Back on track!
New-look Champs runs off today
TODAY’S start of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Gracekennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium could have a cathartic effect on not just Jamaicans at home, but in the diaspora, says Claire Grant, general manager, broadcast services, RJRGLEANER Communications Group, the event’s broadcast partner.
With Jamaicans and the rest of the world battling the novel coronavirus pandemic for over a year, and with physical and emotional energies flagging, Grant says the event that was cancelled last year could be the tonic needed to get spirits back up.
Title sponsors Gracekennedy also reaffirmed their commitment to the annual event with Grace Burnett, chief executive officer, Gracekennedy Financial Group, saying her company “remains committed to Champs and its ideals which for over a century have given our young athletes a place to shine; our unwavering commitment is about providing support and creating opportunities for our Jamaican youth”.
Speaking at last Thursday’s virtual media launch, Grant added: “As a people we think about this term they are calling the ‘pandemic fatigue’ and I am 100 per cent sure that the staging of the event next week is going to have a remarkable psychological impact on many Jamaicans at home and abroad, because it is going to give us a taste of that normal that we have been craving for so many months.”
Navigating the pandemic, Grant said, has been a challenge for everyone, but there have been lessons learned and new ways of doing things. “Our experience tells us that the event has had its moments; it has had sad moments but it’s had its moment. Individuals, communities, companies have grown, they have become resilient, we have thought of new ways to be, new ways to live; so many of us have adapted and reinvented ourselves because life, in spite of COVID, life marches on.”
Grant said the plans of both her company and that of ISSA were in sync as in their first meeting to plan Champs 2021 late last year they found common ground. “It was interesting because similar to what we have had to do during the course of the year, is to think of so many ways that something can happen, not necessarily the way you are used to it happening, but the what ifs, and the what ifs, and the what ifs, and if I recall ISSA at the time had about three different variations of what could happen. This was long before we had the spike and there was a plan for the spike, because life goes on.”
She hailed the way ISSA had gone about preparing for Champs with the staging of the four regional high school track and field championships being used to test protocols and procedures.
“I think it was therefore fantastic that the organisers of this event have worked alongside our government agencies to develop, test and execute methods for us to have Champs this year. It’s really important for people to understand what is going to happen from May 11 to May 15 has had a test run, three times, three major events where we have gotten to establish what the protocols could look like and how we would be able to do this in a safe way for all involved,” Grant said.
Speaking more than just a major sponsor but from the personal perspective as a fan of the event, Grant said, “2020 without the ISSA/ Gracekennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Champs just felt so wrong, almost. It was one of those moments that made you wonder if the year had actually happened because the year should not have happened without Boys’ and Girls’ Champs.”
She said, however, the cancellation of the championships last year was the best decision. “We know at the time, there was no option and we had to
do the right thing but we are very, very happy, really glad that there will be a version of the event for 2021. I say some version because the greatest place for you to be in Champs is in the stands as a fan. There is nothing that compares to that, but as I said earlier, we have to reinvent ourselves, we have to figure out how to do things differently because times have changed.”
Burnett agreed with the reasons for the cancellation last year. “Each year student athletes use the opportunity of Champs to showcase their talents as they vie for athletics scholarships and other opportunities in track and field, so that’s why it was a tough call to cancel Champs last year, but it was necessary for all involved.
“At that time, as a nation we were just learning about COVID-19 and we simply could not risk exposing our children, the coaches, the wider public to a new virus we knew so little about,” Burnett said. “And that’s why in 2021, Gracekennedy signalled that the only way we would support Champs was if there was a way for it to be staged safely. This year we know much more about COVID-19, and we know after extensive consultations with all our stakeholders that there is a safe way to conduct the meet.”