The Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) will retain the schedule used for the first time last at this year’s 113th staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships.
The five-day meet is slated for Kingston’s National Stadium from Tuesday, March 28 through to Saturday, April 1, and will have the spread of quality finals across four days with excitement guaranteed each day.
Sixty-nine boys’ teams and 68 girls’ teams have been registered to participate in the spectacle which will see athletes contesting 88 events over the five days.
The event will start at 9:00 am and end at 9:30 pm from Tuesday through to Friday, and from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Saturday.
The first day on Tuesday will comprise all preliminaries, while Wednesday will have 17 finals highlighted by the 100m for boys and girls.
Thursday will have 13 finals, highlighted by the 400m, Friday will see 13 finals highlighted by several field events and the 400m hurdles, while Saturday’s final day will have 43 finals, highlighted by the 800m, 200m, 4x100m, and 4x400m relays.
Each school will be allowed a maximum of two competitors per event only if both are ranked according to the “entry requirements”. Schools having more than two athletes ranked will not be given an extra spot,
In the event a ranked athlete is unable to compete, schools will not be allowed a replacement. Instead, the athlete ranked immediately below the cut-off line will be promoted.
The Opening Ceremony is slated for Tuesday at 6:00 pm, while the Closing Ceremony is set for Saturday at 9:00 pm.
Title sponsors GraceKennedy Limited has allocated $175 million, $81m in cash, and the rest in execution, through its subsidiaries Grace Foods, Grace Money Services, and First Global.
This sum is a huge increase from the $88 million invested at the 2022 edition.
“This is our 16th year of sponsoring and I want to emphasize the point that as a business we don’t consider it an expense; it’s an investment in our youth, sport and more importantly, an investment in our country,” Don Wehby, chief executive officer of the GraceKennedy Group, told the gathering at the launch of the 2023 edition of Champs inside the National Stadium on Wednesday evening.
He added: “We are pleased with our sponsorship of Champs and we would like to continue as long as possible. It’s a huge investment for GraceKennedy; it is our largest sponsorship by far, but it’s a return on investment because we have seen the fruits of that investment in the country’s many stars, including Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Hansle Parchment who continue to make us proud each year.”
The winning schools will receive $1 million, with second place through to fifth place earning $750,000, $500,000, $300,000, and $200,000.
In addition, a special digital award of $500,000 will be on offer for the boys’ and girls’ schools that break the most records. The funds will go towards the schools’ digital curriculum as part of Grace Kennedy’s drive for digital technology and advancement in schools.
There will also be a special award of $250,000 each to the top teacher and coach of the winning boys’ and girls’ schools.
Meanwhile, ISSA President Keith Wellington noted that the 2023 edition of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships marks the return of what is expected to be the first fully executed version of the world’s biggest and best High Schools’ Championships since 2019.
“Over the past 36 months, Jamaica and indeed the world has benefited from the investments made in this product and by extension track and field by ISSA and various stakeholders including our sponsors led by Grace Foods, the local governing body of athletics, the JAAA along with our schools, parents, the Government of Jamaica, etc.
“While the entire world was painstakingly dealing with the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, this great team has been able to protect and grow one of Jamaica’s greatest assets thus contributing to the continuation of our track and field legacy.
“In back-to-back World Junior Championships during the pandemic our Champs products have ably enhanced Jamaica’s reputation as a first-world track and field nation. The likes of Tia and Tina Clayton, Kerrica Hill, Brianna Lyston, Alexis James, Alana Reid, Kobe Lawrence, Jaydon Hibbert, and Bouwagie Nkrume have been able to provide further evidence of the value and worth of Champs as a breeding ground for world youth stars and the future of Jamaica’s athletics.”
Kingston College and Edwin Allen High School are the defending boys’ and girls’ champions.
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