 Yeah, time now to talk some track and field on the Sports Bank Zone. The 2024 Jamaican High School season is in full swing and has already created some buzz over the past two weekends. This Saturday, though, the ninth edition of the McKinley Wind Classic to be held at Calabar High School will be one of the attractions. The event, named in honor of past students and Olympic gold medalists, Herbert McKinley and Arthur Wint is set to attract an estimated 1,300 athletes. We are pleased to be joined in studio by a member of the organizing committee, David Miller, and a Calabar student athlete, Fomsen Martin, Carlos Bryson, a 2023 champs class 3500 meter gold medalist. Gentlemen, welcome to the Sports Bank Zone. Thank you very much and thanks for having us. Yeah, David, let's start with you because, you know, in Jamaica, you have multiple track and field meets on any weekend. What is so special about this one, the McKinley Wind Classic, that people should be so excited about? The McKinley Wind Classic is named in honor of her McKinley and Arthur Wint and that alone speaks a lot. Then you have the backdrop of Calabar High School, which is one of the finest boys institutions in Jamaica, where we have a fabulous sports complex for several sports, not only track and field, cricket, football, basketball, lacrosse, rugby. We have a wholesome set of activities going on at the school, different extracolorical activities, building the youth into young men. And Calabar is a brand 111 years old, there are a lot of history, a lot of history at 61 Rails Road, and it attracts people. This has attracted 1,300 athletes in about four to five schools to come out for track and field on Saturday, January 20th. Yeah, how are you going to manage so many teams and athletes in one day? I saw only, I think a day ago, the J3S president, Garth Gale, saying he's concerned about some of these development meets going too long. Yes, well, we have a good set of managers. We have strong security for the complex. We have a state-of-the-art online platform that manages the heats, manages the results, a high-power team to filter through the results and get the events going one after the other. So it's nonstop action from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. And on the field event side, we'll have discuss, shot put, and long jump. We have some of the top officials, J3 accredited, to manage that process and to keep it going. There are two shot put rings at Calabar, there are two long jump pits at Calabar, so events will be going off simultaneously all through the day for spectators, for field events, for track events. You have a full day and you will be enjoying it. Yeah, well, I want to hear from Carlos now. Carlos, you're from St. Martin. Why Calabar High School? I don't know, really. Well, what? It's my father. It's my father. I'm a coach from St. Martin, really, picked the twice for me. Yeah, but are you enjoying going to school there? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's nice. I think it's one of the best choice I could have ever had, that I think. Right. And of course, what are you looking forward to for this meet that's coming up? It's a big meet. Have you participated in it before? Yes, I have. Right. Last year, 2020, McKinley-Winley, I ran the 400 and 800 as well. Okay, and what are you looking forward to most this season and how has preparation been for you? Preparation is coming slowly and alright. I am getting there, but for the McKinley-Winley chat meet, I don't know if I'm running as yet, but I will get the confirmation from the coach tomorrow. Yeah, David, you know, there is a thing where we've seen a number of overseas athletes now in the high school system in Jamaica. Really recently, a young lady from Edwin Allen, Carol Etienne, set a Dominican junior record in 1170 in the 100 meters, so a lot of them are doing well. We've seen Julian Alfred here, athletes from as far as Africa, and you see that across a number of schools in Jamaica. But Carlos Bryson is the only non-Jamaican at Calabar High School, and that is surprising to me because Calabar High School is a school that is contending to win champs, and the feeling now, if you are going to win, you need overseas talent. Well, you know, there are some objectives that we have that surpass winning in terms of a number of points at championships. Calabar High School was built for Jamaicans, for Jamaican boys, and we have always stuck to that mantra. We have always been encouraging that right throughout Jamaica. Our track and field program, football program, all extracurricular activities are focused on building Jamaican talent. So we invite boys to come visit our school. We encourage boys to come visit our school to join all different programs and be academically sound. And we're focusing on Jamaicans. Carlos is an exception. He's that asked to come to, for him to come to Calabar to come and visit Calabar first of all. When he saw the campus and met the teachers and the principal at the time, Mr. Karcher, he was won over. And of course, we facilitate aware about Jamaica, building talent throughout the region, not just for Calabar, but for the region. But our primary focus is Jamaicans. That's what we're doing, notwithstanding other teams are having, specifically bringing students to run for them. That's our objective. But you know, a lot of old boys, you've been one of them, old boy that is, want to win. And so they'll say, maybe it is a case that we need to get in more overseas talent if we're going to be pushing for these titers, if we're going to contend with other teams who are at the top at this stage. I hear you. And I've heard the cry. But again, our focus is on us and Jamaicans are not just scoring the most points, but building a boy, a young Jamaican boy, into a top citizen of Jamaica, matriculating the boys into university level. That's our focus, a rounded individual that can be someone in our society. That's what Calabar is all about. That's what we're always stuck by. Yeah. And that's our victory. That's our win. Yeah. Carlos, a great introduction for you at Champs last year, winning the Class 3 15 100 meters, you step up with the semi-big boys now in Class 2. How much are you looking forward to that? Because it's always difficult for a first year Class 2 athlete to repeat the type of success that they had in Class 3. So what are your goals and your targets in this first year of Class 2? Goals. My goals. My goals right now is to do my best at the Champs 2024. But the coach that I have, Errol Maasaias, he's a great coach and as you know, he like Bill Venson in Ferguson and Rivaldo and he was in, as if you know that Venson come from Class 3 and his first year of Class 2 and broke the record, so Errol Maasaias and he's a great coach and I think he can make a student or athlete break the record this year, maybe. Are you going for the record? This year? No, I don't think so. Well, I think. We will see. How about Carifter? Because it's always tough and we've seen a number of athletes who do well in the Jamaican high school system and then you go to Carifter and it can be tough physically and otherwise, you had that experience last year competing at Carifter Games. How much are you looking forward to the Carifter Games this time around? It's going to be in Grenada and have the expectations for Carifter kind of gone up because in that category now you'll be a senior, the under 17s. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it really because you know what I'm saying, I started at 13 years old, now I'm 15 and I'm ready to actually compete, so I'm looking forward to it and I just hope that the season comes through. Yeah, sounds good. What sort of reception do you get in St. Martin? Because you won a champ's gold medal last year, which I suspect must have been a massive thing. What was the reaction like there? The reaction there was crazy because almost everybody just came to me and congratulated me. My parents from coaches, I would say he won't from St. Martin, I don't know. So you're a little Sufa star there? Yeah, you could say that, yes. What? I like that. David, we leave the final word with you. Everybody would want me to ask this, is Calabar going to win champs any time soon? Of course you will. Why? Because we're going to win champs very soon, sooner than you'll think. Oh, but you don't know what I think, David. We're building our team, we're building young boys into men, we're building a team of disciplined young boys and we're going to be right there, we're going to be right there sooner than later. Yeah, quickly, you're pushing this thing I notice about disciplined young boys. Is there something about changing the image or what individuals have perceived in the past to about boys from Calabar? I think it's not just boys from Calabar, if you look across society and the level of crime generally and the kind of boys coming out of the school, I mean not to say anything derogatory or anything negative, but boys, we need as a side to lift our boys to be stronger and better and we need them to be more of a professional sort and we recognize that at Calabar the need to mentor and to be there guiding the boys throughout. There are so many instances of boys over the years falling by the wayside and not only Calabar, it's right across our society and we need as adults to play our part to change that little by little and to build those values into the boys to have them get that sense of purpose and direction I think and that's a big focus for us at Calabar, you know that's a big focus for us, it's not about sports totally, it's about being someone in society that is credible and can be looked up on. Yeah, I wish Ricardo was going to school now in this time where you're pushing that too bad, it's too late. Maria, I'll leave you with the last word. David, thanks very much Carlos, thanks very much and all the best on the weekend. Let's take a break on the Sportsman zone. Maria will be here after the break with Interactive.