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Western Champs organisers face money hurdle
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer
Saturday, November 18, 2006
SAV-LA-MAR - Lack of funds could force the County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA) to shift the 2007 Boys and Girls Western High School track & field finals from the all-weather track at Catherine Hall Sport Complex in Montego Bay.
In a meeting held at Mannings High School in Sav-la-Mar on Friday, president of COCAA, Eldemire Smith, said unless they could attract significant sponsorship, they might be forced to move the finals of the three-day meet to a grass track.
In the last five years the organisers have spaced the meet over three days, the boys and girls holding separate eliminations on a grass track, with the finals in most track and some field events moving to the Catherine Hall Complex to decide the champions.
While saying that it would be a backward step for the sport in the region, Smith told representatives of the member schools they would have no choice as the cost to use the unfinished facilities have become a burden.
In addition to the rental fee for the venue, organisers of events at Catherine Hall have had to bring in portable toilets, chairs and tables for officials, seating for spectators, as well as tents.
Two major meets are held at the stadium each year, the finals of the Western High School Championships and the Milo Western Relays, one of the top four meets in the island, both in February.
The Western Champs has grown over the years from a one-day meet. Smith told Sporting World that over 30 schools are members of the association, but only some 25 take part in the meet on a regular basis.
He said, however, that they hoped to be able to use the facilities for the finals and planned on approaching prospective sponsors to defray the cost of hosting the meet.
Smith, the Sports Master at STETHS, said it would be a shame to have to go back to staging the finals on grass track. He said this meet was one of the few they had to get western-based athletes ready for the VMBS Boys and Girls Championships in late March.
Western Champs has been around since the late 1950s and has produced a number of outstanding athletes, including IAAF World Championship triple jump champion Trecia Smith, formerly of Mannings; World Junior 200m record-holder Usain Bolt of William Knibb; Commonwealth Games 200m gold medallist Omar Brown of Albert Town; national Junior record-holder and IAAF World Junior Championships 400m hurdles gold medal winner Kaleisia Spencer, and Olympic bronze medalist Graham of STETHS.
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer
Saturday, November 18, 2006
SAV-LA-MAR - Lack of funds could force the County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA) to shift the 2007 Boys and Girls Western High School track & field finals from the all-weather track at Catherine Hall Sport Complex in Montego Bay.
In a meeting held at Mannings High School in Sav-la-Mar on Friday, president of COCAA, Eldemire Smith, said unless they could attract significant sponsorship, they might be forced to move the finals of the three-day meet to a grass track.
In the last five years the organisers have spaced the meet over three days, the boys and girls holding separate eliminations on a grass track, with the finals in most track and some field events moving to the Catherine Hall Complex to decide the champions.
While saying that it would be a backward step for the sport in the region, Smith told representatives of the member schools they would have no choice as the cost to use the unfinished facilities have become a burden.
In addition to the rental fee for the venue, organisers of events at Catherine Hall have had to bring in portable toilets, chairs and tables for officials, seating for spectators, as well as tents.
Two major meets are held at the stadium each year, the finals of the Western High School Championships and the Milo Western Relays, one of the top four meets in the island, both in February.
The Western Champs has grown over the years from a one-day meet. Smith told Sporting World that over 30 schools are members of the association, but only some 25 take part in the meet on a regular basis.
He said, however, that they hoped to be able to use the facilities for the finals and planned on approaching prospective sponsors to defray the cost of hosting the meet.
Smith, the Sports Master at STETHS, said it would be a shame to have to go back to staging the finals on grass track. He said this meet was one of the few they had to get western-based athletes ready for the VMBS Boys and Girls Championships in late March.
Western Champs has been around since the late 1950s and has produced a number of outstanding athletes, including IAAF World Championship triple jump champion Trecia Smith, formerly of Mannings; World Junior 200m record-holder Usain Bolt of William Knibb; Commonwealth Games 200m gold medallist Omar Brown of Albert Town; national Junior record-holder and IAAF World Junior Championships 400m hurdles gold medal winner Kaleisia Spencer, and Olympic bronze medalist Graham of STETHS.