Heading to Beijing to cheer on the Jamaican team, or cheering from your home in Jamaica or anywhere else, be a certified Jamaican Cheer Squaddie.

If you are traveling to Beijing, certain items, e.g. dutch pot covers  cannot make the trip with you, but if you are cheering from your living room with your ‘peeps’.. gotta have them. So here is the Chat-Bout  Jamaican Cheer Squaddie Must-Have List

1.      Whistle. Cheering in Jamaica isn't quite complete without the shrill, high sound that comes from a whistle. Whether it's by putting two pinkies in your mouth and powering up, or buying the actual instrument, a whistle is just the kind of loud, rambunctious instrument that lets the whole world know that a Jamaican is in the house. Now if you can make an ol time Jamaica Fee Fee, with coconut leaf den yuh in business

 2.      Dutch Pot Covers.  Put them together, and what do you get? A whole heap of noise and enough bangarang to wake the town and tell the people that Jamaicans are here to Tek It To Dem!!!. For as long as many of us have been around, pot covers have been the signature of a real yardie celebration. Reggae Boyz just beat a big team like France? Bring out the pot covers. Sunshine Girls won another match? Bring out the pot-covers. So when Usain, Veronica and Asafa light up that track, what are you going to do? That's right. Bring out those pot-covers, and get the celebration going. 

3.      Jamaican Flag. Have you ever stopped to notice that our national colours, and our flags are so distinct that you can easily spot them in any crowd? Just think back to the last major international sporting event that included Jamaica, and remember that group decked out in their black, green and gold. Didn't they just pop out at you, and leave everyone else in the background? That is the power of a group of Jamaican flags -not the stiff paper ones that crush up at a moment's notice either- the cloth variety that you can wave and flash as much as you like. You will find that at the end of an event, bare faced ' no have no mind' supporters  of other teams will hide and beg yuh for your Jamaican flag.

 4.      Loud Mouth. It is well-known that Jamaicans are not a quiet people. We know how to make plenty noise! So this Olympics, as you watch our athletes blaze round that track, don't sit in quiet and silent wonder: get up, grab a flag, and get the screams and shouts going! Your loud mouth is a part of your Jamaican heritage!! 

 5.      Chants. A 'chant' is a line or two that you repeat to a rhythm. Whether it be, 'Go Jamaica go!' or 'We beat them here, we beat them there, we beat them all around the atmosphere!', make sure that you have your chants ready for when Jamaica wins. And if we don't quite get first place, then have your condolence chant ready. Something like: 'that's alright, that's ok, we still love you anyway!' will suffice. 

6.      Music. For those uninteresting races we have to endure that don't involve any of our representatives, good music is a must. Have your boom box and your speakers ready for the breaks, the intermissions, the Public Service Announcements and the ad breaks that will come in between the races, so you can keep the excitement, and the pure Jamaican vibes flowing.

7.      Food. Especially if you are watching the Olympics with a group of your favourite people (which Chat-Bout recommends), you will need plenty of food to go around. Treat watching the Olympics like going to the movies. You need plenty of refreshment for those times when you are tired of cheering or, more likely, tired from cheering. (Refer to items 4 and 5).

 8.      Maracas/Shakers. Also called shak-shaks, these usually accompany a drum-beat to help create a rhythm for the chants. These little percussion instruments pack a lot of punch with their unique sound. Trust me, if you do not  have your shakers, your integrity as a true Jamaican cheer squaddie can be called into question. You can choose the store bought version, or any bottle half filled with small pebbles or  dried peas, will do just fine. 

9.      Grater with fork. Sometimes there is a household so full of people that there aren't enough pot-covers to go around. Have no fear. The grater/fork combination is here. Just slide the fork along your grater, and shout your cheers at the top of your lungs. The team in Beijing will feel it, and the cheer leaders from other countries will wonder what is grating on their nerves.

10.  Drums. Coming back from the time of our African ancestry, drums are a crucial part of any Jamaican cheering squad. The beat just adds that rhythm and life that defines the very essence of our Jamaican-ness: a beat that our competitors usually remember long after the Olympics is over, and we have all returned to our various different abodes. And in the absence of a dru, a pot and a spoon will make it percussion perfect.  

11.  Caps. If you're outside, or even better, in the audience, then yellow, black or green caps are absolutely essential. You need them for shade from the sun, and just to add to the vibrant colour mix already provided by your flag, and attire. 

 What else do you think you need to be qualified as a bonify Jamaican cheer Squaddie? Send your comments/feedback/ pictures to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will post them for you.