Towards a Trinidad and Tobago Champs version

CHANDRADATH MADHO

THE RECENT initiative of government ministers Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly (Education) and Shamfa Cudjoe (Sport and Community Development) to conduct a sport tour of Jamaica to learn about the success of its High School Boys’ and Girls’ Champs is laudable.

Jamaica’s nationwide secondary school athletic championship is easily the largest high school track and field meet in the world. It was pioneered in 1910 as an inter-collegiate boys competition, loosely inspired by inter-collegiate competitions held by Britain’s top English grammar schools.

But fast-track to post-colonial times and Champs is both a boys and girls competition, hosted over four days in Kingston’s National Stadium. The pre-Easter event climaxes on Friday and Saturday afternoons, with spectators eclipsing 30,000. Many Jamaicans fervently follow the event on TV and radio, purchase memorabilia and vow fierce loyalties to a favourite school.

There is no doubt that TT can learn from the successful Champs model as already mentioned by Jamaica’s Minister of Sport and Culture, Babsy-Grange. Indeed, Champs has evolved through planning and co-ordination by government ministries, corporate Jamaica, and high school alumni associations.

Meanwhile, at the grassroots level, school officials, coaches, parents, and residential communities all unite to support and develop Jamaica’s talent pool. The undertone of Champs cherishes the social mobility of many low-income teenagers through sport and scholarships.

In Jamaica, the stench of poverty and perils of inner-city crime often repel students away from negative activities into athletics. As a former high school educator from south Trinidad, who also worked in two Kingston high schools, I can attest that TT endures socio-economic constraints like Jamaica. A TT version of Champs may provide fertile ground to motivate some of TT’s youth.

The first aspect of Champs that TT can learn from is the fact that it is not managed by the government but by a school principals association. While the Ministry of Education is a vital stakeholder, as the students and schools fall under its purview, the regulations, managing and planning of the event are steered by the principals.

This is an appropriate form of leadership because the principals are best able to understand the needs of their student-athletes in terms of psychosocial, academic and financial challenges. The principals are best able to understand when to schedule Champs and other build-up zonal events. Hence, if TT is to create a version of Champs, it must not heavily rely on the Sports and Education Ministries.

The second characteristic of Jamaica’s Champs that TT can seek to match is the perpetual nature of corporate sponsorship. Interestingly, Champs is not a cost to the government as Grace Kennedy is the main sponsor alongside Digicel and Puma.

Perhaps TT should target a sponsor with a sustained profit margin, with its commodities being consumed by schoolchildren. For example, large companies like SM Jaleel, Kiss, Sunshine Snacks and Universal Foods thrive on consumption by teenagers. Smaller co-sponsors will be required to provide sporting goods, televised coverage, and transport.

Undoubtedly, a telecommunications company like Digicel or Flow would gain an opportunity to brand itself as a communications provider. Bloggers and animators affiliated with the UTT and UWI could be especially invited to help create social media platforms for schools.

The third characteristic of Jamaica’s Champs that is highly impressive is the plethora of coaches in various disciplines that are hired by schools. TT needs to ramp up its training of coaches in field events. It may be wise to send school and club coaches for training at Jamaica’s GC Foster College, a tertiary school that trains physical education teachers and coaches.

It may be possible for TT to also gain technical assistance from Cuba in this training. With international coaching certification, our coaches can even gain future work opportunities in the US and Europe.

Although TT can follow Jamaica’s Champs there are limitations to modelling an intervention scheme from Jamaica. Many TT schools are less populous than their Jamaican counterparts. Hence, the number of athletes per school in the competition will be less than in Jamaica. The implication of this is that there will be minimal excitement in supporting a specific school.

Instead, a TT version of Champs should provide adulation and recognition to specific disciplines of track and field. A TT version must also celebrate record-breaking individual accomplishments. This strategy will guard against the school parochialisms and indiscipline fuelled by school rivalries, which reared its ugly head at this year’s Champs.

Furthermore, TT must recognise that track and field is not popular because the country has not been winning global titles. So, there must be a focus on consolidating recent successes in sprint relays to heighten student interest through the Ministry of Sport’s Elite Athlete Assistance Programme.

Our government ministers have a lot of work to do if they really want to emulate Champs. A draft policy review committee must be forged that consults with principals, coaches, PTAs, and corporate entities as part of an integrated approach. Furthermore, the Government must court financiers and unleash cultural identities rather than rendering handouts to at-risk youth.