The 2017 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships has ended, and it may easily be described as one of the best championships ever. Calabar and Edwin Allen high copped the trophies for the boys’ and girls’ respectively. Congratulations to both schools and their coaches.

Favourites Kingston College (KC) continues to be in the spotlight and fingers are being pointed at coach Neil Harrison, despite his team’s spectacular performance in the championships. Prior to this year’s Champs there were speculations that his tenure at KC rested on a victory at champs. With KC placing second, rumours emerged of him being fired. Harrison even indicated that he has been contacted by different schools seeking to retain his coaching services. But who is this coach?

Harrison joined the academic staff at KC in September 2014. He currently heads the Department of Physical Education coupled with the onerous task of head coach for the school. Unlike prior coaches, he is not a KC old boy. He was retained to resuscitate an ailing track and field programme following a horrific defeat in March 2014.

The performance of coaches and their teams often plays out in the public domain. However, while a victory or loss is determined by a simple tally of points, the performance of coaches requires an examination of several factors, both seen and unseen, that affect those points. These include the management of the coaches, delegating, coordinating, the management of athletes — which requires a holistic approach — and an understanding of the strength of the opponents. The effect that each of these factors can have on the overall results is debatable; however, at the end of the day, barring a tie, only one team can walk away with the Mortimer Geddes Trophy.

On April 4, 2017, an article published in The Gleaner expressed that KC’s Parent-Teachers’ Association president had indicated that he could no longer support Neil Harrison as coach following this year’s defeat: “I don’t give the coach confidence; we (KC) can’t lose Champs like that. Frankly speaking, you can’t have a team with depth like this and still lose Champs.”

Indeed, KC did not win Champs. But all things considered, can it be said that the coach underperformed? Let’s examine the trend to date: Prior to his retention, KC suffered a sub-100 point defeat to the winners in Champs 2014; then merely seven months into his tenure this was reduced to a 15-point loss in Champs 2015. Last year it was a 32-point loss, and a three-point deficit this year despite amassing more than 300 points. Calabar’s 317 points to KC’s 314 demonstrates how competitive the championship was. Clearly, athletes from both schools battled to the very end.

In the 107-year history of the championships no team has ever accumulated over 300 points without winning the championships. So there is no doubt it was an achievement.

Supporters can lose confidence when things go wrong; when neither effort nor progress is observed. But these results demonstrate that KC’s track and field programme has been revived. It is organised and the athletes are well-prepared. In no way whatsoever are these results indicative of underperformance that would cause one to lose “confidence”.

Of course, there was some disappointment in not winning the championship, but the dominant sentiment was a sense of pride and gratitude for their accomplishments. Colleague Karyn Samuels-Quallo, when asked about the issue said: “I cannot lose confidence in a coach that has scored 314 points. It means that he was able to motivate the majority of the team members and management to give their best.” Oshane McHugh, an old boy, added: “He’s an excellent coach; one who is fitting for the job.”

Maurice Wilson, technical director of Jamaica’s track and field team and senior member of the management staff of GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sports, when asked what was the best way to evaluate a coach’s performance cited: the numerical improvements in a team’s points standing; the competitiveness of the championship in terms of the spread of points across different teams; the team’s all-round improvements in the various events of the championship, and management of extenuating circumstances such as injuries, etc. He cautioned against using winning or losing as the primary indicator of performance, adding that, “No one wants to work in an environment where it’s all about winning without regard for the efforts and the improvements that would have been made.”

I agree.

Congratulations to Coach Neil Harrison and the KC family.

Verona Antoine-Smith is a teacher in a public secondary school. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration. Send comments to the Observer orbergirls@hotmail.com.