Upgrade soon for Special Olympics

Children who are differently abled have the ability to be outstanding athletes.
And plans are being put in place to ensure that they have the necessary resources to help them do so.
These assurances have come from meet director of the Special Olympics National Games Junior Track And Field Meet, Roger Dyall, as he spoke to NATIONSPORT during yesterday’s hosting of the event at the Desmond Haynes Oval, Black Rock, St Michael.
Dyall maintained that most of the challenges which those special athletes faced were mental, not physical.
“When you look at most of these children, you cannot tell that they are challenged because they look like the average child.
“We have quite a few athletes who have graduated from these Games, and who have gone on to play Premier League football and first division cricket,” he noted.
He revealed that currently, only hand times were used during Special Olympics events. However, they were looking to upgrade to electronic timing, such as was the case in the NAPSAC and BSSAC competitions.
“Right now we are working on upgrading to electronic timing, similar to the ones which are used at the major meets.
“This is necessary because when our athletes go to international meets, they are ranked based on their times and we want to have the most accurate times,” he explained.
Dyall said that the computer system, called JMS5, would also have the ability to produce rankings.
Athletes ranging in age from eight to 12 from the Erdiston Special Unit, Ellerton, All Saints Primary, Hilda Skeene, St Matthew’s Primary, Eagle Hall and Sunshine Early Stimulation Centre took part in yesterday’s event.