Breds Treasure Beach Sports Park

The Breds Treasure Beach Sports Park connects local kids to visitors and athletes from around the world. (Hello, Williams sisters!)

JASON HENZELL

cross the street from Jakes is the Breds Treasure Beach Sports Park & Academy, a 17-acre community hub where over 1,500 local athletes play sports, learning the teamwork and leadership skills to ready themselves for jobs and scholarships far beyond the park’s grounds. The park was conceived and spearheaded by Jason Henzell, who from early on saw the power of sports tourism. Today, guests from Jakes regularly head to the the park to cheer on cricket, football and track teams at meets between Jamaican and foreign teams as well to join in on pickup basketball games, go on the 400-foot zipline or hit tennis balls on the park’s many courts. On any Saturday morning, there are groups watching local kids practice football and cricket; during the summer, there are local and international camps, with coaches and athlete mentors like Venus and Serena Williams that visit from around the globe. In other words, no matter when you visit, there’s always something going on.

In addition, there’s the General Colin Powell Challenge Course— an exhilarating experience that lets you climb high and stretch past what you believed was possible. General Colin Powell’s parents lived just miles from the Sports Park. Naturally, he’s honored to have this ropes course in his name.

While you’re at Jakes, check in with the front desk to learn about Sports Park goings-on, book instructors and borrow any necessary gear.

“The Sports Park is the number one community-based sports park in Jamaica, and it’s possible by leveraging the relationship between Jakes and tourism for the benefit of the community. We have training camps for football and cricket, with over 50 coaches from around the world coming each year; we have the Colin Powell ropes course, where we do transformational team-building work with youths from all around Jamaica; we have a 400-foot zipline for kids, one that stretches over a pond. But the most important thing is that we’ve adopted the philosophy of sports for social change, to empower Jamaica’s youth. Kids are able to train with some of the best athletes in the world, and many of them have been given scholarships because of coaches visiting the Park. We highly encourage guests from Jakes to come use it and see what we’ve built.”

—JASON HENZELL

Guests can play tennis, basketball or try out the obstacle course at the Sports Park at any time. Seasonal cricket and football matches are held on Saturdays and Sundays. Looking for more information? Anyone at the front desk will be happy to share all the details. Read more about the Sports Park on DoGoodJamaica.org

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TREASURED SECRETS

“Venus and Serena Williams have visited the Treasure Beach Sports Park and so has the famous boxer, Lennox Lewis. It’s true! We have tennis courts, a cricket pitch, basketball court, football fields and we’re adding a swimming pool.”