Equal opportunity

AFTER SEVERAL years of hosting the annual County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA) Western Championships in the western region, organisers of the event will be splitting the venue and hosting the final day at the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport (GC) in St Catherine.

The event is set for two days. The first day is on Wednesday, February 12 at the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) field, St Elizabeth and the final day on Saturday, February 15 at G.C. Foster.

Speaking with Stephen Smith, president of COCAA, he said the move will ensure athletes get another chance to qualify for ISSA Boys and Girls’ Championships later this year.

“We found out that the region has been suffering from the change of qualification standards from the National Champs because of not participating on the synthetic surface to get the athletes another chance to qualify. The synthetic track gives you a faster time for qualifying for National Champs, and also national trials,” Smith said.

On the first day, there will be elimination and field event finals, as well as hurdles finals and some track finals. The 100m semi-finals and finals and all triple jump finals will be held at G.C. Foster.

With the lack of proper facilities for athletes to train, Smith said they are unable to achieve their regional goals.

“It’s a sour taste to find that everybody has to move to Kingston and we are not living there. It is a western championship which should be kept in the western region, but we have no choice. Training all year and not able to achieve their goals because of our facilities, the athletes will find themselves pulling out of athletics if they are not reaching their regional goals.”

“If you look at the results over the years, you will find that four or seven of our athletes are in the 100 metres finals from the region because we normally had that time to be in it. Since the pandemic, everything has changed and the numbers have to be reduced for Champs.”

According to Smith, events like Milo Western Relays being forced out of the west affects the athletes, their family members, and stakeholders from the region.

“It is a bitter feeling to have to move it out of the region,” Smith told The Sunday Gleaner. We were trying to hold out because we were on the grass surface, but we are realising now it’s not working out.”

“For the National Champs and National Trials, we also have to be travelling to Kingston very often. So it increases the cost of the schools travelling from one region to the other. The ranking system by ISSA shows how many athletes can qualify. They have tier-two athletes now qualifying for National Champs.

Another reason for a lowered number of western athletes making it to Champs, Smith believes, is the issue of cost.

“If a school doesn’t have the money, they cannot go to Kingston to qualify. One track meet in Kingston can cost up to nearly a quarter million dollars, depending on your team. You have to pay a bus about $80,000 just to take you to Kingston. If you have athletes, that will need up to two to three meals a day per athlete. That alone pushes the budget up,” Smith explained.

The Montego Bay Sports Complex’s track has deteriorated tremendously over the past few years, and was taken out of service over a fear that continued use could result in athletes suffering serious injuries.

Since 2018, all major track events have had to be shifted to venues as far away as St Catherine, with the exception of Western Champs.

“We have been running on grass for the past few years. Based on that, the time on grass are much slower than the time on synthetic surfaces. You find out that the schools in central and the corporate region are getting more chances to qualify,” said Smith.

Smith is hoping that the measures are just temporary and western Jamaica will, again, have a synthetic track to even out the opportunities.

“It is a matter of creating a better opportunity for the athletes to qualify. With the new body that has bid for the Montego Bay Sports Complex, I am hoping they can bring that track. Hoping to ensure the region itself can bring back our glory days of having our own championship and having people visiting from different parishes in our region for our events.