SKNAAA official promises another exciting year of competition
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Silver Jubilee Stadium will be buzzing with activities on Friday (Mar. 25) when 11 high schools take to the track and field to compete at the 33rd edition of the TDC/Coca-Cola Inter-School Championships.
Charles E. Mills High School, formerly known as the Sandy Point High School (SPHS), are the defending champions and will have to bring their ‘A’ game into contention, because, according to reports, “the other 10 competitors are out for all gold”.
The defending champions finished last year’s meet with a medal count of 19 gold, 10 silver and 21 bronze, while second place went to VHS with 15 gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze.
According to an official of the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Athletics Association (SKNAAA), this year’s meet will be highly competitive because of the new winning criterion which was implemented during last year’s championships.
“One has to be reminded that the champion is determined by which school wins the most gold medals only, and schools are looking at events where they can win the gold. We’ve seen where schools have requested the results from last year’s competition to see where they fell short so that they can see where they can improve on for this year,” the official told SKNVibes.
“I’ve been to most of the high schools’ sports meet and from my observation it is going to be a very hard fight. Whichever school can strategise the best will come out on top. So, for me to say who will or might win is difficult because the competition is spread evenly and it’s going to be an exciting three-day track and field competition among these 11 schools,” the official added.
Recognition was also given to the schools for their quick action regarding registration.
“We have 11 schools that have registered and this is the first time we’ve had all the schools registered on time,” the association’s member expressed.
The competition which runs from March 25 to 27 has been described as “the highlight and pinnacle event for the SKNAA” and the official confirmed that preparations are on target for Friday’s start.
“Planning is going exceptionally well. The schools are enthusiastic about winning this championship and we are looking forward to a keen and competitive meet this coming weekend,” the official said.
Also scheduled for the opening day of the Inter-School Championships, is the Aquavita Schools Cheerleading Competition of which Washington Archibald High (WAHS) are the defending champs. However, for the first time this year, the winner will be receiving a cash reward, compliments Western Union.
“We are quite pleased to have another business partner on board because persons have realised that the championship is growing, so we welcome Western Union again for partnering with us. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s going to be a very keen competition among the 11 schools and I am encouraging fans to come out and support the athletes because they (athletes) look forward to the championships every year. We are hoping to have a larger turnout than last year,” the official said.
Patrons were also advised that the competition starts on the first day.
It was explained by the SKNAAA official that “most persons miss the first day because they think it’s the opening ceremony. But on the Friday afternoon, starting at 3:00 p.m., we have some nine final events and the 4x100m heats. This will be followed by the opening ceremony at 6:30 p.m. with speeches from our major partners and sponsors, which include LIME and TDC. We will also hear speaches from presidents of the SKNAAA and the NOC. The parade of athletes will be done following the opening ceremony and, to climax the first day, there will be the Cheerleading Competition”.
Last year there were a number of record-breaking athletes including Gingerland Secondary School’s Colin Archibald in the U-15 Boys Shot Put, Charlestown Secondary’s (CSS) Kashka Forbes in the U-20 Boys 1500m, WAHS’ Josiah Oyebefun in the U-15 Boys 100m, Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College’s Dion Samuel in the U-20 Boys Discus, WAHS in the U-15 Boys 4x400m and CSS in the U-20 Boys 4x400m.
