East Coast International about giving opportunities – organisers

AFTER A successful staging of the Puma East Coast International Showcase last Saturday in Landover, Maryland, where several of Jamaica’s top high school athletes matched strides with their counterparts from the United States, Olympian Juliet Campbell, who teamed up with Sanjay Ayre to make the meet a reality, is happy for the support.

“I am extremely proud of the support given by coaches and athletes from schools in the United States and Jamaica. The objective is to give high-school athletes a chance to compete in individual events,” said Campbell.

Athletes from Jamaica attend the annual Penn Relays a week earlier but at that level rarely get to compete internationally in individual events.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms marred the event’s inaugural staging last year, but this time around there were no issues.

“The support was good but could have been better but I think what happened with the weather last year, there was uncertainity amongst the teams coming. The weather this year was excellent as it was sunshine all throughout the day, which helped with the excellent performances from the athletes,” said Campbell.

“Plans are already in place for next year’s staging as several schools, who were not present, have already made contact to participate and we expect a very big turnout. The opportunity is for some of the athletes from the less traditional schools to travel overseas and also put themselves in position for getting scholarships to colleges in the United States because several of those coaches were in attendance.”

Campbell also thanked the sponsors for making the event a success.

“The rivalry between USA and Jamaica had the crowd in a frenzy throughout the day. For title sponsor Puma and the other sponsors who came on board, their monies were well spent and though it could be much better, we are very appreciative of the support.”