Congratulations to the alumni of Jamaica’s Calabar High School residing in South Florida. Last Saturday, for the sixth consecutive year, Calabar High won the boy’s division of the Issa/Grace Kennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletic Championships. This year’s victory must have been special for the Calabar faithful as the team came from behind with a rush to defeat the pre-meet favorites Kingston College by a mere 3 points. Congrats must also be given to the Edwin Allen alumni who won the girls division of the championship in fine style for a fourth consecutive year.
These championships have been a part of Jamaica’s sport culture for 107 consecutive years, and have grown to be one of the more iconic sporting events not only in the Caribbean, but globally. What was an event that years ago featured athletes from the more prestigious schools on the island now is an event that includes athletes from almost every high school in the country. And, what used to be two championships, one focusing on young female athletes, the others young men, is one event featuring young male and female athletes. So many athletes from so many Jamaican high schools now participates in the Championships it has grown from a 2 day, to a five-day event.
While Jamaican politicians and political parties continue to struggle to bring their aggressively divided supporters together into peaceful coexistent, this high school championship has brought young people and their fans from all corners of Jamaica in peaceful, friendly competitive coexistence for several days.
While politicians have also struggled to erase the dichotomy that tends to empower Kingston and St. Andrew and marginalize rural Jamaica, the championships have served to place rural Jamaica and the Kingston and St. Andrew metropolis on equal footing. Long gone are the days when it was a rarity for an athlete from a rural school to be among the medal winners at the championships. In the event concluded this past weekend several rural athletes were not only prominent gold medalists, but proud holders of new championship records.
More importantly, the annual Boys’ and Girls’ Championships is an iconic event that has grasped the attention of athletic organizations worldwide. These championships are now globally recognized as the source from which Jamaica’s prowess in athletics at athletic meets like the biennial World Athletic Championships and the Olympic games originate. Now several nations would like to copy Jamaica’s high school athletic formula. Moreover, the outstanding performance in sprints, long distance and field events at last week’s championships served notice that Jamaican athletes should remain relevant on the world’s stage for years to come.
Also, long gone are the days when Jamaica lost its promising athletes to American colleges. These athletes were wooed by athletic scholarships, and some never returned to compete in, or for their homeland.
Through the effort put into high school athletics by a cadre of high school officials and skilled Jamaican coaches, the commitment of corporate sponsors, and the focus given by the Jamaica Athletic Association and the Jamaican Ministry of Sports, Jamaican athletes who excel at the high school championships, are ready to advance to the global athletic field. Success at the championships have, and will continue to launch rewarding professional athletic careers for promising Jamaican athletes.
The iconic nature of the championships now make it a serious revival to popular American track and field events like the annual Penn Relays. In fact, the success of teams from Jamaican high schools are a primary reason for the sustained popularity of the Penn Relays. Unfortunately, the attendance by international media and visitors to the Jamaican high school championships is negatively impacted by the relative small spectator capacity of the National Stadium in Kingston. Reports from Jamaica indicated, based on the international demand for tickets to the recent championships, a stadium twice the capacity of the National Stadium’s 35,000 capacity would have been filled.
Last year, the Jamaican government through its minister responsible for sports and entertainment announced plans to develop Jamaican sports, primarily track and field athletics, into viable commercial enterprises. It’s hoped the plans for these enterprises are well underway. There is every indication that track and field in Jamaica has the potential to rival the nation’s tourism sector as one of the more lucrative enterprises in the country.
