LETTER OF THE DAY - A timely and meaningful win
Published:Monday | March 29, 2010 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE BOYS and Girls' Championships just completed saw a changing of the guard for the boys. This win for Wolmer's Boys' School, on the 100th anniversary of the championship, is indeed a timely and meaningful win, taken against the background that the school won the very first championship and the last time it tasted victory was over 50 years ago.
We saw the writing on the wall since the emergence of Usain Bolt on the world scene and the numerous accolades that have been bestowed and continue to be bestowed on him. Every school now has an athletic programme, and gone are the days when schools don't even bother to participate because they are not serious contenders.
Easing the champs tension
The win for Wolmer's, as I noted earlier, is both timely and meaningful, not only because that school has not tasted victory in the lifetime of most living persons, but also because this win brings the hope that it will cool some of the tension and tribalisation that have existed over the years. Many children of Kingston College (KC) and Calabar have been made hostages due to Champs-related violence over the years, and I believe that the shifting of the spotlight can only be a positive.
A lot of us, and here I make no apology for my unwavering support for the Fortis family, wondered what happened - the inexplicable mishaps in the hurdles for both KC and Calabar, along with other unfortunate situations both in the field and track events. But I want here to incorporate a quote posted by one of my Facebook fans, "The whole world steps aside for the person who knows where he/she is going". These mishaps were occasioned to facilitate Wolmer's who were tired of being in the wilderness, and who knew and were determined to begin the new decade the very same way they started the previous one.
Gilda Radner reminds us that "Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity."
Make the best of your moment, Wolmer's. I hope that the introspection of all players in the Boys and Girls' Athletic Championships will bring forth one conclusion - this change could not have come at a better time, and it is indeed fundamental for the rebuilding process.
I am, etc.,
PAT BIGNALL