A number of high school track and field coaches in western Jamaica are calling for assistance to continue their preparations for the major championships to come later in the year, in the aftermath of cancellation announcements for two track and field meets earlier this week.

Coaches are scrambling to find meets to fill gaps in their preparations after the cancellation earlier this week of the Western Relays and the Comets International Development meet.

William Knibb Memorial Coach Rodrick Myles and his Green Island High counterpart Michael McIntosh lamented the cancellation of both meets, saying it robbed their athletes of quality competition, and urged the intervention of the Government or the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) to help the region.

News broke on Thursday of the cancellation of the Western Relays, which was set for mid-February at G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, due to uncertainty over the readiness of the track at the Angels, St Catherine, venue.

This was followed by news about the third staging of the Comets meet, set originally for Saturday, January 17 at Herbert Morrison Technical High School.

Expectations were dashed on Monday after it was heard that a planned visit to the Montego Bay Sports Complex by World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was called off at the last minute. The venue was extensively damaged by Hurricane Melissa in October.

“We were unable to proceed with our planning, which would have normally started the previous year, as we could not get a definitive response from G C Foster as to when the track would be ready to host competition,” Western Relays Meet Director Ray Harvey told the Sunday Observer.

The track at G C Foster is reportedly due to undergo resurfacing but the school’s Administration is also unsure of when the work could proceed as the material for the track had not arrived in the island up to last week.

The work is expected to take between three to four weeks to be completed and certified, and a start date had tentatively been set for the week following the Anderson/Fuller meet on January 17.

Comets meet founder Aubrey Campbell told the Observer they had to make a difficult decision due to the damage to the track and facilities at Herbert Morrison, as well as the impact on other schools in the region, by Melissa.

“This is very hard. Preparation is very good and important but competition is what gets the athletes ready for the major championships — and that is being taken away from us,” McIntosh said.

“The cancellation of these meets adds to the frustration with the high cost to travel out of the region to compete. Now is high time for Government to help us to continue with the business of growth and development of our worl-class athletes.”

Myles agrees with McIntosh.

“This is a big blow to our region,” he said. “For my institution [it] is a big blow [as] more than half of our teams cannot participate because we are struggling with the financial part and just trying to see how best we can hold our programmes together.

“Western Relays facilitated us very well; for example, they found ways to assist us with transportation [to G C Foster]. And it is the only meet that really understands us in the region and tries to assist us as best as possible, so the cancellation is a blow to us in our region.

“[Schools affected by Melissa] will now have to find money to go to other meets that offer relays, so for us it is a real struggle. I hope somebody can step up. Maybe the JAAA or the Government can host a meet in the region or fund transportation to meets that we can use to help us qualify for the ISSA Champs, as it is hurting us to have to go into Kingston every week for meets.”

William Knibb competed at the Purewater/R Danny Williams/Jamaica College (JC) Development meet at JC’s Ashenheim Stadium in St Andrew yesterday, and Myles says their budget for a team of about 40 athletes could be as high as $25,000. He says this is not feasible over a long season.

Given the impact western athletes have had on Jamaica’s track and field success over the years, Myles argued that, “the burden should not be on just the schools alone at this time [as] the JAAA and the Government can get more involved. Maybe there can be some consultations between us and them. We have given so much to Jamaica and the world.”

The timing, he said, is also important as, “track and field is not something that we can just get up one day and say, ‘Let’s do this’ or ‘Let’s do that.’ It takes planning way in advance, and we will need to time do what we have to do.”

Cornwall College’s Marques Reid (left) takes the baton from teammate Justin Campbell in the Boys’ Class 3 4x100m relays during the Western Relays at G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, in St Catherine, in February 2025. (Photo: Paul Reid)

HARVEY… we were unable to proceed with our planning.

MCINTOSH…preparation is very good and important but competition is what gets the athletes ready for the major championships — and that is being taken away from us .