THE Jamaican track and field season is on in earnest. I am yet to discover a country, big or small, where the track and field season is as active as Jamaica.

A look at the calendar of events of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) (see Table 1) for the months of February and March, 2012, for example, shows that almost every weekend there is, if not one, two and sometimes three competitive track and field activities taking place, somewhere in the country.

TABLE 1

JAMAICA ATHLETICS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATION (JAAA) CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2012    

4 JAAA/Puma Development Meet Jamalco Sports Club

4 Youngster GoldSmith Stadium East

5 National Cross Country Trail St. Catherine

11 Camperdown Classic UWI

11 King of Rings St Hugh’s High School

11 Western Milo Relays Catherine Hall, Montego Bay

14 Western Champs – Girls Qualifiers Manning’s School

16 Western Champs – Boys Qualifiers STETHS

18 Ben Francis Invitational Hayes, Clarendon

18Western Champs – Finals Catherine Hall, Montego Bay

19 Sigma 5K New Kingston

20-21 Eastern Championships Stadium East

25 Gibson Relays National Stadium

MARCH

3-4 Carifta Trials National Stadium

8-9 Central Champs GC Foster College

10 GC Foster Classic GC Foster College

17 UWI Invitational Meet UWI Stadium

23-24 Inter-Collegiate Championship UWI Stadium

28-31 Boys/Girls Athletics Championships National Stadium

What Table 1 does not reveal is the bee hive of track and field related activities taking place in the different schools, from pre-primary, to secondary and tertiary institutions, in each parish. It is amazing to see the number of youngsters who are out in the afternoons preparing themselves for track and field events in order to represent their respective schools.

An afternoon visit to schools such as Kingston College, Calabar, Jamaica College, Wolmer’s, Holmwood Technical, Edwin Allen, Vere Technical, or St Jago, will immediately convey the seriousness with which track and field is taken in this country.

Also out in their numbers to support their respective schools, particularly at the secondary level, are members of the teaching staff, administrative, as well as members of the alumni associations.

This network also involves a raft of alumni associations located in the diasporic communities. The link between the schools in Jamaica and their alumni associations outside of Jamaica has helped in the strengthening of the relationship between Jamaica and Jamaicans who are living in places such as, Toronto, Florida, New York, Connecticut, Birmingham, and London.

VOLUNTARISM

Sport programmes in Jamaica, and track and field activities in particular, are a manifestation of volunteerism in action. The general debate taking place in the country about whether or not volunteerism is in retreat, or as argued by others almost dead, seems not to take into consideration what is happening at the primary, high school, and tertiary levels. It is in these institutions that a number of persons can be found undertaking voluntary work on behalf of our young on a daily basis.

Many of these volunteers carry out the functions of mothers and fathers on behalf of many of our students. They help the students to balance their time between studies and extra-curricular activities. They help these students to manage their expectations. As a result these youngsters develop, in some instances, very serious attachment to these volunteers. In a number of cases the volunteers are teachers themselves, who without any extra pay, work beyond the call of duty.

The top track and field schools in Jamaica require an average of approximately one to two million dollars, per month, to underwrite their extra-curricula expenses. The financial allocation by the Government to these schools does not cover sporting activities. The schools are required to find their own funds to keep their sport programmes going. The schools, therefore, would not be able to undertake the massive track and field programmes which many of them now have without the voluntary efforts of persons who recognise the importance of these programmes.

Jamaica’s track and field programme is, therefore, made possible largely as a result of the army of individuals who daily, weekly, and monthly organise the track and field programmes in our schools, as well as, the weekly competitive meets across the island.

The regularity with which these events take place and the consistent dedication of this devoted band of volunteers who organise these events form the foundation on which track and field is anchored in Jamaica. Some of us who attend these track and field meets do so without really appreciating the work involved, to make them happen. As an example, the effort which goes into the organisation of meets such as the Gibson Relays, the Ben Francis Invitational, the Camperdown Classic, Western and Eastern Champs, Central Champs and the GC Foster Classic must not be underestimated.

CHAMPS

The secondary track and field season will culminate with the upcoming Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) to be held from March 28-31, this year. Champs will once again put on national display the track and field prowess of our young and talented athletes. Champs, without question, cannot be compared with any other meet anywhere in the world for that age group of athletes.

It is one of the most important events on the track and field calendar for a number of reasons:

1.It is the only meet during the year where all the secondary school athletes compete against each other.  Two hundred and sixteen     schools will be on their best display, as students match strides with their colleagues in track and field events. The other secondary school track and field meets, although important, are all viewed as preparatory meets for the ‘mother’ of all meets, Champs.

2. The school rivalry at this meet is at its most intense. Football, cricket, netball, and other sport competitions do generate passion and excitement, but no other sport competition allows for all schools to compete against each other at the same event.

3. It is the only high school sport event which guarantees a full turn out, certainly on the final day, at the National Stadium.

4.Champs remove all social, economic, and political barriers. In the stands, giving strong vocal support to their respective schools, are persons who are not bridled by the divisiveness which otherwise exist in the society.

5. It is the only secondary school sport in Jamaica that is able to attract over $50 million as sponsorship, making it the largest sponsored secondary school sport event.

6. Champs put on public display the capacity and capabilities of our Jamaican people. On the track, we are able to witness the best of our secondary school athletes and off the track the best of our coaches and meet administrators.

7 Also, as we all know, it signals to the country the names to watch out for in the future. The class one male sprints at Champs this year, for example, will be worth going miles to see with the likes of Odean Skeen, Delano Williams, Jazeel Murphy, Odail Todd, Jevaughn Minzie and Adam Cummings.

After all, it is the meet which has catapulted to world fame current athletes such as Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sherone Simpson, and a raft of others who are doing Jamaica proud on the national and international circuit.

OLYMPIC YEAR

What makes this track and field season even more exiting is the fact that this is an Olympic year. From July 27 to August 12, this year, the Olympic Games will take place in London.

Expectations are extremely high in the country. There is a feeling that our performance will be better than at the 2008 Olympics. In the United Kingdom, especially in Birmingham, where our athletes will be in camp, the Jamaican community is on high alert. Jamaicans abroad have contributed significantly to carving out a niche for Jamaica in their respective home countries. They were the ones who pioneered and promoted Jamaica as a brand. Our athletes are now adding the icing on the cake. Every effort must be made to ensure that the coming together of Jamaicans in the UK and our athletes become a winning formula.

To qualify for the sprints at the Olympics will be a real humdinger. The National Senior Championships and Trials are set to take place this year at the National Stadium from June 29 to July 1. Imagine the men’s one hundred-metre with Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter, Lerone Clarke, and Michael Frater.

The debate is already taking place. Will Yohan Blake beat Bolt, or will Yohan Blake push Bolt to his zenith? Where is Asafa Powell in the mix? At the age of 29, this arguably, will be his last Olympics. Will he suddenly realise his true potential and leave Bolt and Blake to ponder what happened.

In the women’s one hundred-metre, imagine the match up with Veronica Campbell-Brown, Sherone Simpson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Kerron Stewart, among others. Which other small developing country, anywhere in the world, can parade such a line up of male and female sprinters to do battle among themselves, in order to try and qualify for the upcoming Olympics?

Whatever the outcome at the Olympics, for Jamaica to find itself once again at the forefront of expectations at the most prestigious international track and field event in the world, is a testimony of our ingenuity as a people. What is of significance also is that this great burden of expectation to do well at the Olympics is being carried by our young people. It will not be an easy task.

In this context, the appeal of one such young contender, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce must not go unnoticed. She recently said, ‘We are not going to run good every day. We are going to have a down day’. As a result, she is appealing to her fellow Jamaicans to understand the pressure which they undergo.

According to her, ‘they (supporters) are not there when we are training. They do not know how early we wake up in the mornings and what we eat. They just see the end results. There is a beginning and a middle. We want Jamaicans to be there in the beginning, in the middle and at the end, no matter what’. In other words, she is asking Jamaicans to understand, that whether they, the athletes, win or lose, they wish to continue to have the support of all Jamaicans. She knows that we Jamaicans are hard task masters, and is, therefore, appealing for our understanding.

The participation of our athletes in the Olympic Games is the crowning glory of a journey which began in the many meets which are held across the length and breadth of Jamaica. It is the outcome of the hardwork put in by the thousands of volunteers whose work help to hold the social fabric of this country together. It is also the crowning glory for many of our young people, who some persons would mistakenly write off as being members of a generation to be written off.