Michael Clarke and Maurice Wilson, coaches of 2008 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Champion teams Calabar and Holmwood Technical, respectively, think that with their current cadre of athletes, their teams should be hard to be beat within the next few years at the annual high school athletics event.

Both men said that while a few key persons will leave school this year, the core of their teams will remain at least for another year, giving them a good shot at winning in 2009.
Calabar will lose current team captain Andrew Riley, who won the Class One boys' high jump and heptathlon Open, finished third in the 110m hurdles, was part of the winning 4x100m relay team, and was named the Champion Boy and Champion Class One boy for the 2008 championships.
"Andrew has been the stalwart of the team," Clarke, a Calabar old boy himself, told Sporting World.

Noel Facey - the Carifta trials double champion - who finished second in the discus and third in the shot put at Champs, Warren Weir, and Marvin Grant will also leave school this year.

"Our philosophy in terms of building a team is primarily about continuity, and the spaces that are going to be created now based on our plans and what we have implemented over the last year should put us in a position whereby the boys who are leaving will be missed, but not a significant loss," Clarke said.

For Holmwood, the loss will come in the form of Bobbie-Gaye Wilkins, the Class One 800m champion who also anchored the winning girls 4x400m Open relay team and Andrea Reid.
The school, which was winning its sixth consecutive championships, ended with over 100 points more than second-placed finisher Vere Technical, and coach Maurice Wilson said he is looking for another win next year.

"By natural progression we should have another win," Wilson said, adding with caution that anything can happen.

"It is very difficult to predict what is going to happen next year because what you find is that there are persons who drop out of the programme or the sort of support you get throughout the year can also decide how you perform, so there are a lot of other factors you have to take into consideration," he said.
Wilson admitted that while the same school winning the Champs every year may lead to predictability or boredom for spectators, doing the best is what matters.

"You cannot lose to create competition.cannot be working hard all year with a team and then hope to lose in order to generate enthusiasm among the spectators," he said.
He added that much of the success of his team comes through proper planning and it may only be a matter of time before things fall into place for the other teams as well.

"This year we were not dominant in everything, it was basically good planning, there were other teams which did well so maybe these teams' planning structure has not matured as it should, but it will eventually happen and we (Holmwood) are not going to win forever," Wilson told Sporting World.

Calabar's victory over Kingston College was closer, only 40 points separated them, and Clarke, although optimistic, seemed to prefer to err on the side of caution.

"If all goes well those boys who are to return and they return without mishap, it should position us where we can do as well as we did or close.I don't want to predict, but we should do very well," he concluded.

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