Champs points not the main focus for Buff Bay
Published:Tuesday | February 4, 2025 | 12:07 AMGregory Bryce/Staff Reporter
WHILE SEVERAL schools will be aiming for lofty point tallies at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships come March, Buff Bay High’s track and field head coach Kevin Brown said the mark of a successful programme for him is to see his athletes achieve their personal goals.
As one of the less recognisable schools on the track or in the field, Brown believes his main focus should be to his ensure his athletes are ready to take the next steps in their careers after high school.
“It is all about the athletes and getting them to that point of meeting their potential. We want to get them to that level where they can get noticed and can move on to a college or a university or whatever they desire,” Brown explained.
“That is our main objective. We cannot win Champs and we know that, so we’re helping these athletes to realise their potential and get to the next level.”
Assessing athletes
Brown said at the start of every season, he carefully assesses his programme to identify the number of athletes who will be able to compete at Champs and which athletes will not make the mark.
He explained, with the Champs hopefuls identified, their training schedules will be focused on getting them ready to compete against several of the best junior athletes Jamaica has to offer.
For the other students, their focus will be on competing at as many development meets as possible to ensure they are given a platform to express their talent.
This is done in the hope that several of these athletes will then be able to make the transition to the next level of the sport.
“As a smaller programme, after assessing our athletes, we know who and who will be able to make it to Champs so we start training them towards that. Come this year, we are looking at all the events that we can put them in,” he explained.
“We are going to be focusing on those events and we are also looking at events that we are good at and can compete in. The kind of events where we can get the students into the finals or even the semifinals. That is the agenda for us; getting our students out there to expose their talent.”
Like many smaller schools, Brown is wary of traditional schools preying on their programme in search of unearthed talent.
He, however, admitted that he is well aware of his programme’s limitations due to their relative lack in resources.
The head coach explained should another programme have the ability to provide opportunities for his athletes which his cannot, then he is open to having that athlete transfer to pursue their goals.
“It all depends on the student and what we can do for them. If I have an athlete that I know would excel in area that the programme at Buff Bay is not able to help that child, of course I will try and find somewhere for them to go,” Brown told The Gleaner.
“The focus is not to get nine points or even a point at Champs, the focus is to help these youngsters to realise their full potential. If we are not able at Buff Bay to assist them to get to that point, then of course it would make sense to let them go elsewhere.”