SPOT VALLEY, St James — Spot Valley High’s only realistic hope for a medal at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Champs next month will be in the Class 2 boys’ sprint where Romario Hines will carry the St James-based school’s colours.

Hines shot to prominence earlier this year when he took the sprint double at the County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA) Western Champs at the St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex in Santa Cruz.

He was only beginning as last weekend he pencilled in his name on the Carifta Games team after winning the Under-17 boys’ 200m, in a clean sweep for western athletes. He was also third in the 100m.

Ricardo Cunningham, head coach of the Spot Valley team, is hoping his athletes can rise to the occasion.

“[Getting] 20 points would be a blessing for a programme such as this where maybe only a few athletes will represent,” Cunningham told the Jamaica Observer.

Spot Valley had all of three wins at last weekend’s Carifta Trials but a number of the top athletes will miss the ISSA/GraceKennedy Champs as they are transfer students.

“The bulk of the points would come from Deandra Harris, Shenell Cole and Amoy Francis, however they are not eligible to compete until next season,” he said.

Harris won the girls’ Under-17 400m hurdles at Carifta Trials, while Cole won the Under-17 javelin.

“It is a possibility to score points also in the male open Javelin with Marshal Waite who started training after the completion of the daCosta Cup football competition and who should be throwing over 50.00m by then. Annmarie Valentine may just step up and gain a point or two in the female Javelin open since she is new to the event yet improving by several metres every time she competes,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham, the three time national 800m champion and World Championships and Commonwealth Games representative, said he was not surprised by the performances last weekend.

“The performances at the Carifta trials were not surprising at all, I had foreseen all these results because I had initially planned for this trial since most of my top-ranked athletes are not eligible to perform at champs this year since they are transferred students.”

Saying he is “not a Champs fanatic” but a coach who grooms his athletes for scholarship after high school.

“The athletes worked hard all season and were under performing at meets in the sense that they were loaded intentionally,” he said.

Despite the success, Cunningham says all is not smooth as up to earlier this week the school had still been behind in planning for the five-day high school championships set for April 5-9.

The school, located in the hills of Spot Valley, overlooking the ocean, in the Rose Hall area, has only had two ISSA/GraceKennedy Champs medallists — Devannah Gayle and Tyrese Reid — and Cunningham.

“Yes, it is likely to be increased this year if we do make it there since there have not been any planning mentioned as yet in this regard.”

And even if they do get there he said, they have to work for everything.

“I did not put a medal in storage at Champs however, what I do know is that these athletes that I have currently have adopted a mentality of not fearing the unknown and giving their everything or nothing at all,” he told the Observer.

“They will go with an intention of overcoming the odds. My plans are, however, not just embodied around Champs since there is a larger spectrum of things to be achieved in track and field and sports on a whole. I will only focus on Champs if it is a goal of the athlete or parent, otherwise I rather consider the world stage or an education through tracks.

“Preparing athletes at small schools such as Spot Valley can offer so much challenges that at times it becomes unbearable to you as a coach and also on the student-athletes,” he said.

“Financially, it is a huge burden on your pocket since you have to do most of the financing. Without boarding facilities, recruiting athletes into the programme is next to impossible unless you are willing to do funding on your own as I’m currently doing. Nutritional needs and monthly bills are added stress in this regard also. I personally have to make a mini gym for the team, buy equipment and coach free of cost.

“The struggles increases daily with no change in sight with only the sweat of the athletes to be used as motivation along with personal goals and determination. I have to say thank you to the parents for stepping in and offer needed help when they can and to continue keeping their children in the struggle because a few of them have had offers to venture into greener pastures but insist on staying in the track programme of the school because of loyalty,” he said.

While there is not doubt about the loyalty of the athletes, Cunningham said he doesn’t get the same from the school, “The major challenges I face at the institution is a lack of loyalty, trust, truthfulness, consistency and the willingness to offer reward for hard work to either athletes or coach from persons in authority,” he vented.

“The students have yet to receive a line of thank you for their performances at Western Champs or Carifta Trials.”

The litany of problems is a long one but Cunningham said there is a small light at the end of a long tunnel with a change in the chairman of the board which gives them a little hope.

“The programme is running currently on the mercy of God, the track is in close comparison to a pasture with no haste to get it even cut for use for training at times. The track and field team is treated as if it is only a means of added expenses for the institution that is been forced upon the school and not been observed as a medium of development for the students. I am, however, expecting changes while not holding my breathe since the latest developments of the athletes at their recent outings and also since their is a change in administration recently,” he said.