We are beginning to feel like we are repeating ourselves, but we take solace in the fact that we are merely giving credit where it is due, and hope that other sectors of the society will follow suit and excel.

We speak yet again of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), the body responsible for the administration of high schools sports in Jamaica.

Just last week, despite the continued harsh economic climate, that body was able to further secure increased sponsorship from its main investors for the annual Boys' and Girls' Championships.

Seven-year title sponsors GraceKennedy, whose contribution this year stands at $35 million, committed to a new five-year deal from next year through to 2018. LIME also announced a new three-year $45-million sponsorship commitment; new Asian apparel company 361º announced a five-year, $23-milliion sponsorship package, in addition to individual school sponsorships, while Pepsi also announced a sponsorship deal for this year's Championships, which will see 105 boys' and 102 girls' teams in the March 12 through March 16 meet.

It wouldn't surprise this newspaper if a few sports associations turned an enviable eye at ISSA, because from the perspective of those sponsors, it is likely to be money well spent, since Champs is associated with extraordinary success and mass support.

Let's not forget that there is growing television coverage for Champs, and not just locally. Last year we were told that the cable network SportsMax beamed the event to 24 other Caribbean countries and that fans around in the world were able to watch Champs online via SportsMax, through live Internet streaming. There were also numerous press accreditation applications from foreign media houses.

No doubt the aura of Jamaica's traditional, but more recent achievements in world athletics and its top athletes such as Messrs Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, and Mrs Veronica Campbell Brown and Mrs Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce cannot be denied as we assess ISSA's success in raising support.

But there is more to it. We believe that ISSA could provide valuable guidance for others in terms of basic organisation, marketing and promotional strategies.

We hold, though, that there's more to ISSA than just its ability to market, organise and promote Champs. There is the fortitude and willingness to accept and implement change, and this year is no different.

'Celebrating School Spirit, Everyone is a Winner' is the theme chosen by ISSA for this year's 103rd staging of the five-day meet, and the organisers have engineered a number of changes as they seek to fine-tune the event and make it more appealing for all stakeholders.

We hope there will be no media curse, but we can't help but acknowledge the tremendous work done by ISSA, the police, the student body and the various communities in bringing to a halt the terrifying rate of violence which threatened to mar the meet a few years ago and forced the police in 2010 to ban all marches, motorcades and fetes associated with the annual event.

We hope we have seen the back of that scourge.