A difficult time to coach - Riley, Dyke weigh in on tough path for the 2021 athletic season

The cancellation of the Purewater/Jamaica College R.Danny Williams Meet and the Ted Dwyer Classics, scheduled for last weekend, has opened up fresh wounds into the trouble high-school athletics coaches will have to endure this season.

Organisers of the development meets were forced to call them off after the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) withheld permits for the meets to be held under the proposed COVID-19 protocols. This as the country battles to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

And although coaches have recognsed that the world is in uncharted waters, the uncertainty of the time is making it difficult for them to prepare for a season where they are not even sure that the flagship event of the year, the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships (Champs) will go on.

Michael Dyke, the head coach of Edwin Allen High School, the defending girls champions, told STAR Sports that he is finding it difficult to prepare his charges as their training at the moment is not geared towards any particular date.

"We still don't know about Champs, so we have to be extremely cautious in our preparation. The other problem is that when these meets are cancelled, we do not get to properly test all of the athletes because some people do better in training than they do in competition, and there are others who can only rise to the occasion in competition," Dyke said.

David Riley, the coach of the Excelsior High School male team, shares similar sentiments, but also pointed out that the cancellation of development meets will reduce the number of opportunities athletes will get to qualify for Champs.

"One has to qualify for Champs, and qualification can only take place when one competes at a sanctioned meet, "Riley said.

The former Wolmers' Boys' School coach believes that organisers may have to go to a much greater extent to prove to the ministry that meets can be held without large gatherings.

"What could happen is that you might want to reduce the number of people in races, and also ensure that they leave the venue whenever they have finished competing," Riley said.