Trelawny’s Hague Primary School (for the first time) will take part in the JPS Western Primary Schools Athletics Championships. The meet is scheduled for the the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Saturday, June 11.
Hague has been developing a track program, and earlier this year, won the primary schools boys relay at the Milo Western Relays. Fifteen other schools will also make their debut in the growing Championships, adding to the 19 that participated last year.
Wakefield Primary, also from Trelawny is one of the favorites for the title.
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A record 35 schools, including eight first-time entrants, are down to participate in the 8th renewal of the JPS Western Primary Schools Athletics Championships to be held at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Saturday, June 11.
Albert Ferguson, chairman of the organising committee and meet director, told Tuesday’s press launch at the International University of the Caribbean on Union Street, Montego Bay, that the number of schools participating this year has almost doubled the 19 that took part in last year’s renewal.
Black River Primary from St Elizabeth that finished fourth at the INPORTS National Primary Championships at the National Stadium last weekend are among the newcomers that will add quality to the championships, Ferguson said.
Howard Cooke Primary of St James will defend their title and will be one of three schools seeking a third title along with Wakefield Primary of Trelawny and Corinaldi Avenue Primary of St James.
Ferguson said the championships will be “unpredictable and exciting,” and warned patrons to “brace yourself as it is going to be hot, it is going to keep you at edge of seats and on your feet.”
The championships,which started in 2009, Ferguson said “will continue to build a legacy and fine tradition that will bring honour and glory to the local sporting fraternity here in western Jamaica for many years to come,” adding that “it was fertile hunting ground for high school coaches seeking to boost their teams.
“It is not a secret that this championships is the signature track and field event for primary school age children in western Jamaica, and it is at this championships that coaches are searching for talent,” Ferguson argued.
And while naming several athletes who got their start at the Western Primary Athletics Championships, Ferguson argued that “this was the start of what will be a long and fruitful journey for some of those athletes.”
“These championships is the spring board, the starting block and the lane from which approximately 2,000 athletes will seek to transform their talents into future world champions. We are confident that the names of several of these young athletes are going to be echoed in World Championships and Olympic stadia across the globe as world beaters in their chosen events,” he remarked.
