Winning Champs is not our priority – Wellington

Unlike the other four schools that been finishing in the top five in the boys category of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships in recent vintage, St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) are not trying to win the title, their principal Keith Wellington told STAR Sports.

Instead, the Santa Cruz- based school headmaster is hoping his student-athletes can gain scholarships to tertiary institutions and adapt other benefits such as discipline from their participation in organised sports.

“There is more to be gained like the opportunity to travel and scholarships. At the end of the day, only one team can win so the focus can’t be just that,” Wellington explained.

“We participate because we want to provide more students with the opportunity to participate in sports and by doing so they can get opportunities in terms of scholarships and the benefits of discipline and socialisation.”

Art of winning

Wellington, who is the president of the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA), believes that STETHS could win Champs if they really wanted to as they mastered the art of winning in other areas such as football and cricket.

“I have often said, and the coaches here have said it too, that if we decide at any point in time that we really want to win Champs, I don’t think that there is anything that could stop us,” he said. “But we don’t think in terms of the cost effectiveness, winning Champs should be a priority because we don’t want to win at and not be able to sustain it.”

STETHS have been trying to break into the top four for more than five years with head coach Reynaldo Walcott.

“If you look at all of our programmes, we have been able to sustain our number one spot for a long period. We did it in football and cricket. But Champs will take a lot in terms of finances and will have to make sacrifices. In my opinion as a principal, I do not think that it is worth it,” Wellington said.