GoodHeart | Jace Witter gives back to alma mater, builds on track success
Published:Saturday | March 15, 2025 | 12:07 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Despite facing hardships as a child, growing up in a rural community with deaf and mute parents, Jace Witter, Jamaica’s under-20 gold medallist, is now on a mission to ensure that young athletes in need get the training resources he once lacked. As he works toward his associate degree in sports massage therapy at G. C. Foster College, he remains determined to change the game for students at his alma mater, New Forest High School.
After making history at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Peru, where the men’s 4x100m relay team secured gold medals in the final event—with Witter running the lead-off leg—he returned to G. C. Foster College. There, he noticed some 400 spikes hanging in storage and, feeling compelled to help, bravely asked his coach if he could donate them to students. With his coach’s positive response, Witter began planning how to send some of the spikes to his alma mater. It was during this process that he came up with the idea to establish the JHW Athletic Foundation, which aims to empower future generations of athletes and support the community of New Forest.
“At New Forest High School, we did not have any spikes. We had to call to borrow or use two spikes for the best athletes. When I saw the spikes, I said to myself, ‘Now is the time [where] I have the opportunity to give back.’” he told GoodHeart.
Witter also noted how important it was to make his donation personal: “When I donated spikes to my school, I went to my school and I gave them the 400 spikes, I made a speech that, ‘This is what I want to do. This is what I am aiming for: Building the next generation.’ Because I don’t want other student-athletes with potential and talent to be left behind.”
Witter, who holds the distinction of being New Forest High School’s first record-holder, knows the struggle all too well. The school’s lack of gear and equipment forced him to be a late bloomer. The rural school didn’t have a proper playfield, gym, or weights to train with on a daily basis. What they did have was a coach willing to go the extra mile and the unwavering support of Trisha Williams-Singh, board chairman.
It took three years for Witter to make his debut at Champs in 2022. His debut had been further delayed due to the pandemic. However, he made it to the semi-finals of the Class Two Boys’ 100m and advanced to the Class Two Boys’ 200m semi-finals.
“When I started my foundation, my mom asked me if I had money, and I said, ‘No’. And she said it is a good thing to give back because God will always want us to do things He wants us to do to make us successful,” Witter said.
Recently, Williams-Singh reached out to Witter to serve as the patron for the inaugural New Forest High School’s 5K Unity Run/Walk event, scheduled for April 13. His response was immediate: “Yes!”
“The 5K run is to give back to the next generation with gear, sponsorship and the necessary things that they need. We need participants to support because without money, student athletes cannot get the necessary things they need to develop their talent and participate in certain areas in the field of athletics.” Witter explained.
Witter’s commitment to helping others stems from his own experiences. “I was in a situation, where in high school, we didn’t have any spikes and gym equipment, and so when I was in grade 10, I got the opportunity to stay back to go to Champs, and we didn’t participate well, given the circumstances at the school, but I got an opportunity at G. C. Foster College and I took it and I am here now training hard. I made the national team, so I want to help others to do the same.”
In addition to helping young athletes, Witter is determined to improve his family’s circumstances. “Both my parents are deaf and they are not able to speak. They’re getting old, and I want to take them out of poverty,” he said.
In addition to studying sports massage therapy, Witter remains committed to his athletic career, training each morning on campus, with the goal of becoming a 100m gold medallist on the international stage. His journey is driven by a deep desire to make Jamaica and his parents proud.