Another IRB Development Award in NAWIRA!


Mr. Jacob Thompson, the estimable Chairman of the Jamaica Rugby Union, has been awarded the 2007 IRB’s Development Award, the highest such honour world-wide this year. This is another huge achievement for a NAWIRA person, and Union, with Mike Luke having won in 2006.



Jacob started playing Rugby while studying in England in the late 1960s at the School of Electrical Engineers. Upon his return to Jamaica in the early 1970s he promoted the game to the cadet corps while at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) at a time most expatriates of the colonial era were leaving Jamaica, and with them the ready-made Rugby infrastructure they provided.

Undeterred, and inspired, he recognized the potential for Rugby to spread in the high school system as the cadets were from high schools in close proximity to the JDF headquarters. He started his personal mission by coaching four inner city schools: Vauxhall, Tivoli, Kingston Technical and Denham Town.
He was appointed Chief Organiser for Schoolboy Rugby, and has maintained that responsibility until the present day.

Follow up:

He represented Jamaica as a player in 1974-75 where he played against Cayman Islands and Venezuela.
Jacob has managed three clubs from the 1970s to the present day – Caribs RFC, Privateers RFC and Arawaks RFC and he was the first to take teams from Jamaica to the United States where they have performed successfully at the New Jersey and Rhode Island 7’s.

He has been the Chairman of Jamaica Rugby Union since 1999, and was appointed Vice-President of West Indies Rugby Union from the period 2005-2007. In 2007 he was selected as an Executive Committee Member of WIRU.
Under his stewardship, Jamaica has managed to win all regional titles from U16 to Senior Men and Women. Most recently the under 19 team retained its West Indies title, and has thus qualified for the IRB World Under 20 Trophy in 2008.


His relentless drive and leadership has carried the Jamaica Rugby Union and its coaches, referees, administrative staff, Rugby development officers and players to the highest levels in the West Indies region. He is an individual who has given of himself so far over 35 years to his Country and Union, and is still going strong with all the energy and vision to make Rugby a household name in Jamaica.

Jacob is the primary reason that thousands of children from some of the poorest and most troubled inner city neighbourhoods now play Rugby in Kingston and around Jamaica.
He is proud to now say that Rugby is permanently a piece of the fabric of Jamaican society. This is a remarkable feat in a country with sparse facilities and where Rugby has traditionally been regarded as a game played only by the expatriate elite. Today there are mixed primary school competitions, boys’ and girls’ high school leagues and cups, and burgeoning senior leagues for men and women.

Mr. Thompson has also invested a fortune of his own money, so that in a country where poverty is widespread, if a player is hungry, he feeds him; if a player is injured, he ensures that she is treated. Jamaica has been represented at every IRB or NAWIRA regional competition since he became Chairman. This is a unique feat in the region, and is in large part due to his personal generosity.


Jacob Thompson is today’s embodiment of Jamaican Rugby. Soon he will step down from his leadership role, and hand the responsibilities on to the talented group of young Jamaicans he has gathered into the Union. But whatever the future may hold for his cherished Country and Union, nothing will ever compare to the massive commitment he has given to his people, and to Rugby in Jamaica.


Source: The IRB by email