CHAMPS ON THE DECLINE?

The performances on the track and in the field, at what is now internationally called “Champs”, undoubtedly the biggest school athletics festival in the world, is fuelled by passionate fans high on the opiate of five days of competition driven by the school ties of past and present students.

But one of the biggest discussion points this year has been significantly reduced numbers in the stands, where, even on Saturday, which usually produces the highest numbers, while the Grandstand was sold out, there were scores of empty seats in the Bleachers.

In fact, the area of the Bleachers directly across from the Grandstand, normally bursting at the invisible seams with Jamaica College and Calabar fans, was a stark manifestation that the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) had failed to pull in the usual number of younger fans.

ISSA President Keith Wellington told The Sunday Gleaner the local governing body for school sports had taken notice and not only as it relates to Champs.

“It is of concern to us. We want to see our student-athletes benefitting from the support of their families, friends, schoolmates and so, in addition to that, the reality is that we depend on gate receipts to fund our programmes. So we want to see the support in the stands, we want to see the support coming through the turnstiles. It is true that I think there was a dip in the attendance, but the truth is, the same can be said of our other competitions as well, the same thing for Manning and daCosta Cup. There has been a significant dip in the support we see from the schools. I can tell you for football, for example, last year we collected less than a half of what we collected the previous year and we know that we had the hurricane last season, but, if you go back to the season before, there was a significant dip as well in the support for the various competitions,” he said.

Wellington, who is the principal at St Elizabeth Technical High School, said the association believes a multiplicity of factors have accounted for this development.

“I certainly don’t agree that it’s because students are being priced out. Money is always a factor. It doesn’t matter what the price is, it’s always going to be a factor, so we won’t ignore it totally, but I think the drop in attendance is something, if you look around sporting competitions not just at the ISSA level or at the local level but even internationally, there has been a significant shift away from people sitting in seats to people watching on screens, on phones and all of that. So I think that’s probably the biggest factor and then, if you look at this generation and how they consume entertainment, they are not necessarily going to be sitting around and in a seat for three or four hours to do anything at all, not even to do their schoolwork. So I think it is a bigger issue than just simply saying drop the prices and more will come. Wednesday, we had the semi-finals and finals of the 100 metres and a kid could get in for $250 and the attendance was poor. So you could then now say that maybe because it was mid-week and kids don’t want to be up late, and all of that could be true too. But then they could be there at 2 o’clock and leave at 5. So it’s a lot more complicated than any single reason, but we are concerned. The long and short of it is that we are concerned and we believe that we will have to do something to address it, because it is something that we rely on in terms of support.”

Wellington pointed to the level of support shown to athletes from Convent of Mercy Academy (Alpha), where scores of students and fans came out in unprecedented fashion. But he opined that strong showing comes with leadership at individual school levels and how much they are willing to support the student population.

There appears to be merit to that line of argument if you listen to Casey-dee Fuller and Neila-Marie Blenman, captain and vice-captain, respectively at Alpha.

Blenman, who is also a deputy head girl at the South Camp Road institution, told The Sunday Gleaner, getting the yellow and blue-clad supporters to the National Stadium was a result of a direct strategy.

“We have been trying to increase school spirit and Champs was in ‘Spirit Week’, so we had various activities leading up to Champs to get the girls excited. We’ve been trying to march to Champs for a while now and we finally got it approved because we know that is something the girls would want to do and they would come out and show their support, especially since our team has been doing very well this year. We had multiple announcements and celebrations throughout the season, with the school just celebrating the achievements at the track meets. The school would announce it and the girls would be excited and they would walk around and say ‘hi I saw you at this track meet, I saw you at this race’ or whatever, and knowing that we were doing good, the girls felt even more confident, you know, to come out in our colours and actually show support this year,” she said.

Strategies are important, according to the young student leaders who agree with Wellington that young people in today’s marketplace consume content differently.

“I partly agree. Seeing that some teens are not as interested in sports as others, some of them would prefer to stay home and watch. Also, the fact there isn’t really a lot of entertainment catering to the younger audience at Champs anymore. So some people may not find it unnecessary to actually go out to the stands and watch Champs when it is available at home where they can watch it,” Blenman said.

“I think most of my peers would still be interested in seeing (in person) but, for one, the tickets are expensive and there is not as much entertainment as there was previously, especially this year. It felt really good (seeing Alpha fans). I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way before because they have never been there, so I felt motivated with them there,” Fuller told The Sunday Gleaner.

The significant change in the Champs schedule with the highly fancied 100 metre semi-final and final rounds moved from Friday evening to Wednesday evening has also been posited as having a negative impact on attendance.

ISSA has strenuously defended the change, insisting athletes and coaches welcome the move which is more ideal for athletes contesting the sprint double and the sprint relays.

Six years later, though, Wellington told The Sunday Gleaner, the body was prepared to review its decision.

“Obviously, with everything in business and otherwise you have to reflect and review. I think, in terms of from a business point of view, it will be easy to say bwoy it was much better and it is much better for us to move back to the original schedule, from a purely business perspective. But then you remember you have other stakeholders, key among them the athletes and the coaches and while the patrons and so on have this fixation on a Friday evening Champs being you know attractive, because again really and truly it’s not just athletics people who come out to watch Champs, it’s people who want to socialise, people who travel from abroad, people will take the time off, for example, from Florida for a long weekend, they would want to see the 100, but it’s on a Wednesday, so they miss it. So you going to have all of these people having their views but, when you turn to the coaches and you turn to the athletes you get a different perspective. So we have to be the one we will take all the blame or all the praises, depending on which side you sitting on but we have to strike that balance between what appears to be the better business decision as opposed to making the decision that satisfies those key stakeholders. But I can say after six years, I think it is worth reviewing,” said Wellington

Sports marketer Carole Beckford told The Sunday Gleaner the time has come for an audit of modern-day Champs.

“ISSA has to look at consumer trends a little closer. The hard core fans are older, more baby boomers attend live events, no matter what. However, an important demographic to look at is Gen Zs. Gen Zs still value live sport, but they are selective. They tend to focus more on screen time. For live events, interactive ideas with a digital focus must be considered to keep the attention. ISSA missed an opportunity to explain the real value of the change in the schedule, and that must be communicated effectively. The change is valuable for the long-term work for the athletes. While it may not be spectator friendly, the emphasis should be on fan engagement,” Beckford argued.

While sporting events such as Manning and daCosta Cups and the Jamaica Premier League are seeing declining numbers, the recent FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifiers saw bumper crowds over both days, but analytical data on trends of attendance is lacking.