Inter Primary Schools compete in new championship format

By Dean Greenaway

Primary Schools throughout the territory on Wednesday and Thursday competed in the annual Inter Primary Schools Athletic Championships which were staged under a new format. The new format had schools in the ‘B’ division competing on Wednesday only while schools in the ‘A’ division will compete on Thursday. Construction in progress for the Multi Purpose Complex on the A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds reduced the size of the field, prompting the change. “We are still trying to find a better way to have a championship meet which we tried two years ago,” said meet director Dag Samuels. “There were problems with the meet going into the night. We went back and refocused and came up with this new idea to see how it works and we’ll go from there.” In the past all schools competed over two days. The grounds would be lined with tents on the south side of the track, which were used for athlete’s registration and to shade the teams. That area was also used for warm ups, but has been reduced due to the construction fence for the Multi Purpose Complex. Samuels says with each division competing on separate days, it will reduce congestion on the field. “For one, we will have a reduced number of athletes per day because we really don’t have the room to hold all of them. Secondly, with the few athletes we will have, the competition should be better and shorter, which means we will not have any events up to 6 p.m. The meet should be over between 4:30 and 5 O’clock.’ Samuels says that sometime after Easter, there will be a champion of champions meet with the top four athletes in each age group in each event from both divisions competing.