Texas A&M University coach talks Jamaican talent
Published:Sunday | April 2, 2023 | 10:33 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
Texas A&M University’s eye for Jamaican talent is nothing new, given their recent record, but coach Mario Sategna says that the country’s expansion into other disciplines has made Jamaica a premier choice for talent.
Sategna has been in the island for this year’s ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletic Championships, scouting for the next promising talent that could have an opportunity to join the Texas A&M programme.
It is a team that boasts the likes of Commonwealth Games high jump champion and national record holder Lamara Distin, as well as quarter-miler Charokee Young, who is in her first professional season.
Sategna always had an affinity for Champs, and, with Jamaica’s improvement in field events, he says the pool he can draw from has broadened.
“Obviously, there is top talent. I think what has taken off is not just on the track. Obviously, the horizontal jumps like Lamara, but even now you are starting to see great throwers, in the discus in particular. So, for us, we don’t have to necessarily (go far),” Sategna told The Sunday Gleaner.
BEST IN JA
“We are always looking. If we can’t find them in the United States, where can we find them in the world? You don’t have to go to Europe per se, you have the best in Jamaica.”
Last season, the exploits of Distin and Young saw the two make their first World Championship team, with Distin reaching her first major global final and Young earning her first major global medal as part of Jamaica’s 4x400m women’s team that won silver.
Against that backdrop of tradition and resume, Sategna said that local coaches will not have to worry should their student-athletes choose them.
“You are trying to identify the next up-and-comer, male or female, and I think, a great thing, the coaches have done a phenomenal job of preparing them for the next level. The transition sometimes is much easier because they have competed at a very high level going through Champs, because that is exactly what is going to happen whenever they get to the NCAA level,” Sategna said.
“It’s all about tradition, history and relationships. And I think any of the coaches here know that, if they send us an athlete, that they are going to be well taken care of. It is not just telling them that, they know that.”
What he also knows is the magnitude of the event, which, for him, is always a worthwhile trip
“I’ve been to the Olympic Games. I have been to the World Championships and, outside of that, this is my favourite meet to come and watch. The atmosphere, I mean, is so vibrant, it’s unbelievable.”