Not just about the points

While the more resourceful competitors are focused on earning points in a mad race for Champs placements, Port Antonio High’s track and field head coach, Mikhail Leslie, is focused on helping his athletes be better today than they were yesterday.

Port Antonio is not a school you mention when you talk about title contenders at the ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs).

But Leslie said while his programme is aimed at winning Champs points, he holds loftier and more personal ambitions for his small contingent.

With no more than 20 athletes under his charge, Leslie aims to ensure they improve with each day they compete.

“One of the main focuses is always to have them improve from their previous marks,” Leslie said. “We want them to improve from the previous season, and the season before that, and so forth.”

Leslie, who teaches physical education (PE) at the school, said this focus is particularly important for students in their final year.

He said it is important for senior athletes to continually improve as they search for scholarships to continue their education at the tertiary level.

“We have around 15 or so athletes I think, and it’s about eight [boys] and eight [girls], something like that, so it’s important for every one of them. But for the senior athletes, for them, they want to improve marks to get scholarships, which we have been doing for a little while now,” he explained.

Leslie said earning scholarships has become far more impactful than ever after the passage of Hurricane Melissa last year.

He said this year’s staging of Champs is not only important for his athletes but for all schools across Jamaica.

Leslie said the national high school championship is an important platform for many students to secure the next steps in their careers.

“So with the aftermath of the hurricane and the continuity of track and field, it’s something that is very good because it releases and eases the burden of these children and still provides the opportunity for them to go overseas.”

Port Antonio picked up seven points to finish joint 30th in the boys’ standings last year and were 24th in the girls’ standings with 13.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com