Two of the country’s top track and field coaches, Leford Grant and David Riley, expressed their full endorsement of the move by the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) to enlist the services of two international track and field officials for this year’s ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships.

Keith Wellington, the president of ISSA, said that the highly experienced overseas officials, who will serve as a start referee and an appeal judge, will contribute to enhancing the cadre of officials for the five-day championships scheduled to be held at National Stadium from March 19-23.

Grant, the head coach of defending boys’ champions Kingston College (KC), voiced his support for ISSA’s decision and said that it would add an international flavour to the championships.

“I think it is a good idea by ISSA to have these two international officials here for the boys’ and girls’ championships. I am not downgrading the Jamaican officials here, but having foreign individuals might bring impartiality to any particular high school,” Grant said.

“I believe their opinions will be fairly unbiased, making this a positive move by ISSA. Champs, in my view, has grown beyond Jamaica’s boundaries, and this is beneficial for future Champs events and track and field meets held in Jamaica,” he added.

Riley, the head coach of Excelsior, also expressed his delight with ISSA’s decision, especially with the inclusion of an independent starter for the championships.

“I think it is a good move, because Champs is a meet with international interest, and we have many international athletes. The fact that they have introduced a start referee, who is independent of the start crew, is a technical improvement,” Riley pointed out.

He added: “Usually, the start referee is independent of the start team and makes a judgement at the start area regarding whether it is a fair start or not. This is the first attempt to implement that, and it is a positive development.”

Meanwhile, Wellington highlighted that the addition of two overseas officials would boost the credibility of the championships.

“Our local officials have performed exceptionally well for a long time. However, observations from last year indicated discrepancies, and having individuals with no vested interest in which schools win may enhance our local officials’ reputation,” Wellington explained.

“We have decided to start with two international officials in two of our critical areas, which is the start official as well of our jury of appeal,” he said. “These are NACAC officials outside of Jamaica and so I think it is something that is going to be readily accepted by not just the schools and patrons but also our own local officials. I don’t think you can bring into question their competence because all of these officials are persons who go abroad to officiate in international meets as well,” he stated.