Youth Athletic Development in Jamaica
Most Jamaican schools have an athletics program in the curriculum, so Jamaican children are into athletics at a young age. Budding young athletes have to impress at primary school level as this can get them recognised by good athletics schools like St. Jago High, Kingston College and Vere Technical High. The most important athletics event in Jamaica is the VMBS Boys and Girls Athletics Championships (colloquially known simply as 'Champs') which began in 1910 at Sabina Park and were won by Wolmer's High School. These championships are a chance for athletes under 19 to show off their talents to national and overseas coaches. The championships are incredibly popular in Jamaica and the athletes are normally competing to crowds of 20-25,000 people, which is good preparation for major championships and some of the championship records are world class. The championships are the climax of a series of athletics meetings for under-19s in Jamaica, and this is similar to the grand prix series whose climax is normally a major championships in Senior athletics. Dominant athletes are normally picked for the Penn Relays, a competition where the best Jamaican schools and universities compete against American counterparts. Herb McKenley entered the first Jamaican high school team into the Penn Relays in 1964; since then, Jamaicans have won more than half the events.
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