Hydel-Cumberland principal eyes sporting hub

Principal of Hydel-Cumberland High School Carlon Pitt says plans are being developed to transform the institution’s sporting facilities into a centre of excellence, not only for its athletes, but also for the wider community.

Hydel, a two-time ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships winner, was merged with Cumberland High by the Ministry of Education at the start of the new school year earlier this month.

Pitt said the institution intends to upgrade facilities across several sporting disciplines for its student-athletes.

“It is our intention to develop our sporting facility not just for athletics. We are looking at football, cricket; we are looking at volleyball, netball; we are looking at basketball, all of these, because we have the facilities to host and to have these sporting events to offer to the students,” said Pitt.

“So the plan now is to develop the infrastructure. The cricket infrastructure is there, but the playfield itself is in need of resurfacing. The volleyball court is also in need of some resurfacing, but it is at a stage where we can work with it until the improvements are done. So when the full improvements are done, we want it to be a centre of excellence for all the sporting disciplines that are offered here.”

Pitt said the school is seeking support from stakeholders and corporate Jamaica to improve the playing surfaces at the Portmore-based institution.

“We are currently seeking stakeholders’ involvement to help us to resurface the field, so that it will be a good surface for the athletes to train on. So we are looking at that now, and it is one of the areas that is earmarked for development,” he said.

“But it is not in a bad state as far as football is concerned, because we would have played Manning Cup there like two seasons ago, and that is where we would have had our home matches,” Pitt added.

He noted that the school’s track and field athletes have already started using the field for background training and there have been no reports of injuries.

“So ISSA has given it the okay for playing football matches, but the surface for football is different from that of track and field, so we want to get it as level and as comfortable so that the athletes don’t injured themselves in training.”

“So we want the surface to be upgraded so that we can host sporting events, not only for training, but we would offer ourselves to the community for the hosting of their sporting events,” Pitt stated.

Robert Bailey