Former Competitions Director of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), George Forbes, is to be honoured posthumously for his contribution to the development of Track and Field in Jamaica.
The Organizing Committee of the Wesley Powell Benjamins Track & Field Meet made the announcement at the launch on Wednesday at Excelsior High School in Kingston.
Three members of the Excelsior track and Field team that won 4 consecutive Girls Champs crowns from 1970 to 1973 will also be honored. Excelsior was the first to win the Championships 4 consecutive years.
It was also announced that Primary Schools will now compete in their own category for 150m and 300m as oppose to in the Class 4 category of the High School system. The “Winners Room” a copy of the Q-Room from Budapest 2023, will return to the Meet this year which has PA Benjamins as it’s title sponsor for the 2nd year.
Dr Safiya Franklin, consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon delivered a keynote address at the Launch. She spoke about “Successful Injury Prevention Strategy for Junior Athletes”. She mentioned that an injury prevention strategy leads to the long-term development of the sport.
“We have to gauge the stresses that the junior athletes endure to prevent injuries so that they can perform at a high level and transition to the senior ranks.” She indicated that research data from the CDC in the USA states that 62% of organized sports related injuries occur in practice/training sessions and that overuse injuries account for 50% of those injuries and 50% of the injuries were classified as preventable.
The Meet will give a preview of the 2025 season when it kicks off at Excelsior High School on Saturday December 14th at 8:30am and will have 84 events for Primary, High School and Collegiate athletes. The events include 150m, 300m, 600m, 1000m, 3000m, 5000m, 4x300m Relay, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put and Javelin. Excelsior has the only full-size 9-Lane 400m track in Jamaica which was laid before the track at the National Stadium in 1961.
Competitions Director, David Riley, spoke about the fact that with the sport having moved away from qualifying standards to event rankings, the December meet is less about qualifying for Champs and more about the coach evaluating the preparation of the athlete and team thus far and assessing what changes he/she needs to make going forward.
Written by Roger Hasfal and originally posted at https://www.mhtmedia.net/post/george-forbes-among-honourees-at-the-21st-wesley-powell-benjamins-meet?fbclid=IwY2xjawGxVgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXA4E_zHDbImtxvjBX5qwCVkcUnVVuczUe1CVbjrU4WNMgsf_Sfs89tUTg_aem_aVeRxtUyDtR3n7mpLuuKQg
0 Comments