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Footing the bill
Schools wrestle with high costs of participating in Champs
PAUL A REID, Observer writer reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, March 28, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, St James - The GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Champs starts on Wednesday, and while the coaches and athletes are making final preparations, school administrators are still frantically crunching numbers and trying to find ways to reduce the ever growing bill of taking part in the world's largest high school track and field meet.
With season best times of 10.42 seconds in the 100m and 21.69 seconds in the 200m 15-year-old Jazeel Murphy (centre) of Bridgeport High will start favourite to complete the Class Two boys' sprint double. Last year Murphy won the Class Three 200m and finished second in the 100m..
Up to yesterday, some schools were still fund-raising, calling past
students and trying to find ways to pare the cost without compromising the performance of the athletes.
Among the schools contacted yesterday, from Cornwall College's five-member team to Herbert Morrison's almost 60 combined, to St Elizabeth Technical's 70 and Holmwood Technical's 70-plus between boys and girls, the bill range anywhere form $150,000 for the four days to almost $1 million.
And this cost is strictly to compete at Champs and does not include the cost of travelling to and taking part in the myriad development and early season meets, treatment of the injuries that crop up during the season and outfitting the teams in gear throughout the year.
Each school gets a grant from the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), depending on their results at Champs, as well as transportation for the rural teams.
To cut cost, some schools like Hanover neighbours Green Island High and Rusea's have pooled their transportation costs as their small teams can fit into one bus.
Some other schools like Holmwood Technical or Munro College will need more than one bus to get form their locations to Kingston and a smaller bus to take athletes from their accommodation to the stadium on a daily basis and for other businesses in the capital city.
The Kingston College pair of Lemmar Wilson (third right) and Stefan Fennell (left) looks set to dominate the Class Two Boys' 110m hurdles at Champs after their one-two finish at the recent Carifta Trials in the Under-17 category. Fennel won the Class Three gold medal last year, while Wilson was disqualified in the Class Two final. (Photos: Bryan Cummings)
At least two schools, STETHS and Cornwall College, are not burdened too much by transportation cost, however, as they are among the fortunate to own transportation.
A number of schools, including STETHS, Munro and Holmwood take a personal chef in their delegations.
According to STETHS principal Keith Wellington, it works out much cheaper than to have their food catered.
Wellington told Sporting World their calculations show it will cost approximately $600 a day to feed each of the 70 athletes three meals a day.
Munro College's headmaster Branford Gayle says it helps that his school has boarding and it is just a matter of taking one of the cooks with them and finding a place where they can prepare their own meals.
While each school complained of rising cost in just about every area, the one constant compliant was the fund raising efforts which they say gets harder each passing year.
Holmwood Technical's girls coach Maurice Wilson says while all of the parents and those affiliated with the school bask in their six successive titles, very few of them were involved in contributing directly to the success in terms of finance.
Wilson, one of the top coaches in the island, said yesterday he was literally "physically exhausted" not from the daily grind of training, but from trying to raise funds between himself and the manager Chester McCarthy.
A weary Wilson said: "I just don't know how much longer we can keep on doing this," pointing out the "begging" starts as early as September when they put their budget together.
For some, however, it does not depend on the coach and manager, but the entire school gets involved.
At Herbert Morrison, principal Paul Adams says the entire student body has bought into the team and its success and money raised form the tuck shop and canteen goes a far way towards their budget that can get as high as $950,000.
"We have a captive crowd," Adams joked, saying the children have no choice but to buy food on the school's campus, as they are not allowed to go anywhere else.
While he did not have a breakdown of the cost per item, Adams told Sporting World "while fund-raising was very difficult in Montego Bay, the parents and students not on the team have given a lot".
And while he does admit the cost was high for the less than one week event, Adams said they emphatically endorsed the event. "We are not complaining at all and will do what we can to raise the money to ensure we have competitive teams here at Herbert Morrison."
He says the success of the sports teams at the school has had a direct influence on the entire student population. "We see an overall improvement in the discipline here, as well as the academic performance and we can trace a direct co-relation to the performance of our teams."
Wellington said their budget for Champs was "around $700,000 with accommodation being almost $400,000", adding that the cost of putting up the athletes and staff has risen in the last year, "almost doubling".
The boys and girls will occupy separate accommodation, he said, adding that the staff at the school and some students have chipped in to help defray the cost of the venture.
Wilson tried to breakdown the just over $500,000 cost of Champs for the Manchester-based Holmwood Technical.
Accommodation, he said, would cost around $200,000; food would be about $150,000, while transportation would run another $60,000.
Jerry Holness of Manchester High, another contender at Champs, concurred with the cost, but was unable to provide details, pointing us to the school's principal and/or bursar. Efforts to contact them were futile.
Despite taking a relatively small team of about 26 athletes to Champs, William Knibb's Dwayne Jarrett said it would cost the Martha Brae-based school about $300,000.
He said funds from the school's tuck shop and "one or two kind past students" have helped to defray some of the cost involved.
Meanwhile, Munro's Gayle, never one to shy away form predictions, is already counting the points that his team will earn next week.
Gayle, a former chairman of the Champs Committee, says at the worst Munro should earn 75 points and at best about 95, but says they should finish no lower than sixth place, adding that it would take about 120 points to break into the top five.
Schools wrestle with high costs of participating in Champs
PAUL A REID, Observer writer reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, March 28, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, St James - The GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Champs starts on Wednesday, and while the coaches and athletes are making final preparations, school administrators are still frantically crunching numbers and trying to find ways to reduce the ever growing bill of taking part in the world's largest high school track and field meet.
With season best times of 10.42 seconds in the 100m and 21.69 seconds in the 200m 15-year-old Jazeel Murphy (centre) of Bridgeport High will start favourite to complete the Class Two boys' sprint double. Last year Murphy won the Class Three 200m and finished second in the 100m..
Up to yesterday, some schools were still fund-raising, calling past
students and trying to find ways to pare the cost without compromising the performance of the athletes.
Among the schools contacted yesterday, from Cornwall College's five-member team to Herbert Morrison's almost 60 combined, to St Elizabeth Technical's 70 and Holmwood Technical's 70-plus between boys and girls, the bill range anywhere form $150,000 for the four days to almost $1 million.
And this cost is strictly to compete at Champs and does not include the cost of travelling to and taking part in the myriad development and early season meets, treatment of the injuries that crop up during the season and outfitting the teams in gear throughout the year.
Each school gets a grant from the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), depending on their results at Champs, as well as transportation for the rural teams.
To cut cost, some schools like Hanover neighbours Green Island High and Rusea's have pooled their transportation costs as their small teams can fit into one bus.
Some other schools like Holmwood Technical or Munro College will need more than one bus to get form their locations to Kingston and a smaller bus to take athletes from their accommodation to the stadium on a daily basis and for other businesses in the capital city.
The Kingston College pair of Lemmar Wilson (third right) and Stefan Fennell (left) looks set to dominate the Class Two Boys' 110m hurdles at Champs after their one-two finish at the recent Carifta Trials in the Under-17 category. Fennel won the Class Three gold medal last year, while Wilson was disqualified in the Class Two final. (Photos: Bryan Cummings)
At least two schools, STETHS and Cornwall College, are not burdened too much by transportation cost, however, as they are among the fortunate to own transportation.
A number of schools, including STETHS, Munro and Holmwood take a personal chef in their delegations.
According to STETHS principal Keith Wellington, it works out much cheaper than to have their food catered.
Wellington told Sporting World their calculations show it will cost approximately $600 a day to feed each of the 70 athletes three meals a day.
Munro College's headmaster Branford Gayle says it helps that his school has boarding and it is just a matter of taking one of the cooks with them and finding a place where they can prepare their own meals.
While each school complained of rising cost in just about every area, the one constant compliant was the fund raising efforts which they say gets harder each passing year.
Holmwood Technical's girls coach Maurice Wilson says while all of the parents and those affiliated with the school bask in their six successive titles, very few of them were involved in contributing directly to the success in terms of finance.
Wilson, one of the top coaches in the island, said yesterday he was literally "physically exhausted" not from the daily grind of training, but from trying to raise funds between himself and the manager Chester McCarthy.
A weary Wilson said: "I just don't know how much longer we can keep on doing this," pointing out the "begging" starts as early as September when they put their budget together.
For some, however, it does not depend on the coach and manager, but the entire school gets involved.
At Herbert Morrison, principal Paul Adams says the entire student body has bought into the team and its success and money raised form the tuck shop and canteen goes a far way towards their budget that can get as high as $950,000.
"We have a captive crowd," Adams joked, saying the children have no choice but to buy food on the school's campus, as they are not allowed to go anywhere else.
While he did not have a breakdown of the cost per item, Adams told Sporting World "while fund-raising was very difficult in Montego Bay, the parents and students not on the team have given a lot".
And while he does admit the cost was high for the less than one week event, Adams said they emphatically endorsed the event. "We are not complaining at all and will do what we can to raise the money to ensure we have competitive teams here at Herbert Morrison."
He says the success of the sports teams at the school has had a direct influence on the entire student population. "We see an overall improvement in the discipline here, as well as the academic performance and we can trace a direct co-relation to the performance of our teams."
Wellington said their budget for Champs was "around $700,000 with accommodation being almost $400,000", adding that the cost of putting up the athletes and staff has risen in the last year, "almost doubling".
The boys and girls will occupy separate accommodation, he said, adding that the staff at the school and some students have chipped in to help defray the cost of the venture.
Wilson tried to breakdown the just over $500,000 cost of Champs for the Manchester-based Holmwood Technical.
Accommodation, he said, would cost around $200,000; food would be about $150,000, while transportation would run another $60,000.
Jerry Holness of Manchester High, another contender at Champs, concurred with the cost, but was unable to provide details, pointing us to the school's principal and/or bursar. Efforts to contact them were futile.
Despite taking a relatively small team of about 26 athletes to Champs, William Knibb's Dwayne Jarrett said it would cost the Martha Brae-based school about $300,000.
He said funds from the school's tuck shop and "one or two kind past students" have helped to defray some of the cost involved.
Meanwhile, Munro's Gayle, never one to shy away form predictions, is already counting the points that his team will earn next week.
Gayle, a former chairman of the Champs Committee, says at the worst Munro should earn 75 points and at best about 95, but says they should finish no lower than sixth place, adding that it would take about 120 points to break into the top five.
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