Changes at Champs to ease workload for athletes

Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) president Keith Wellington says that changing the race schedule for this year’s ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) was not just to meet the international standard for meets, but to alleviate the workload that student athletes have been facing for years.

ISSA unveiled the changes yesterday at the Champs media launch at the National Stadium, which sees the 100 metres final moved back from Friday, April 8, to Wednesday, April 6. Similar changes have been made to other sprint, middle- and long-distance events finals, with the schedule reflecting those normally seen at international competitions.

Wellington said that it was a move that addresses the long-standing concerns that some coaches had with athletes’ fitness when doing multiple events.

“What we have been doing is trying to minimise the injuries. We are also trying to minimise the workload on student athletes as well, and what we recognise is that the schedule that we have used all along, it actually forces athletes who are doubling to compete in two events simultaneously. For example, for those doing the sprints, the 200m heats are run before the semi-finals and finals of the 100m,” Wellington said. “What we have done is to say ‘let us find these popular doubles and try and split them’ so that one is completed before the others starts. So in the case of the 100m, 200m double, the 100m will be completed before the athletes start the 200m.”

In addition to giving the athletes a more manageable workload, Wellington said that switching to a more international timetable will boost the profile of the competition and attract a wider audience.

“They (coaches) have been recommending them for a while, and we had the opportunity to sit down and look at the recommendations, and we accept that these are changes that could be made in the interest of the student athlete,” Wellington said. “Having marquee events right through the five days is a plus I think.”

Edwin Allen head coach Michael Dyke praised the changes, saying that it showed the organisers’ willingness to adapt and look after the student athletes.

“It goes to show that they are listening and are willing to make changes where they think it is necessary based on suggestions from persons who would have a little more expertise,” Dyke said “This is the biggest championships for high schools anywhere in the world, so the profile will be greater now.”