Camperdown induction for Mills

Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

After spending more than three decades at his alma mater, giving his all and in so doing engraved the school's name on the track and field map - both internationally and locally - it's now time for Camperdown High School to say thank you to Glen Mills, one of the world's renowned track and field coaches.

On Saturday night, he will be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame and will be presented with a special award by the World and Olympic 100 and 200 metres record holder, Usain Bolt.

The function will be held at the Terra Nova Hotel, St Andrew, starting 6:30 p.m.

Coach Mills will be among five Camperdown stalwarts who will be inducted. Some of these are persons who have already been honoured by the Government for excellence in their respective fields.

The list includes Olympic gold medallist Donald Quarrie, international reggae artiste Bunny Wailer (Bunny Livingston), creative dancer Patsy Ricketts, and former principal Noel White, who will be honoured posthumously.

Successful alumnus

Undoubtedly one of the most successful products of the school, Mills got enrolled at the east Kingston-based institution in 1962.

In his early teens, he attempted to represent his school in sprinting, but that did not work out.

"I was distraught because I was not blazing down the track like Quarrie (Donald) and others. God gave me another talent, which was coaching," reasoned Mills.

At 14, he was kept busy assisting with the preparation of the school's track team, under the watchful eyes of then coach, Henry McDonald Messam. Mills later took charge of the track team in 1970.

"We did remarkably well with fewer than 300 boys. Going up against the giants of the sport we finished third in Boys' Champion-ship that year," said Mills, who coached the school's team up to 2000.

Under his watch, Camperdown became a mighty force in sprinting, and was later dubbed the 'Sprint Factory' by track and field fans, as they dominated the sprint events at Champs, Penn Relays and other meets.

"While at Camperdown, I single-handedly built the track and field programme. I also helped with the development of the football programme, When the school won the triple crown in 1982, I was a major part of the organisation," said Mills, who promised to continue to support his alma mater in whatever way.

The man who now coaches a string of international track and field stars, said his greatestachievement in life is his coaching career.

"But there are two women who impacted my life the most during my youth. They were my grandmother and Ms Ivy Grant, who was the founding principal of Camperdown.

"At school, Ms Grant was a caring, God-fearing woman. She was the perfect example of what a human being should be like. She was of impeccable character. I remember at times she would fill in for the teachers when they were absent," said Mills.

One of Mills' cherished memories came one day at school, during physical education class, when Grant turned up and recognised one of his friends, who had stopped attending track and field training.

Interesting race

"She asked the boy why he had stopped attending training. The boy told her he could not run, so she took off her heels and challenged the boy to a race. She said 'Mills, set us off'. The boy won and she turned to him and said, 'I can run and you beat me, so go back to training," Mills reminisced.

Quarrie, another of the awardees, made the transition from being a top schoolboy sprinter at Camper-down to being among the world's elite.

After winning sprint titles in each class at Boys' Championships and making the 1968 Olympic team as a schoolboy, Quarrie stepped on to the international scene with a sprint triple at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.