A Behind the Scenes Look at BSSAC

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Long before the sound of the gun preparations are underway for the start of the Powerade Barbados Secondary Schools Athletic Championships (BSSAC) Meet. The BSSAC Secretariat this year, based at Harrison College, is a team no-one usually sees but perform the important task of setting up the meet often working late into the night. At the secretariat, entries are received and verified, athlete ID’s are generated , credentials for all officials are prepared as well as any documents that are necessary for the running of the meet. Secretariat Chief, Andrea Greenidge-Nicholls describes time and period of hard work as her opportunity to give back to the discipline that yielded many rewards for her own daughter Sade-Mariah Greenidge, national hurdler. She enjoys giving back and assisting the youth anyway she can and BSSAC allows her to do that in a meaningful way despite the hard work and long hours.

Once the meet starts the role of the secretariat is merges into the Technical Information Centre (TIC), run by Competition Secretary Richard Forde. The TIC does all of the secretarial work for the meet which includes the printing and distribution of information urgent notices and technical information, publication of start lists and results, managing enquiries and appeals to the jury and any answering general questions concerning the competition. Forde recognizes the need for the balance between academics and athletics and the importance athletics plays in developing those skills in our nation’s children. He too has a vested interest in Championships and one of the persons instrumental in updating a many of the manual processes

When BSSACMedia visited the team at their new location at Harrison college the room resembled an office of a tech start-up with a number of computers printers and various other equipment being set-up, networked and checked well before the big day, calls were being made and list were being checked. We quickly made our exit so they could get on with the task of preparing for what is undoubtedly the biggest track and field meet on the country’s calendar. Heartfelt thanks goes out to this team who do their best work behind the scenes.