The recent Jamaica’s Basic School Championships  had a lot of celebrities performing which had the crowd constantly engaged and with every race there was a loud eruption from the stands. On the track we repeatedly saw star performances by

Little Usain Bolt, Little Shelly Ann Frazer and Little Merelne Otteys, just to name a few. This is the beginning of the future male and female track stars that will grace the headlines with their numerous gold trophies and signing countless contracts receiving several sponsorships and at this time everyone wants to be seen in a spotlight with them. This is the time we hear that he or she is Jamaican or Jamaican born.

Too much sponsorship are arriving after the fact. After they have suffered and battled through training under harsh conditions.  Too many are recognized when the rest of the world starts to acknowledge them. In one of my recent articles I spoke about pointing the children who are not academically inclined into sporting programs. Looking out on the tracks, some were out there without shoes, (could be a preferred choice to run) however what a testimony little Ottey will have after her numerous struggles to be acknowledges as a world class athlete. After being told by his or her parents “I don’t have it, where must I get it from”. The little ones are fighting using his or her own determination to prove to their own country that they are indeed stars.

Yes parents do utter such harsh remarks to their children shutting down their hope of becoming like Bolt one day after watching him aspire to such greatness.  Some children identify their career choice from early and as parents we are to ensure that we are not limiting our own children. We need to encourage them and begin to make the necessary sacrifices to foster their growth. This is something we have failed to do. We need to help guide them to success. Let us start helping them from now by identifying theses little Usain Bolts and Merlene Otteys by providing sponsorships to help with their training programs, help with their well needed gears. We need to help them reach their full potential and the time to start nurturing and grooming is NOW. The time to build our track stars starts now.