More restrictions expected for Champs 2021 – Wellington
Published:Tuesday | March 9, 2021 | 12:16 AM
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With the second week of the junior track and field season completed, ISSA President Keith Wellington says that he expects more refined protocols for the upcoming ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs), scheduled for next...
With the second week of the junior track and field season completed, ISSA President Keith Wellington says that he expects more refined protocols for the upcoming ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs), scheduled for next month.
After two months of negotiations with the Government, the junior athletics season returned on February 27 with meets across nine venues, subjected to strict COVID-19 protocols. As part of the agreement, meets will take place every Saturday up until April 3, four weeks before the championships are scheduled to be held.
Wellington says that in light of the evolving health situation, more measures will be necessary, in keeping with the elevated standard of the event which would be different from the scaled-down weekly meets.
“We would expect that should we be able to host the championships, the protocols that are currently being used will be improved upon,” Wellington told The Gleaner. “We think Champs will be held to a higher standard and therefore protocols now would be appropriate for the smaller meets, but for Champs, we would expect that there would be greater effort required to raise the standards.”
Champs was pushed back from its original March target to its alternative date of April 27 to May 1 because of the current spike in COVID-19 cases. There have been no improvements since the announcement last month, with the country reporting 878 new infections on Sunday.
Noting that he was mostly satisfied with how the schools have enforced the protocols at their respective locations so far, Wellington said that they have not yet submitted their request to the Ministry of Sport to host Champs, as they are assessing the specific requirements necessary to stage the competition with protocols for a large group.
LEARNING OPPORTUNITY
“We have not yet submitted that final request because we need to be fully cognisant of what it is that would be required to safely and successfully stage the championships,” Wellington said. “(The meets are) a guide for us and a learning opportunity for the organisers of Champs. We are using this so we can be guided as to what we need to have in place.”
Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association First Vice-President Ian Forbes said that the restrictions had to be tighter across venues in their weekly series in light of the surge, and says that they will be working with ISSA regarding the protocols with the new date now formalised. Additionally, he said that continued enforcement of the protocols around the grounds, given the recent developments, will be critical in getting the approval for Champs.
“If we do not execute well, it will not only impact track and field. We are accustomed to working with strict protocols, so in terms of pressure [there isn’t any], but, of course, we are cognisant that all lives are in focus and we will try our very best to enforce the protocols and pretty much walk the talk,” Forbes said.