The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH she was considered to compete in the under-17 girls’ discus, Calea Jackson was a little too young to make this year’s team that will represent the country at the Flow CARIFTA Games over the Easter holiday weekend.

But her coach Corrington Maycock said they used this year’s process to get her ready for participation in the 2019 CARIFTA Games in the Cayman Islands where he anticipates that she will not only make the team, but also be a potential medallist.

“Calea is not your typical thrower,” said Maycock, the head coach of the Blue Chip Athletic Club. “She is very funny, matured and composed for her age and also very competitive. She wants to improve every time she competes.

“I did not expect Calea to step up the way she did at the trials.

“I wanted her to just experience the atmosphere and competition. I expect a major upgrade next year from Calea. She is learning to perfect her glide in the shot put and rotation in the discus.”

As far as Maycock sees it, 12-year-old Jackson will be a force to reckon with in the under-17 division for the next three years before she explodes into stardom.

Jackson, a seventh grade student at Queen’s College, has only been throwing under Maycock for a year and she’s quite pleased with the progress she’s made, including attaining the CARIFTA qualifying standard.

“I think I did very well, considering that I wasn’t at my best that day,” said Jackson, who won the discus in the final trials on Saturday with a toss of 28.80 metres, or 96-feet, 4-inches, which turned out to be the best feat by any competitor.

“I think I could have done better honestly.”

But Jackson said she’s more than thrilled by the improvement she made over the year.

“Next year, coach said I should make it with a little more practice,” she said. “So I’m definitely looking forward to next year. But I’m going to watch the games here and see how the competition is and what I will need to work on.

“I know I need to work on my rotation and I need to do a little better in the shot put.”

During a primary school meet a year ago at Queen’s College, Jackson said they were throwing shot put and after she won the competition, her physical education teacher introduced her to coach Maycock and the rest was history.

Her mother Carla Carey said she is proud to watch the development of her daughter in such a short space of time.

“I’m really impressed. It’s one of those situations where you want your kid to do well, even if she was just average, that would have been fine with me,” she stated. “But I’ve been going to all of her meets and it’s not even been a year yet and she has really improved.

“I remember the first one she competed in, she under-achieved because she was really nervous. She has this very timid personality, but once she gets comfortable and she warms up, she gets out there and she over performs.”

On May 15, Jackson will turn 13 and so Carey said the plan is to allow her to continue throwing the shot and discus. But she noted that she is also interested in developing her skills as a ballerina, so she has her work cut out ahead of her.

“It’s really hard to balance both of them, but she will be doing both of them,” Carey stressed. “I plan to be here to support her as long as it takes to get her to where she needs to be in life, if it’s in track and field or in dancing.”

Carey said as long as Jackson has a passionate coach like Maycock, she’s confident that her daughter will succeed.

“I don’t know how he does it, but he has a passion for what he’s doing,” she pointed out. “I go out there to all of the meets. I may have missed one or two meets, depending on what is going on elsewhere.

“But he has this drive, this energy, this passion that’s second to none. Whenever Calea is competing, if there’s not a conflict where she’s competing against one of the senior members of the club, he’s right there pushing her along.”

As a parent to coach, Carey said Maycock is a straight shooter and that is something that she can handle because they don’t try to waste anybody’s time.

“I love what he’s doing with the kids. I see the energy and the love from the other moms when they come out. It’s like a little family,” she reflected. “I don’t know about the other clubs, but we have a very close knitted family atmosphere.

“Whatever he gets out of her, I am satisfied because I believe that she will only get better as long as she stays committed to training under coach Maycock.”