Inter Secondary Schools Sports 2007
Tuesday, 27th March 2007, saw the conclusion of the year’s Inter Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships. For the first time in recent memory the Victoria Park was the venue for the annual spectacle, a tale in and of itself. There is much that has to be considered commendable in relation to the Inter Secondary Schools Sports of 2007.
In a very real sense it is one sports meet that has been realised under the most trying of circumstances and all involved must be given due credit for having stood the grind along the way.
Commendations are in order for the Ministry of Education, the Physical Education and Sports Teachers Association, PESTA, and the leadership of the nation’s secondary schools that agreed to participate in the activity.
Unfortunately at least one school had already scheduled examinations during the period of the exercise and could not have participated.
Availability of Facilities
At the commencement of the academic year 2007 it became clear that the facilities at Arnos Vale would not have been available to the Ministry of Education to organise the annual Inter Secondary Schools Athletics Meet in the traditional manner. As it turned out this was a blessing since it caused the Ministry of Education to dig deep and be appropriately creative. The latter organisation benefited from a close working relationship with the newly established PESTA and hosted Zonal Championships followed by a national Championship of the qualifiers.
Union Island benefited from a virtual bye in each event something that needs to be addressed in the future.
The National Lotteries Authority consented to make the Victoria Park available to the secondary schools for their respective individual finals and to the Ministry of Education for the two days of Inter Secondary Schools Finals at what was considered rather generous conditions.