Ministry officials: No YASCO, no Inter-schools

The 2018 instalment of the Coca Cola Inter-schools Track & Field Championships will not take place until upgrades at the country’s lone track & field facility, the YASCO Sports Complex, are completed. This is according to one official within the Ministry of Sports, who spoke under conditions of anonymity. According to the official, the top brass within the sports ministry, have indicated that the event will not be held outside of the complex as suggested by one primary school principal, Denmore Roberts.
“As a matter of a fact, one club was asked to stop utilising the very same facility [Vivian Richards Cricket Ground] that Denmore suggested be used for interschools. Although it’s practical where seating and so forth is concerned, some activities like the shot-put and long and triple jump cannot be accommodated at the venue,” the official said. The event, usually held in March each year, could be postponed by over a month as civil works at the facility have halted since minor grading of the playing field last year.
Minister of Sports, EP Chet Greene had predicted that work would have resumed at the venue last week. However, reports are that some ministry officials have totally ruled out hosting the marquee event at another venue. Efforts to reach Director of Public Works Lucien Hanley for an update proved futile as calls to his mobile went unanswered. Schools have also been informed that the facility would not be available for the staging of annual sports day activities, which usually prelude the annual championships.
Greene, who is also President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC), announced last year that funding has been secured through the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) for the laying of a new surface. The civil works, which include leveling, cleaning and any expansion work, are to be undertaken by the government through Public Works.