DISAPPOINTING, BUT...
We are meant to "assist" the Primary Schools in the organisation and running of an annual Inter-Primary competition. This forms an item in the ARF to the IAAF. So far we have done the organising, for four years now ! This year it seemed to be going backwards because the Ministry of Education would not permit a morning to be used for the purpose of Heats ! A late switch into the afternoon meant having to check the booking (OK !) and a two-hour trip to distribute the modified arrangements.
Thus eleven (of the 12) schools on South Tarawa were invited by letter on Wednesday (Sept. 26). In fact, on a sunny Friday afternoon yesterday, five teams arrived by 3.00 pm. With the invaluable assistance of four of the accompanying staff, races were organised and judged. The Juniors (Classes 1, 2, 3) raced 60m. and 300m., while the Seniors (Classes 4, 5, 6) raced 100m. and 400m. So we fitted eight races into about 45 minutes. (One of the perils of using untrained timers is a Primary School boy running 100m. in 11.1 !) The fastest SB400m. was in 1-12.0.
Subsequently, a brief discussion took the place of the Organising Meetings we SHOULD have had to reach agreements about e.g. a points system, and a procedure for the Relays. We also agreed to start Day 2. (realistically !) at 09.00 am. !
COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS.
Exacerbating the follow-up to the original invitation letter (August 3rd.) was the fact that nine of the twelve schools have disconnected phones ! (Members of staff use the phone but do not pay !) The Ministry puts the onus for solving this on the schools themselves, but surely cannot be happy that the only possible contact is by a personal visit ! End to end of the island is about 40 km. !!
SO TO DAY 2. but ONLY FOUR CAME BACK !
Of course the 09.00 am. start did not materialise ! But by 10.00 am. we had four teams, so decided to wait no longer. No message from the missing school - but no phone ! This morning we had some assistance from KAA as Tekooki timed his arrival well and so did senior athletes Tim and Kaboka. The 1000m. (Junior) and 1500m. (Senior) produced no dramas and reasonable times. (JB1000 in 4-34.9 then SB1500 in 6-27.3.) Then we went to the Standing Broad Jump (from a fixed board onto the grass) and Shot (from an inverted board), both keenly followed by interested children. An idea of the standard achieved showed the winners in Senior Shot (3kg.) doing 6.75m. (G) and 9.08m. (B); in the SBJ, two JB over 2m. (best 2.14m.), in SG also two over 2m. (best 2.26m.), and in SB all over 2m. with the best at 2.35m.
The final events, in previous years always across the football pitch, were the Relays. This time, with only four teams, we ran both types on the track, not worrying too much about lanes ! The Juniors did 8 x 50m., then the Seniors did 4 x 100m. The Senior Boys' race produced a very tight finish, both teams clocking 1-01. In the SG race, the first three teams broke 1-10.
FINAL RESULT.
Very soon after the final SB Relay, it was possible to announce the results for each division and overall. The honours were to some extent shared (good !), but the winning team was Tebwanimaneka PS with 107 points, over Dai Nippon PS with 99. The KAA Secretary thanked all involved for the two days' efforts, congratulated the athletes on their performances, encouraged them to keep interested, and invited everyone to return next year ! More than a hundred young athletes were involved in the two days and the staff received some experience in organising such a meeting - not really a mind-blowing task !
Last Modified on 29/09/2007 22:53