gofundme campaign for a coach, because we were talking about the definite need to have a coach for this season, heading into the 2018 Games. We have a couple of people that we intend to approach, but I think most are checking online at the progress of the money coming in.
Hangin' With runs each Friday in SBD Global.
