Edwin Allen High lift the trophy as they celebrate their Girls' Championships victory. - Ricardo Makyn

Western Bureau:

The 2014 edition of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Championships is now history, and while I did not make it to the National Stadium in person, thanks to TVJ, The Gleaner, and The Star, I didn't miss much in terms of the unadulterated excitement.

As is now a customary feature of Champs, I saw some performances that were simply out of this world! And in addition to goose pimples and bouts of adrenaline rush, I got to watch the stars of the future explode. The event left me completely satisfied that Jamaica's track and field future is secure.

I believe that both Edwin Allen and Calabar deserve equal praise for coming away with the boys and girls' titles, respectively, but I must admit that I am somewhat biased towards the Edwin Allen girls. They ably displayed the art of bouncing back from disappointment and the mettle of true champions.

When Edwin Allen surprisingly finished second behind arch-rivals Holmwood in the 2013 Champs, after entering the event with an air of invincibility about them, many felt the disappointment would have been so detrimental to the school's athletics programme that it would take them a few years to recover.

However, Edwin Allen did not allow the disappointment to linger, but instead, quickly regrouped, and with guts and determination, which they displayed over the five days, rewarded coach Michael Dyke for not losing faith in them.

I believe there is a very important lesson that one could learn from Edwin Allen: While nobody enjoys disappointment, if you are really committed to giving of your best, disappointment can be used as a source of motivation to rebound and make amends.

In the case of Calabar, I believe they, too, should be commended for not buckling under the pressure. It was important that they maintained their composure. After seeing the misfortune of several top performers, including the gifted Michael O'Hara, instead of folding, the team redoubled its efforts to ensure success.

While the schools from western Jamaica ended up playing second fiddle to their counterparts from Kingston, St Catherine, and Manchester, I believe congratulations are in order for Cornwall College's Warren Barrett and Spot Valley's Devaughn Gayle, who both came away from Champs with gold medals.

I do hope that going forward, the performances of Barrett and Gayle will serve as a source of motivation for promising young athletes from the west, who will definitely need to step up and be counted if the region is to become a force in future editions of the annual Champs.

I am not seeking to make excuses for the generally weak performances of the western Jamaica-based athletes. I strongly believe they are somewhat at a disadvantage when compared to their Kingston and St Catherine counterparts, who are not required to travel long distances to Champs, and most important to train in vastly inferior facilities.

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