Last Chance meet gives athletes final opportunity to fine-tune for Champs

Carlos Samuels, chief organiser of the inaugural Coaches Last Chance Request Track and Field Meet, said the event was created to give fringe athletes preparing for the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) a final opportunity to sharpen their performances ahead of the championships.

The meet will be staged tomorrow at Jamaica College, just under two weeks before Champs, which take place from March 24–28 at the National Stadium.

Samuels said that the concept behind the meet is to provide coaches with a platform to request specific events for their athletes, something that is not usually available at traditional last-chance competitions.

“This meet is basically geared towards what the coaches want, because what we have realised is that the last-chance meets just before Champs normally only offer certain events, and here we are making a change to that,” said Samuels.

He noted that some athletes may need a final competitive outing because of injuries earlier in the season, while others may want to fine-tune relay combinations before the championships.

“Coaches may have an athlete who got injured and wants to make a last run, or they may want to check up on their relays, such as a medley, and we have gotten a lot of requests from teams wanting a final run to prepare themselves for Champs,” said Samuels.

According to Samuels, who is the head coach of The Queen’s School, the meet operates on a request-based system where coaches submit the events they want their athletes to compete in.

“This is the platform that we have created where coaches send in their requests to us and then we provide the service and the facility for their athletes to participate and improve their rankings,” he said.

“Especially for the lower-tier athletes, we are here to help them improve their rankings so that they can get a better seed when they get to Champs,” Samuels said.

He added that the meet has been generating a lot of excitement, particularly from smaller schools that often struggle to get competitive opportunities.

“We have seen quite a number of entries, even schools that you have not seen run all season have come on board. Schools like Porus High School and Winston Jones High School and other small schools, which I am really excited about, because they are normally the ones left in the dark and don’t have the opportunity to really get their athletes a chance,” Samuels underscored.

He added that the strong response from these schools has already provided ideas for how the meet could be expanded in the future.

“This is the meet that they have gravitated to because they have seen where they can request what they want for their small contingent, and that has brought out a new idea for us going forward with this meet next year,” he said.

Samuels noted that he expects participation from more than 40 schools in the first staging, and believes the meet will become an important part of the build-up to the championships.

“As a new meet, we appreciate all the support that we can get, but I know that this is going to be a very exciting meet and so I am urging everyone to come and give their support,” he shared.

– Robert Bailey