Zonal Primary Schools Track and Field Competition revived

The green light has been given for the reintroduction of a National Zonal Primary Schools Track and Field Competition, answering one of the many calls from local school sports enthusiasts.{{more}}

Plans are in train to revive the championships, which have been absent from the primary schools’ sporting calendar for many years.

President of Team Athletics SVG Keith Joseph told SEARCHLIGHT that the championships will be held on a zonal basis, with demarcations done by parish.

In further outlining the process, which is in synergy with the Ministry of Education, Joseph said: “We are going to follow the same format as the secondary schools, i.e. three days of instructional times being accepted, because we felt that if we do like what they used to do in the past, preliminaries, then finals, it means that athletes in some institutions will just have one day of competition.”

Joseph said that the first phase of competition will be the preliminaries; then a significant number will advance to the semi-finals, which will be one full day, then the finals another full day.

He said both the semi-finals and finals are set for the Arnos Vale Playing Field.

“We are hoping to have the semi-finals during the same week of the Inter Secondary Schools finals,” Joseph projected, granted the configuration of this the second term of the academic year.

The heats of the secondary schools Track and Field championships are set for March 23 and 24, and the Finals on March 31.

He said that the finals of the primary schools’ competition should take place during the first two weeks of term three, which is in early April.

An optimistic and bubbly Joseph said that things are shaping up in terms of a sponsor for the event, which he said will be a welcomed item on the itinerary of the local sporting calendar.

The TASVG President also said that in an attempt to synchronise operations, and to bring parity to the preliminaries, it will be mandated that all the tracks will be of the same size.

“We are saying that everybody will be running on a 200 meters track in the preliminaries, the same turns, the same experiences,” he confirmed.

Joseph said this will be done with the understanding that playing fields in the north of the island are not as large as the others found in the other districts.

In keeping the playing field level, Joseph said that a cadre of officials will be trained by the National Technical Officials Chairman, Woodrow Williams.

“This will be done to ensure competencies relative to time keeping, as in each zone it will be final heats, so you have to have the same calibre of officiating and we are trying to standardize that,” Joseph outlined.

Joseph said that the training of these officials, done through the Ministry of Education, with help from Williams and others, when identified, will form a resource pool, from which to draw for future events, including other sporting disciplines, not only Track and Field.(RT)