Athletes participating in the 6th staging of the JPS Western Primary Schools athletics championships at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on June 14, will be restricted to a maximum of three events including relays, the organisers have announced.

At last week’s launch at the International University of the Caribbean (IUC) on East Street in Montego Bay, meet director Albert Ferguson said the organising committee had put in restrictions on the number of events athletes will be allowed to compete in at the one- day meet.

“In keeping with best practices and seeking to preserve the future of the athletes, for the first time athletes will not be allowed to do more than three events, and in some case just two,” Ferguson announced.

He also added that any athlete competing in any of the Open events, can only compete in two events.

Additionally, the long jump event will only be contested in Class 1, while the Class 4 athletes will no longer do the cricket ball throw.

In the previous five stagings, there were no restrictions and a number of athletes were able to run as many as eight times during the meet, and even four times in a 90- minute span.

Ferguson stressed that the move of limiting the number of events each athlete can compete in would “protect the athletes and ensure they can shine when they get to high school, college and onwards and to one day become world stars; this is our commitment to further ensuring that the preservation of the athletes thus charting the way forward.”

Despite the absence of a number of the schools that had become staples at the meet, 21 schools- tying the record from the 2012 staging- with over 1,000 athletes are down to take part.

There will be six newcomers Ferguson said, Askenish and Green Island Primary of Hanover, Dundee Primary and Kew Park of Westmoreland, Flanker Primary of St James and Lowe River of Trelawny.

Defending champions Howard Cooke Primary of St James will lead the teams seeking top honours, which also include Anchovy Primary, Barracks Road, Cambridge Primary, Catherine Hall, Chetwood Memorial Primary, Corinaldi Ave, Duncans Primary, Enfield Primary, Esher, Irwin Primary, John Rollins Success, Mt Hermon, St Ann’s Bay and Wakefield Primary.

The athletes will compete in four classes; Class 1 athletes will do 100m, 200, 400m, long jump and 4x100m relays; Class 2 athletes will compete in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 4x100m relay; Class 3 will do 100m and 200m, as well as 4x100m and cricket ball throw, while Class 4 will do 80m, 150m and 4x100m.

The Open events which only athletes in Classes 1 and 2 can participate are 800m and 4x400m.