It’s that time of year again, when all roads lead to the National Stadium in Kingston for the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, more popularly known as Champs.

Traditionally, the four-day event is among the biggest on the Jamaican sporting calendar. This year it is even bigger because it’s the 100th anniversary of the boys’ section.

All those who pay close attention to Jamaica’s track athletics can attest to the importance of Champs. From National Hero the Rt Excellent Norman Washington Manley, who excelled in the earliest years of Jamaican high school sporting rivalry, to the great Olympians of 1948, through the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s to the current time of Messrs Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell and Mrs Veronica Campbell-Brown, Ms Melaine Walker, and Shelly-Ann Fraser, et al, Champs has been the common denominator. It has been the ultimate nurturing ground.

So that those who go so far as to suggest that Jamaica’s extraordinary success on the track, over recent years especially, may be due to illegal performance-enhancing substances, only do so because they have never experienced Champs.

We note with pleasure that the competition is liable to be as intense as in former years with no certain winner. Organisers say that 105 girls’ teams, including title-holders Holmwood Technical, and 95 boys’ teams, including defending champions Kingston College, will be competing.

We feel it is important to say special thanks to title sponsors GraceKennedy, who have extended their contract by an additional three years, valued at $75 million, to run until 2012. We are told that $25 million is earmarked for this year’s staging.

Now, more than ever before, organised sports competition will not survive without corporate support. Once again, GraceKennedy has stamped its mark as an exemplary corporate citizen.

But even as we celebrate Champs we dare not ignore those who would wish to leave a scar. Hence the warning by the police that, as has been the case in recent years, special attention will be paid to the event. In fact, the police say there will be no permission for “pre- or post-Champs fetes or parties” because of the fear of violence and hooliganism.

Indeed, the need for high security is one reason this year’s Champs is expected to cost well over $30 million. It’s an unfortunate reflection of the state of the Jamaican society that at a time of such celebration and joy, hooligans and criminals must also be taken into account.

Most unfortunate is that many of the antisocial elements are to be found in the schools. In the words of the police: “we have noticed that as the Champs date gets closer, there has been an increase in the incidents of violence involving high school students”.

It means that principals, teachers, parents, et al must ensure that the rivalry between schools stays within acceptable bounds and that there is close monitoring all the way through. It can’t be left to the police alone.