JEFFERSON BURKE can be seen at the National Stadium with his video camera mounted to capture footage of his son’s races and his attempts at the long jump.
After a race or long jump attempt, Jamahl can be seen looking in his father’s direction and they communicate using hand signals.
That is a routine developed between the father and son pair. Jamahl is the 11-year-old track star at West Terrace Primary School and his father and coach attends all his meets to make sure he has all the encouragement he needs.
Jamahl has been participating in national athletics since 2006 when he first competed in NAPSAC.
His pet event is the 200 metres but he also competes in the 100 metres and the long jump and holds the NAPSAC Under-13 Boys’ record in the 200.
Jefferson said that he and his son were inseparable. “I am his father and coach and I am trying to do as best a job as I can, but I must give credit to the many coaches who have whispered things in my ears and given tips on what to do and not to do.”
The committed father said that as his son’s coach it was easy to balance his son’s needs with his work.
“Being self-employed gives me that opportunity to be there 150 per cent, to monitor training as we do on a regular basis, to be there at every meet, to record to see where our faults are, what we have done correct and what we can enhance,” Jefferson said.
He has footage dating back to 2008 and says the camera does not lie. “You can see where we started, what changes took place in his actions as he has gotten older. Having to record him is a piece of history that we need to see where he is going,” he said.
Backup
Jefferson believes that his presence at Jamahl’s meets is mutually beneficial. He explained that his being there served as a backup for things that he might see needed to be done. “We do have our own signals from distances that we use to communicate, trying to get him to do one or two things that I think may be critical. So I would gesture and he would pick up on what we need to do.
“I think my being there gives him the eyes that he would not have while being in the middle of things,” Jefferson stated.
Though most athletes are in a club Jamahl likes the idea of his father coaching him and is not ready to make that transition as yet. “I take it that he enjoys having
to compete against those that are in clubs,” said his dad, who has no formal training in coaching but decided to work with his son when he noticed that at two years old Jamahl had the ability.
“When he participated at his very first sports day at nursery school I noticed that he had very good balance and coordination at his age. After he participated in sports in primary school
I decided as father and son that we would work on a couple of things and see how it would work out. From then it just branched out into a regime where we just started our training, which is an ongoing lifestyle,” Jefferson said.
Jamahl is preparing for the Common Entrance Examinations in May and Jefferson is satisfied that his son is where he should be academically. He said that he and Jamahl’s mother assist him where necessary, but they have taught him how to handle the majority of it on his own.
“I am not preparing him just to get to secondary school but preparing him for life in general. As he gets older there are responsibilities he has to take on and he needs time management skills to get it done,” Jefferson said.
Dreams
Jamahl wants to be a professional athlete or cricketer.
“I might have had my own dreams to see him at the top but it is left up to him in terms of what he desires. I tell him there are many things in life that he can be, but hopefully for him that light will go off at the right time where he will feel comfortable knowing what he wants to do.”
Jamahl has dreams of representing Barbados at World Championships or Olympics.
“. . . . I believe, knowing how gutsy he is, that he will become an Olympic and world champion.”
However, in the short term, he has his eyes set on the CUT Games to be held in The Bahamas this year.
He represented Barbados in 2008 and 2010, medalling at both meets. He also wants to break the records he has set at NAPSAC in the 200 metres and long jump.
Jefferson said: “There are goose bumps from seeing him go through the motions, even if it is first or second-place finish, seeing the execution and seeing it all come together. It is important for parents to be involved in a child’s life. It keeps them grounded if the parent is understanding of what they go through.
“I have seen the hardships and the triumphs. Jamahl has had his share of disappointments but I tell him that what he needs to keep in mind prior, during and after the race is to be a good sportsman,” Jefferson said.
