Wellington pleased with progress of track season

President of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), Keith Wellington, says that he is satisfied with how the various schools have kept to the strict protocols which have facilitated the return of the junior track and field season.

The series of meets finished its second week of events last weekend across nine venues as part of the effort to minimise large crowds, as junior athletes seek to attain the qualifying standards necessary to compete at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Championships (Champs), which have been pushed back to the end of April.

St Elizabeth Technical High School, Calabar High, Jamaica College are some of the institutions that have played host to the respective meets, and Wellington says that apart from a few difficulties, he is pleased with how the measures have been enforced.

"I think things are going fairly well over the two weeks. We had a few shortcomings but we have improved over time. The athletes seemed prepared," Wellington told STAR Sports. "I think generally things have gone fairly well, and we are just hopeful that the COVID-19 [situation] will improve so that it can allow us to continue."

Jamaica is still experiencing a surge in cases, with over 800 cases of COVID-19 being reported on Sunday, pushing the active total to almost 12,000. Additionally, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton confirmed on Monday that the contagious UK variant is in Jamaica.

CHAMPS

The Government approved weekly meets from February 27 to April 3, three weeks before the start of Champs. Wellington confirmed that the application to the Ministry of Sport has not yet been submitted to hold Champs, but hinted that the measures could be tighter because of the evolving situation.

"We already have a set of protocols in place, but they are only good if they are applicable to the current situation. So, what we are thinking is we will have to make adjustments," Wellington said. "What we have now may not be applicable in another six weeks from now."