The Maurice Wilson-led Sprintec Track Club will be hoping to make their presence felt at Supreme Ventures Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association National Senior Championship and could ruffle a few feathers. The country’s two dominant clubs are MVP and Racers.

Over the years, the Stephen Francis-led MVP and Racers, under the guidance of Glen Mills, have been providing the bulk of the Jamaican athletes to the major championships.

But the new kid on the block, Sprintec, based at GC Foster College, will have something to say about that later this week.

“If everything runs true to form and the athletes perform, then we are going to do much better than persons would have expected of us to,” Wilson told the

Jamaica Observer.

“It is not about ruffling feathers, but getting these athletes to perform at a level that they would have trained,” he added.

Sprintec’s primary purpose is to assist local athletes with their tertiary level education and to maximise their potential as world-class athletes using state-of-the-art training techniques and a newly laid $170-m synthetic track.

“We do not have the cash flow like the other clubs to have a great number of athletes, so we have to come up with ways and means in which we can monitor or manage the amount of people we have under our care,” Wilson pointed out.

Wilson, who is also the head coach at GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sports, has an impressive leadership resume. He directed Jamaica’s team in the IAAF World Junior Championships in 2000, 2004 and 2006. He served in a similar role in the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, and in three previous World Championships — in Helsinki in 2005, Osaka in 2007, and Berlin in 2009.

Wilson, who is a Level 5-Certified IAAF coach in sprint and hurdles, was also the man behind Holmwood Technical’s golden run for high schoolgirls’ championships, leading them to nine titles between 2003 and 2011.

He has taken on the mantle at GC Foster and by extension, Sprintec, and has formed a formidable unit ready to make their presence felt at the 2016 National Senior Championships.

Under his care are Commonwealth Games 200m champions Sherone Simpson and Rasheed Dwyer; Anneisha McLaughlin, Anastassia LeRoy, Ristananna Tracey, Demish Gaye, Gayon Evans, Jura Levy, Oshane Bailey, Jermaine Hamilton, Verone Chambers and Audra Segree, to name a few.

“It is obvious that we are consistent from the start of the season in terms of our performances. So once we continue with this trend, then without a trace of a doubt, with only six or seven elite athletes, we should be able to give an excellent account of ourselves in terms of performances,” said Wilson.

“I have always felt that the competition is healthy for our track and field. I have always felt that persons should be able to have options and we are very good option. We are small in numbers, but we get a lot of support from GC Foster College and, because of that, we are one of, if not, the best option presently,” he noted.

— Howard Walker