Once again, there will be no musical instruments at the Powerade Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletic Championships, but that will not take away from the excitement and the high level of competition.
“We found last year there was an improvement in the manner in which people conducted themselves, and surprise, surprise, the level of excitement seemed to be just as good,” said security head and principal Robert Cumberbatch during the press launch yesterday at The St Michael School.
Stating he would have to check, Cumberbatch said the number of events that were won with records seemed to be just as many, if not more than in the past.
This year’s championships will be held on March 9, 10, 11, 17 and 18 at the National Stadium.
Addressing the issue of reduced numbers on the fourth day last year, chairman Catherine Jordan said they had been affected by bad public relations on facebook and other social networks where the children communicate on the Internet.
However, they were aware of the reduced numbers and would step up marketing, while monitoring the situation. Jordan said principals had spoken to the Ministry of Education about closing the schools for the last two days and that was still an option.
She noted that the standard of the championships remained high, and Coca Cola, along with current title sponsor Powerade was in its 26th year of sponsorship, and had signed on for three more years.
This was a sentiment echoed by meet director David Oxley. He pointed out that top performers like Tristan Evelyn, Ramarco Thompson, Jerrad Mason, Janeil Craigg, Nikolai Gall and John Haynes would also be back.
He said that in 2009 there were no drums and it was one of the most exciting editions, with the last race deciding the title between Harrison College and Queen’s College. Thirty records were also broken.
“You can have a very entertaining and exciting meet without these things present. What happens on the track should be the major focus once the athletes produce and everything is well organized, and that is where I come in.”
Oxley promised a timely meet, especially since it would be streamed live from their website www.bssac.org.
In light of comments by world 110m hurdles record holder Ryan Brathwaite, the meet director said he also wasn’t concerned about the condition of the track.
“I don’t think we have had any injuries occurring because of the condition of the track.
We do have injuries which we would have at any sporting event, but that could be from fatigue, a fall, or things like that. I don’t think any of those injuries were caused by the condition of the track,” Oxley said, He noted that the introduction of starting blocks for the one false start rule went smoothly last year and said physical education teachers and coaches needed to manage the athletes properly.
They had been provided with the schedule and should carefully allocate athlete based on the order of events.
In addition to live streaming, the website will also have results in real time as well as starts lists and other relevant information.
