St Jago’s Small eyes points surge at Champs 2026

JOSEPH SMALL, the head coach for St Jago High’s girls’ track and field team, said he is working to instil a fearless mindset within his young team as they look to improve their points tally at the March 24-28 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs).

One of the most consistent girls’ programmes in the history of the championships, St Jago finished fourth last year with 149 points, well behind champions Hydel High, who amassed 277 points.

Now in his second year as head coach of the Spanish Town-based institution, Small said his focus is on building confidence in a youthful squad, while reshaping the team’s mentality.

“We are trying to instil that fearless mentality in them even though they are still young. They might not fully understand the philosophy that I am trying to instil in them since last year, and it has been a task trying to see how best I can change the philosophy. What I want from them is getting there, but it is not fully there yet,” said Small.

He added that the preparations have had their challenges, including logistical concerns surrounding meet schedules and entry fees, but he noted that the coaching staff continues to manage the group carefully to ensure the athletes qualify for the championships.

“Things have been going good so far, but we have one or two concerns here and there. We are trying to work together as a collective group because this year is a little bit tricky in terms of the entry fees (for the various meets),” he said. “We are trying to see how best we can manage each person and also get them qualified for Champs.”

Small noted that he is pleased with the general progress of his team, but he admitted that there it’s still a work in progress, especially given the lack of senior athletes within there ranks.

“They have shown some progress at the meets so far, but they are not where I want them to be yet. We have a lot more work to do. The team is generally a young one and we are continuing to build from last year,” he said. Small, however pointed out that although the team is a young one they still have some quality going into Champs.

He highlighted that increasing the team’s points spread will be the primary objective this season, rather than focusing solely on final placing.

“Points spread is going to be one of the main things for us at Champs, because even though we finished fourth last year, based on how young the team was, we never got to maximise the points. Before we start looking at position, we want to improve our points tally. Once the points increase, that will determine where we finish this year,” Small reasoned.

“I want them to be fearless, so that we can compete at Champs without thinking about anyone else but ourselves. It is a very hard task to get these girls to stay focused, especially when you don’t have a lot of seniority in the team, but we are getting there, and still have a lot of work to do,” he said.