PROMISING athletes are slipping through the cracks in Trinidad and Tobago,
President of the National Athletics Association (NAATT) George Comissiong lamented this on Friday and called for local schools to play a bigger role in helping identify young talents in a similar way to how it is done in Jamaica.
Comissiong, Sport Minister Shamfa Cudjoe and Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly are in Jamaica as bilateral discussions on sports – especially at the school level – continue.
The TT officials attended the 2023 ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships in Jamaica this week. Held annually, the athletics meet – commonly called Champs – sees Jamaica's national stadium filled to capacity and many foreigners visit to witness it as well. Students come out in their numbers to support their schoolmates and many alumni also attend, proudly wearing their former school's colours and their old school ties. This year, the competition is being held from March 28-April 1.
In a post to his social media pages on Wednesday, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the meet is a "flagship event and a staple in our calendar each year as talented young Jamaicans show off their athletic prowess.
"...This year, we were happy to welcome Dr The Honourable Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Minister of Education and Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Sport and Community Development in the Government of the Republic of TT..."
[caption id="attachment_1008802" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and Sport Minister Shamfa Cudjoe take a photo with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness (centre), Kingston College sprinter Bouwahjie Nkrumie, US ambassador to Jamaica Nick Perry and CEO of GraceKennedy Ltd Don Wehby. - Andrew Holness's Facebook page[/caption]
He said the meet will bring "tremendous enjoyment" for local fans and international visitors.
On Monday, Cudjoe noted that many people in TT say there should be something similar to Champs in TT.
But she said most schools in TT no longer have annual sports days, so champions of the various schools cannot be chosen to then compete in a major inter-school competition.
"The way we operate needs to change."
On Friday, Cudjoe posted to social media saying she led a TT delegation of sport and education to tour Jamaica's national stadium and attend the meet.
She said, "Champs is one of the longest-running school sports competitions in the western hemisphere and can serve as a benchmark for the development of our sport and education programmes."
Gadsby-Dolly told Newsday it has been "instructive to see how their (Jamaica's) ministries of sport and education, state agencies, as well as volunteers, teacher, principal and alumni associations and corporate entities have co-operated over many years to implement sport development."
Speaking with Newsday on Friday, Comissiong said Jamaica has a school-based system when it comes to providing a pool of young athletic talent in the country, "when compared to us, we have a club-based system."
When it comes t
