Seems Springer and Queen’s College won’t have to wait until next March to dominate the track again.
School sports aren’t quite done yet, not for the past students anyway, as the Alleyne School Alumni Association prepares to launch the inaugural Barbados Inter-Alumni Association’s Athletic Championships (BIAAAC) later this month.
The one-day meet – set for April 28 at the National Stadium – will be the first of its kind on the local athletics calendar, having been designed to cater strictly to old scholars over the age 19 who want to compete under their high school’s banner.
It is also comes as part of Alleyne’s outreach activities in its Founder’s Week celebrating the school’s 227th anniversary, although the association has a greater goal of a national series of events.
“The vision of this activity is that we want to create a closer bond among alumni associations and old scholars’ associations in Barbados and fill the void for competition for athletes who are no longer in the school system but who wish to continue in the sport,” said chair of the sports committee, Kathy Harper-Hall.
“Out of this, ultimately, we will be forming a national organisation of alumni associations because it won’t be just cricket or track and field, we will be thinking in terms of the Inter-Alumni Games.
“So, we’re hoping that other schools take up the other sports like football and basketball and so on,” she added.
It’s the second such alumni-based sports competition founded in the last four years, coming on the heels of the highly popular Christ Church Foundation T20 tournament.
Targeting all secondary schools, the meet is open to people who will be sorted in ten ten-year age groups – starting with the 20-29 category and going up to 80 and over.
Just like the customary school meets, points will be given to the top eight finishers in each event, and most track and field events will be featured, excluding the hurdles and high jump.
An overall championship trophy is expected to be presented to the school amassing the most points.
According to Ervan Small, vice-president of the Alleyne School Alumni Association, the organizers have received 120 entries from 22 schools, and are anticipating more ahead of the April 11 deadline.
The championships get under way at 8 a.m. with a parade of athletes before going into a heavy slate of events.
