The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has announced prize money of Five-Hundred-Thousand Dollars ($500,000) for the school which emerges National Champion at the first-ever Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) Primary Schools Athletics Championships (Boys and Girls ‘Junior Champs’) now underway at the National Stadium and ending on Saturday, May 28.
Minister Grange said, “The second-placed school will get Two-Hundred and-Fifty-Thousand Dollars ($250,000), the third-place winner, Two-Hundred-Thousand Dollars ($200,000) with the fourth to 10th placed schools receiving One-Hundred-Thousand Dollars ($100,000) each.
“This whopping prize money for the Junior Champs winning school is not the only historic development as the Meet will be streamed live through a partnership between the Ministry and Trackalerts.com which will broadcast the last two days involving all the 40 finals. Never before has the INSPORTS Primary School Champs been streamed live, giving people the opportunity to pick up their devices and watch the children perform live. Trackalerts.com has over 200,000 subscribers and we thought it was fitting to give these talented children the chance to be exposed and highlighted. They deserve it.”
In addition to the 40 finals, there will be special features including a Mixed Relay race, a ‘Special Olympics’ race and an invitational prep School Class 1 Relay for boys and girls. These will carry no points and so will have no bearing on the points tally.
Lyssons Primary of St Thomas, Greater Portmore Primary of St Catherine and St James’ Corinaldi Primary came out the top schools in Eastern Junior Champs, the Central Junior Champs and the Western Junior Champs, each getting regional prize money of Two-Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($250,000).
The Covid-19 pandemic forced a two–year break in the staging of the Meet.
