,br> Hartley Neita, Contributor

When I entered Jamaica College in 1942, the school year for secondary and elementary schools began in January and ended in December. The first term - Easter - was devoted to track and field and swimming. The second term - summer - was for cricket, and hockey when it was introduced two years later, and the third term - Christmas - featured football and boxing. There were terms when we did rifle shooting and lawn tennis, but I do not remember when.

Since the recent Beijing Olympics, a great deal of comment has been made about the role played by the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association for boys and girls in the development of our athletes. The late Herbert MacDonald wrote a book in which he recorded the successes by boys and their schools up to the year 1970. Sadly, no such documentation has been made for succeeding years, or about the girls.

Boys Championships began in 1910 and I hope preparations are now being made to celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2010. For example, finding the boy or boys who participated in the early years and paying tribute to them should be a priority.

Nature and character

The nature and character of these sports have changed dramatically over the years. In 1942, only eight schools participated in these Championship sports. Today, they combine both boys and girls and there are over 100 schools taking part in perhaps what is the largest sports of its kind in the world.

Looking back at the first time I shouted my new school's cheer, "Fervet Opus In Campis", I will never forget the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd which packed the stands and the grounds of Sabina Park. Jamaica College had become accustomed to winning year after year and suffered the agony of seeing a purple and white school on North Street enjoyed the success.

Nevertheless, we cheered our throats hoarse on the tram cars all the way to Hope Road where we groaned and moaned our sorrow for days and nights.

Those Championship sports were preceded by my school's own in-house sports day. That was the year the one-mile race was first introduced. The powers that were had decreed some years before that it was "inadvisable, on account of the climate, to have schoolboys run over that distance".

As a sweetener to popularise this race, it was decided that every boy who entered this race, and completed it, would earn a point for his house.

Every boy, or most, in my house, Simms, decided to enter. Every afternoon we were on the track running, round and round its 440 yards huffing and puffing, as we trained for this event. At first, we small boys could only do one turn around the track, but as the days passed we were running 880 yards, then three turns, and then glory, hallelujah we completed the mile. And we repeated the run every day until sports day.

Team spirit

We gave Simms at least 30 points. It was my first example of togetherness and team spirit. To our regret, however, the race was won by Upton Robotham of Scotland House. Not by Basil McKenzie, Hal Lawson, Dexter Manning, Allan 'Porky' Byles, or Ken Williams, or by Edgar Rodgers who were our house's better athletes.

Basil McKenzie went on to run and win the 100 yards, 220 yards, and 440 yards at Champs. He was also a member of the Olympic team Jamaica sent to the London Games in 1948. Hal Lawson, Dexter Manning, 'Porky' Byles, Ken Williams and Edgar Rodgers represented our school at Champs. The rest of us tried other sports, but never forgot that we each gained a point for Simms by stretching our lungs and striding our feet in the one-mile inaugural race at our school.