Stay up-to-date with all that's new at My-Island-Jamaica, Click Here to subscribe for my updates and don't miss a thing!

Have a QUESTION?

Print This Page

The Top Jamaican Sports
A Quick Overview

Sharing Is Caring! Share this awesome content with your friends now.

Don't Risk your vacation! Use a trusted and dependable tour guide!

Custom Search

Jamaican sports - Clarendon College wins 2019 dacosta cup final vs dinthill

A Schoolboy Football Team

Jamaican Sports
Tracie Blake

Jamaica has a legion of extremely talented people and sports is one of the many areas they exude their abilities. We enjoy several type of sports. Some (most) we inherit from the colonial period while others we polished and made it our own. Here are some of the most popular ones

New! See the real Jamaica in VIDEOS

Click Here to watch my latest videos on my fun YouTube channel - you'll love it!

Cricket

This wonderful 'gentleman’s' sport, we call it, got its origin from Europe - England to be exact. Depending on the type of match, it may be a half day or all day event, and in the case of a test match, even up to 5 days, but then, in addition to lunch, thee is a break for tea!

Cricket is a actually a highly popular world sport, particularly in the commonwealth, and no less in Jamaica.

Football

Known globally as soccer, this is a magnificent sport which requires strong physical tenacity. We have been doing extremely well in football. In fact it is perhaps the most popular sport in Jamaica. You would have heard about the indomitable "Reggae Boys" right?

See: Clarendon College wins ninth Dacosta Cup title

jamaican_sports_football-reggae boys_1998_team

Athletics/Track and Field

We embrace this sport from the school level onward. We have reaped great talents as Herb McKinley, Merlene Ottey, Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Veronica Campbell, Juliet Cuthbert and a host of other amazing track stars who have made us very proud on the international scene.

Basketball

This is still seen as an ‘overseas’ sport but one which has caught on rapidly in Jamaica. We have local basketball teams who vie for spots and prizes beginning at the high school level. We currently a few potent local basketball club teams that can take on any other, anywhere now!

Bobsled

We've never had snow here, but this sport became very easy to us as it ties in with our tradition of "go-cart" racing which involved a wooden cart on 4 wheels being driven and steered around steep corners and down long hills :-).

The Jamaican Bobsled Team is featured in the movie "Cool Runnings". The team have been an inspiration to all.

Domino

This is a very popular Caribbean sport which is enjoyed by all. This sport has branched out from back yards, church halls, living rooms, verandahs and street corners onto the large market in competitions.

Golf

This is a sophisticated sport which has become very popular in Jamaica over the past 30 or so years. Great Jamaican golfers were minimal but that has changed. Ask about one Maurice Foster, my favourite sportscaster.

And by the way, Jamaica is now a premier golfing destination for visitors.

Netball

Netball is a female sport for which we have gotten acclaims both locally and overseas with our team of ladies who proudly represents us in international Netball competitions.

Jamaica has been doing well, our team has never been ranked lower than 5th in the world over the last two decades!

Boxing

We have a host of individuals who participate in this rigorous sport in all the divisions. Mike McCallum is one of our esteemed boxing stars.

Horse Racing

This is quite a long and popular sport in Jamaica. You will find locals packed at the oval- Caymanas Park, to bet and watch on their favourite horses.

This started as a Sunday afternoon tradition but became so popular that there are now daily races.

Swimming

Located the midst of the beautiful Caribbean sea, it should be no surprise we have fish-like swimmers. Greater attention is now on swimming, so you’ll see lots more of us in the Olympics!

And More!

These are just a few though maybe the most popular one. There are many others that we play and still competes well, including

badminton
fishing
body building
chess
cycling
discus & javelin
hockey
tennis (lawn & table)
martial arts
polo (land & water)
pool
volleyball
shooting
squash
and yacht racing.

One thing is certain, as Jamaicans we are very passionate about our sports and we put our all into it all times!

Other Pages Related to Jamaican Sports

And please, don't miss these informative pages either:

Return toJamaica Culture from Jamaican Sports
Return toMy Island Jamaica Homepage from Jamaican Sports

If you found this page useful, please consider subscribing to my weekly newsletter, My Island Jamaica Digest here. It tells you each week about the new information that I have added, including new developments and great stories from lovers of Jamaica!

Back To The Top Of This Page

New! Talk To Me
Was the information helpful? Something needs changing? I welcome your feedback here.

New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.

Recommended For You ...

P.S. Didn't find exactly what you were looking for? Still need help?

Click Here to try our dependable and effective Site Search tool. It works!

Or, simply click here and here, to browse my library of over 500 questions and answers! Chances are someone already asked (and got an answer to) your question.

About The Author

A patriotic Jamaican who adores his culture, Wellesley has been using this medium to share what he calls 'the uniqueness of Jamaica with the world' since April 2007.

To date, he serves over 9,300 unique readers / viewers per day.

His efforts have earned him featured positions in local publications, including the Jamaica Gleaner's Hospitality Jamaica, Carlong Publishers, as well as recognition from numerous prestigious international agencies and universities. Read more about him here.

He invites you to join his friends list and stay updated on all the latest. You are also invited to join his exclusive patron community.