Carifta conflict for juniors - JAAA concerned rescheduled regional games could clash with student-athletes’ examinations in 2021

Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) president Garth Gayle says a second postponement of the Carifta Games could present conflicts for local junior athletes for the 2021 season.

His comments come after Bermuda National Athletics Association president Donna Raynor alluded to the possibility of postponing the competition for the second time. The games, which were originally scheduled for this year, were pushed back to April 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic with Bermuda remaining as the host country.

Raynor, who is also the local organising committee chairperson, told Bermuda’s Royal Gazette on Friday that a meeting was held recently with North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) members to discuss the option of delaying the games further because of the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Gayle says that a date in June has been discussed and while no decision has been made, it will present a conflict with junior athletes who would be sitting their respective end of year examinations.

“As a national federation, the Easter break has worked well for us, and so we would in principle wish to remain within that timeline because our athletes, especially our senior-junior athletes, would have been in the in the mood for exam preparation,” Gayle told The Gleaner. “So, we would want for them to do the sport that they love, but to be able to do their educational preparation and exams as well.”

Document updated

Raynor said that a document was created that outlines the benefits of pushing back the Carifta Games, which is usually held around the Easter holiday weekend and a survey would be sent to the member federations with possible options for new dates.

“Once the responses come back, then we’ll put all that information together and see if we can come up with something that is agreeable to everybody,” Raynor said. “The other countries may come back and say they prefer us to leave it in April. But in our position paper, we basically stated we think it would be better to move the date back, to give everybody time to get themselves together.”

Gayle reiterates that the JAAA is committed to the regional competitions and continues to be in dialogue regarding the matter.

“We are always supportive of our regional activities,” he said. “We are committed to them and we work very closely with our member federations of the NACAC region.”

Edwin Allen head coach Michael Dyke said that he would be prepared to work with whatever date is eventually agreed upon, but acknowledges the challenges it will present to student-athletes, as well the issues of a loaded 2021 athletic calendar, which includes the rescheduled World Athletics Under 20 Championships set for August 2021 in Nairobi, Kenya.

“One of the things is that the possibility exists where you might have the Under 20s [next] year,” Dyke said. “It wouldn’t be bad to have it (Carifta) as a precursor for the World Under 20, but then again, it depends on the availability of dates and what sort of activities are going on.”

NACAC president, Mike Sands, said in a recent interview with the Nassau Guardian that a decision regarding the dates for the games could come in the first week of January and insisted that the games would not be cancelled.

“We are looking at several options, but I can tell you that cancellation is not an option at this time. It’s just a matter of staying with the current date or switching to a later date,” Sands said.