ROAD TO CHAMPS #Champs22 |Immaculate’s Forde eyes top 10
Published:Friday | March 25, 2022 | 12:08 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
With crucial financial backing and a well-rounded squad, Immaculate Conception High School head coach Franz Forde says they are targeting a top 10 finish this year, as they look to rebound from a 2021 season that saw much upheaval and less-than-ideal results.
Immaculate finished in 21st place last year in the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletic Championships with eight points, a far cry from their 2019 showing when they finished sixth, the highest the school has placed in Forde’s decade-long tenure. With a renewed zeal this season, Forde says that the gradual easing of the restrictions has helped to motivate the team to match their 2019 accomplishment.
“When the coronavirus hit us, our programme dwindled. Last year when we went out, we weren’t where we wanted to be. And we expected that because some girls never came back because of the virus, and some girls started late, and we could understand that,” Forde told The Gleaner. “But the way that things have been running and sport coming back on the circuit, the girls have been putting in a lot of work; and I am just pleased just to see them every single day just going out there and performing at the highest level.”
CORPORATE SUPPORT
What has been a major boost for the programme is the corporate support they have received recently from partners, including British Caribbean Insurance Company and GraceKennedy, specifically, to their nutritional needs, as finding partners for the programme have not been easy for one of the top academic schools in the country. Additionally, he says that they have been grateful to their principal, Stacey Wilson Reynolds, who has backed the programme since joining the school.
“We just want to say thank you to them because their help, especially towards the nutritional programme, was a big booster. One thing that we want to ask right now is for persons to continue to support the programme, especially in the area of nutrition. It has always been one of my joys just to have something after school, after our training programme,” Forde said. “Our principal is new to Immaculate, but you could never tell because as soon as she came on board, she has been 100 per cent behind the programme.”
There have been some outstanding performances this year by Immaculate’s sprinters, particularly at the Corporate Area Champs meet earlier this month, with Gabrielle Lyn and captain Chanel Honeywell completing a one-two in the Class One 100 metres, Mickaila Haisley winning the Class Two, Shevi-Anne Shim winning Class Three, and Kedoya Lindo winning Class Four, the first such sweep in history.
Forde says the meet was a major point in their season and is hoping that they can have a say in the 100m, especially in Class One.
“Those girls came through the first-form system, and they came all the way up. The girls have confidence and one of our chants is, ‘Impossible is nothing’. We tell our girls, you go out there and you strive to be the best. Corporate Area was a testament to that, and it’s just a good confidence booster overall.”