Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships (CHAMPS)

Introduction

The Inter-Secondary Schools Boys’ and Girls’ Championships (better known locally as "Champs"), is an annual multi-sport athletics meet for Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

n high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

s, featuring events similar to those in the track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 programs of the Summer Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games

The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...

 and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics

IAAF World Championships in Athletics

The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...

. It has been staged every year in Kingston

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

 since 1910 (except for one cancellation in 1944 and one relocation to Spanish Town

Spanish Town

Spanish Town is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the former Spanish and English capital of Jamaica from the 16th to the 19th century...

 in 2002) and is held during the last week before Easter. Jamaica’s Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) owns and manages the event.

Since 1964, when Kingston College won the top high school event at the Penn Relays

Penn Relays

The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

, stars of Champs have gone on to dominate high school relays at the Philadelphia meet.

History

The Championships began as a standardized sports day

Sports day

Sports days, sometimes referred to as Field Day, are events staged by many schools and offices in which people take part in competitive sporting activities, often with the aim of winning trophies or prizes...

 for six of Jamaica’s oldest high schools, Potsdam

Munro College, Jamaica

Munro College is a prominent boarding school for boys in St Elizabeth, Jamaica. It was founded in 1856 as a free school for poor boys in St. Elizabeth as stipulated in the will of plantation owners Robert Hugh Munro and Caleb Dickenson...

 (now Munro College), St. George’s College

St. George's College, Jamaica

St. George's College is a Roman Catholic high school in Kingston, Jamaica.-History:The school was founded on September 2, 1850 by a group of 21 Spanish Jesuits who had been expelled from Colombia because of their religious faith. The Colombian Government gave them approximately 9 hours to leave the...

, Jamaica College

Jamaica College

Jamaica College is a prominent, all-male secondary school located in Kingston, Jamaica. It provides traditional classroom education to its students in a variety of subject areas.The institution caters to students aged 11 to 19 years...

, the Wolmer’s School

Wolmer's Schools

Wolmer's Schools, located in Kingston, Jamaica consists of Wolmer's Pre-School, Wolmer's Prep School and two high schools Wolmer's Girls' School and Wolmer's Boys' School. The original school is the second oldest English speaking school in the Caribbean...

, New College and Mandeville Middle Grade School. Originally known as the Inter-Secondary School Championship Sports, rules and staging of the event were managed by an Organizing Committee comprising the headmasters of the six boys’ schools and was first chaired by William Cowper, headmaster of Wolmer’s. A cadre of volunteers consisting of coaches, sports masters and others served as timekeepers, starters, referee

Referee

A referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...

s and other meet officials.

The first Boys’ Champs began just after noon at test cricket

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 ground Sabina Park

Sabina Park

Sabina Park is the home of the Kingston Cricket Club, and is the only Test cricket ground in Kingston, Jamaica and is often referred to as "The Holiday Home of Cricket"....

 on June 29, 1910 in Kingston, Jamaica. Loosely modeled after the school athletic sports at British public schools

Public School (UK)

A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...

 such as Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and Harrow

Harrow School

Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

, the event quickly gained popularity among Jamaica’s sport-loving public. Over six previous years, fans had attended a boys’ track meet in which athletes were given handicaps according to age, reputation and overall appearance – as in a horse race

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 – but this format was discontinued in 1910 when new rules and a new trophy were introduced.

There is evidence of a Girls’ Athletics Championships as early as 1914 in Kingston, but after reemerging under different organizations in the 1940s, 1957, then 1961, the girls’ event had an unbroken run since being managed by the Games Mistresses Association (founded 1963), a national organization of physical education

Physical education

Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....

 teachers.

Only sixteen schools have ever won a boys’ or girls’ championship, with Kingston College (1962–1975) boasting the longest boys’ winning streak and Vere Technical winning the girls division the most times in a row (1979–1993). In a hundred years, only Excelsior High and St. Jago High

St. Jago High School

St Jago High School in Spanish Town, St Catherine, Jamaica, founded in 1744, is one of the oldest, continuously operated schools in the Western Hemisphere...

 have ever won both boys’ and girls’ divisions at Champs. The feat has never been accomplished in the same year.

The Merger

In 1999, after years of deliberation between the ISSA and GMA, and precipitated by shrinking revenues particularly at Girls’ Champs, the GMA ceded control of the girls’ event to ISSA. The two meets are now staged together over four days, beginning with field events and ending with all relays.

Champs Today

The merged Champs is now a four-day extravaganza, featuring thousands of Jamaican athletes competing in four age classes for girls and three for boys as follows:

Boys

Class 1 : under 19

Class 2 : under 16

Class 3 : under 14

Girls

Class 1 : under 19

Class 2 : under 17

Class 3 : under 15

Class 4 : under 13

Competition takes place in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m (girls only), 5000m, 4x100m, 4x400 and medley relays, hurdles – 110m, 100m, 70m (girls only), high jump

High jump

The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....

, long jump

Long jump

The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...

 and triple jump, pole vault

Pole vault

Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...

, discus

Discus

Discus, "disk" in Latin, may refer to:* Discus , a progressive rock band from Indonesia* Discus , a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe and enemy of Luke Cage* Discus , a freshwater fish popular with aquarium keepers...

, shot put

Shot put

The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....

 and javelin

Javelin throw

The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...

 (girls only) and the heptathlon

Heptathlon

A heptathlon is a track and field athletics combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek hepta and athlon . A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.-Women's Heptathlon:...

.

Champs is now even more of a proving ground in preparation for world-class competition, but there is no guarantee that talented teens will shine through immediately. Triple Olympic/World gold medalist and world record holder Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt

The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. , is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay...

, for example, first came to the fore in 2002, after failing to win any events in the Class 3 age group. Olympic champions Veronica Campbell-Brown, and Shelly-Ann Fraser

Shelly-Ann Fraser

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, OD is a Jamaican sprinter, who specializes in the 100 m. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Fraser is the reigning Olympic champion over 100 m, clocking a time of 10.78...

 suffered crushing defeats in the lower age groups at the meet before finally winning for their school teams. Three-time 100m world record-holder and World/Olympic gold medalist (4x100m) Asafa Powell

Asafa Powell

Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...

 competed, but never became a household name at the high school level because he was disqualified in the Class 1 100m final.

Other top performers at Champs who have gone on to excel on the world stage include Bert Cameron

Bert Cameron

Bertland Cameron is a retired Jamaican sprinter who mainly competed over 400 metres. He represented Jamaica at three consecutive editions of the Summer Olympics. Cameron won the 400 m title at the first World Championships in Athletics...

, Melaine Walker

Melaine Walker

Melaine Walker O.D is a Jamaican 400 metres hurdler. Walker is the reigning World and Olympic 400 m hurdles champion...

, Winthrop Graham

Winthrop Graham

Winthrop Graham is a retired athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres hurdles. He won two Olympic medals and three World Championship medals....

, Beverly McDonald

Beverly McDonald

Beverly McDonald is a Jamaican sprinter. Her accomplishments include winning the silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2000 Olympics and the gold medal in the same event at the 2004 Olympics...

, Maurice Wignall

Maurice Wignall

Maurice Wignall is a Jamaican hurdling athlete.His first appearance in a major international championship was at the 1997 World Championships, where he competed in the long jump competition. He jumped 8.09, which still stands as his personal best.Wignall's success in hurdling came relatively late...

, Juliet Cuthbert

Juliet Cuthbert

Juliet Cuthbert is a Jamaican athlete who competed mainly in the sprints ....

, Sandie Richards

Sandie Richards

Alexandra Richards is a Jamaican track and field athlete. She was a bronze medalist in the 4x400 m relay at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece....

 and Raymond Stewart

Ray Stewart (athlete)

Raymond Douglas Stewart is a former Jamaican athlete who specialised in the 100 metres event. As a junior athlete Stewart found much success at the CARIFTA Games, winning five gold medals within a four year period. In 1984 he reached the 100 m Olympic final and won an Olympic silver medal...

.

Although the fierce competition developed world-class talent such as Olympic stars Arthur Wint

Arthur Wint

Competitor for JamaicaArthur Stanley Wint was the first Jamaican Olympic gold medalist, winning the 400 m at 1948 Summer Olympics....

 and Herb McKenley

Herb McKenley

Competitor for JamaicaHerbert Henry "Herb" McKenley OM was a Jamaican athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4x400 m relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics....

, Una Morris and Vilma Charlton, then Lennox Miller

Lennox Miller

Lennox V. Miller was a champion runner and father of Inger Miller....

, Donald Quarrie and Merlene Ottey

Merlene Ottey

Merlene Joyce Ottey , is a Jamaican-born Slovenian track athlete. Ottey began her career representing Jamaica, but since 2002, has represented Slovenia, where she now resides...

, Champs was virtually unknown to mainstream international media until the emergence of a disproportionate number of world-class sprinters from Jamaica in the Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 and IAAF World Championships in Athletics. American college coaches in particular were very aware of the richness of the competitor pool, since they annually traveled to Kingston to scout for junior college and NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

-level talent. In fact, several top performers at Champs such as British high jumper Germaine Mason

Germaine Mason

Germaine Mason is a Jamaican-born athlete competing in high jump. In 2006 he switched sporting allegiance, and now represents Great Britain. He attended Wolmer's School in Kingston...

 are former Jamaican high school stars. Jamaican-born American sprinter Sanya Richards

Sanya Richards

Sanya Richards-Ross is a track and field athlete who competes internationally for the United States. She won an Olympic gold medal in the 4×400 meters relay at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, an individual bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics for the 400 m, and a gold medal in the 2009...

 competed at the meet for Immaculate Conception High School

Immaculate Conception High School (Jamaica)

Immaculate Conception High School is a Roman Catholic High School for girls in St Andrew, Jamaica. About 1600 girls are enrolled.- History :...

 before immigrating to the USA in 1997.

In popular culture

The hit reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

song “Hol’ a Vibes” is based on events and atmosphere at Boys’ & Girls’ Champs.

External links

• http://www.issasports.com/
• http://champs.studyinjamaica.com/