The four-day meet is set for the Easter weekend April 10-13 and among those delivering sponsorship cheques were Guardian Holdings Group (Trinidad & Tobago), Bank of St Lucia, Bryden & Partners, and M&C General Insurance.

Paradise Springs will be the official bottled water suppliers.

Over 600 athletes and officials from 21 countries are booked for the event, set for a newly laid Mondo surface at the George Odlum Stadium.

The St Lucians will be represented by a contingent of 51 athletes but heavy favourites are the perennial champions Jamaica, who strode to their 24th consecutive table-topping performance last year in St Kitts, tallying 69 medals – 29 gold, 25 silver and 15 bronze. Jamaica will be defending their title.

This will be the third time that an Organisation of Eastern Caribbean (OECS) country is staging the world-class event for junior (Under-20 and Under-17) athletes, after Grenada in 2000 and St Kitts last year.