The Tribune

BY TENAJH SWEETING

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE 43rd edition of the public primary school track and field championships is set to return to the old Thomas A Robinson stadium after a two-year hiatus.

The event is scheduled to get underway from 10am to 3pm April 26-28. This year’s return of the sporting event will feature 25 public primary schools and the event will host over 700 athletes.

Officials are excited and ready for this year’s track and field showdown as the children make their return to the stadium. This year’s theme will be “Returning Better Than Ever”.

Clara Storr, education officer for physical education, talked about the excitement of faculty members and primary school students leading up to next week.

“This is a commemorative event seeing that coming out of CARIFTA now celebrating our 50th year of independence our children are excited, principals are elated, persons have their banners, rags and flags ready to celebrate those schools willing and able to show their talents on the field and track,” Storr said.

At this year’s meet, the public can expect to see the primary school students compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m sprint races.

Additionally, they will go head to head in the 800m and 1,200m middle distance races. For the field events, the 25 school representatives will battle it out in the high jump, long jump, triple jump and shot put.

Latoya Sturrup, president of the New Providence Public Primary School Sports Association, talked about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the preparation of the primary school athletes.

The president said it had a major impact on them because they were on lockdowns and could only reach the students virtually.

She added that they were able to adapt by using whatever they had at home just to give students an idea on how to do the various sporting activities.

After a successful 50th CARIFTA Games, officials noted the importance of primary school students competing at these types of track and field meets.

Evon Wisdom, senior education officer for the sports unit, said the primary school track and field championships are foundational and it is where we develop student athletes, find out who our stars are, and most importantly, cultivate talent.

For persons that are interested in watching next week’s primary school track and field championships, ticket prices are $5 for adults and $1 for children.

This year’s return of the primary school track and field championships will also feature the defending champions Cleveland Eneas who will look to take home another victory.

The 43rd edition of the primary school track and field championships will be sponsored by Virgo Car Rental.

Officials are encouraging more local businesses to get on board and support the primary school students as they are the future of the nation.