media_artricles :: 2016

Tobago prime to dominate school athletic meeting again

Carifta Under-18 gold medallist Tyriq Horsford and sprint champion Akanni Hislop will return to competition in two weeks, to display their remarkable athleticism at the Secondary School Track and Field Championships.

They will show off their skills at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Woodbrook during the two-day meet from April 20 to 21. The meeting is expected to attract more than 500 athletes from state and privately-funded education centres.

Philip Allard, president of the Secondary Schools Track and Field Association, expressed his excitement about Horsford's and Hislop's participation under the banner of the Tobago Zone of the organisation.

Anticipation related to the Championships had been heightened with news that defending champions Toco Secondary School indicated that its athletes intended to represent the school with merit, again, this year.

"Our sport at this point in time is a zone sport. Even though we have top girls school and boys school, it's a zone sports and Tobago is the defending zone for the longest while. So they are always looking forward to come, to participate and win again. They have about two Carifta gold medallists.

So they have some really good athletes in there. They are coming with as many athletes as have qualified.

"A meet is a goal where they could test themselves to see where they have reached, where they can test themselves by their compatriots and the other athletes. So, this is a big step for all the athletes in schools to test their abilities with other athletes, those who are coming from Carifta. If I were an athlete, certainly, I would be testing my ability to compete with those athletes," Allard said.

He continued, "The Ministry of Education is very happy for anything that could be done to develop students holistically. The ministry of education has been our major sponsor for the longest while. We still need other sponsors, however, for other types of prizes, other than medals that will motivate students. We want to give schools prizes in relation to helping them fix their sporting facilities, that kind of thing.

"So, whereas the ministry of education has been doing quite well for medals and for refreshment and the like transport, there are other things we think would be necessary from a sponsor. So the winning school may get new equipment, that kind of stuff. That is the way we would like to go."

The organising committee had cause for further excitement citing a deal to be signed with regional broadcaster Digicel SportsMax.

Allard was convinced that the latest development would bolster the reputation of the Secondary School track and field circuit.

He said his team welcomed this latest development, citing the slow pace of corporate assistance for the staging of the meeting, which had been around for more than three decades. Despite issues related to supporting sponsors, however, the education ministry remained the title sponsor of the event.

Allard continued, "We want to bring more excitement. That is why we have started a process of having a media launch, marketing. What I have seen, in T&T we are not a paying public.

"Most of our sports suffered from a lack of spectators. We believe we may be able to start a process of filling a stadium through secondary school sports, through proper marketing. There must be sponsorship of course, and an organisation like Digicel Sportsmax to televise it globally. That may spur on students to participate. It may motivate people to come to the sports knowing that this thing is being televised."

Asked about his organisation's relationship with the governing National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA), he said it was a work in progress.

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