The nation’s budding secondary school track and field athletes will get on the mark, later today when they compete in the inaugural Secondary School Athletics League under the theme-Discipline, Athleticism and Education.

The event is run by a new organization with the same name that has as its co-directors, long time athletics administrator Aubrey Hutson, Charles Nester and Orin Thomas.
Hutson says this novel athletics league is designed to grow the sport by targeting secondary school students and providing meaningful competition on a platform to further motivate them to stay in the school system and succeed while showcasing track and field at a high level.

“I am really supporting this venture because we would have realized that coming into this organization that we have some serious issues in our school system as it relates to sports and with the high rate of school dropout from athletes or students coming in to Form One. By the time they reach to Form Five there would have been a high rate of drop out. We plan to use track and field to keep them in school and interested,” Hutson said.
The organization first foray into the hosting will be a cross-country team event that is set to be held at the Botanical Gardens.
The league features eight schools namely: Wismar Christianburg and Mackenzie High along with Bygval Secondary, Golden Grove Secondary and Bladen Hall Secondary from the East Coast, as well as city sides Chase Academy, New Campbellville Secondary and Tutorial High.

“Those school were specifically selected because they have certified coaches or track and field coaches within their system hence, we are prepared to work with them,” Hutson said.
He said organizers through the league intend to empower the next generation of student athletes by blending academics and athletics in a programme that is attractive to students.
They will follow up with track and field events in April and June of next year.

Hutson said that after some time away sport he reviewed what was needed to boost all the other efforts for the benefit of the athletes.
“I really and truly took a hard look at where track and field is in Guyana and spoke with my other two colleagues. We decided to come up with this concept, so I don’t see it as contradictory but more supportive to Guyana on the whole in providing the opportunity to work through the school system and we hope in the near future we can have more involvement or more marriage between secondary school athletes league and the athletics association of Guyana,” he said.

Co-director Orin Thomas said one of the initiatives of the league is to provide added incentives for gifted and balanced students to further their education and sporting pursuits.
“The opportunity that we are offering is this; if the child or student is astute enough and athletically gifted enough, we are looking to offer them scholarships, not only within the Guyana area but overseas scholarship. We are working in conjunction with tertiary schools in the United States,” Thomas said.

He said once they can get them into college they are more likely to advance to become elite athletes, adding, “Too often, we see that our children get to a certain level and then disappear, I would like to see them go further, I have been fortunate enough to go to the last three CARFITA games and I have seen the talent that exist in Guyanese athletes but what happens after then.”
The former athlete said they must bridge the gap between success at junior level and what we are able to do at the Olympic cycle games.

The athletes are set to be awarded medals, trophies and running kits.
The requirement for schools’ selection was 60-90 minutes of track and field on the timetable per session.
Today’s (Saturday) cross-country race gets underway at 14 hours at Botanical Gardens and features male and female runners in three categories: 13 years and under, 15 years and under and the open segment with prizes awarded for the top three finishers, while the top five will collect points towards the overall winner.