By Tenajh Sweeting
EVENT organisers are excited for the return of the 30th annual Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) track and field meet.
The event is scheduled for March 8-10 at the new Thomas A Robinson Stadium. Eight junior schools and eight senior schools are expected to compete in this year’s championships which makes for a competitive meet between all public schools.
GSSSA president Varel Davis talked about the hype surrounding the event’s 2023 return.
“We are excited to finally get back to our track and field championships after a two-year break, we had a one-day meet last year which was very successful but nothing like the championships,” Davis said.
Despite the hiatus, Davis assured the public that the athletes and coaches are ready to battle next week Wednesday through Friday.
“We are ready, the coaches are ready, the kids are ready, and I can’t tell you who [is] gonna win but I can tell you C.H. Reeves will be out there full force,” Davis added.
The junior schools will compete primarily on Thursday against defending champions C.H. Reeves Raptors to claim the track and field championships for the junior division.
The senior schools, meanwhile, will hope to knock off reigning GSSSA champion C.R. Walker Knights.
Virginia Romer, president of the New Providence Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools, said despite a late start, the event planning process has been good.
“We have been meeting and putting things in place, we may not have started as early as we should have but we are playing catchup,” said Romer.
Romer also gave credit to retired assistant director of education Keith Saunders for helping with this year’s GSSSA planning process.
On day one of the meet the girls and boys U-13 and U-15 100M preliminaries will start the day of track events for the three-day meet.
The public is advised that ticket prices for the event are $10 for the VIP section, $5 for the general public, and $3 for high school students. High school students will be provided with tickets for purchasing at their respective schools.
Romer informed students of the appropriate dress code and security measures to be taken at the track and field meet.
“We are asking our students to come in their school t-shirts that is what we are asking when they come to the gate they have to be wearing school t-shirts, they are not coming in their own clothes,” Romer said.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force and security from the different high schools will be present to assist with searching attendees of the event.
The official opening ceremony for the track and field championships will commence at 10am Thursday. The first race is set to begin at 9:45am on Wednesday.
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