Keep changes made to 2021 Champs, ISSA

OPTIMISM is high in track and field circles that the world-renowned Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Boys’ and Girls’ athletics Championships, better known as ‘Champs,’ will resume next year.

All things being equal, and if the Covid-19-related deaths and new infection rates are kept to a minimum, then it is expected that schools will reopen and sports will resume.

Already, ISSA has started to plan for the biggest high school track and field championships.

If Champs does go ahead (fingers tightly crossed), there will be a lot of alterations and modifications to ensure adherence to strict COVID-19 protocols and according to ISSA President Keith Wellington, the adjustments to the schedule were made to “greater facilitate the commitment to the various protocols relating to sanitisation and physical distancing.”

There is a saying that ‘out of bad there can be good’, and one of the positives of the adjustments is that ISSA has been forced to rethink Champs schedule, at least for 2021.

While the changes for next year are being thought of as “one off”, to accommodate COVID-19 planning, it is hoped that ISSA will not only keep the proposed schedule, but there could be more changes to bring the Champs schedule in line with what pertains at international championships.

For years there have been calls for ISSA to move away from the schedule they have used since the merger of Boys’ and Girls’ Champs, and at least one committee was formed to come with a new one, but that report never saw the light of day.

The old schedule paid way too much emphasis on packing finals into Friday/saturday, ostensibly to rev up the fans that packed into the National Stadium and to create fireworks, but the new proposed schedule will see finals starting from the very first event on Tuesday.

Hopefully, the new schedule will be kept for the 2022 Champs by which time we hope to be able to see capacity crowds back at sporting events, as it could be a win-win for ISSA in more ways than one.

With finals starting from the first day, fans will start showing up for the first day and more money will flow into the ISSA coffers, which is never a bad thing, considering that they have to fund a lot more sports than those that are fully sponsored.

Traditionally, the finals of the 100m in all seven classes, three for the boys and four for the girls, are held on Friday night, setting up Saturday’s final session where 50 finals are contested.

One of the suggestions was for the 100m events to be completed early in the championships, which is the practice at all major championships.

It makes very little sense having the first rounds of the 100m and semis of the 200m on the same day, as pertains presently, and completing the 100m early actually gives the sprinters some rest before the relays that are usually held on the final day.

Whatever the outcome, if Champs is held in any form in 2021, it would be a major victory for sports, particularly track and field, in a year that will also see the World Championships Under- 20 in Nairobi , Kenya.