Participation and the spirit of sport were the name of the game as 60 grade seven athletes from across the region competed in a track meet hosted by Fernie Secondary School. The heavy rains did not dampen the young athletes’ energy on Monday.
Paul Chow, Fernie Secondary track coach, organized the track meet for grade seven students specifically as they are excluded from regular high school track meets. BC schools track meets are organized for grade eight to 12 yet high schools now include grade sevens.
As many as 30 volunteers helped time multiple events. Chow’s main goal this year was to simply get the track meet going. Chow commented, “The kids were absolutely fantastic and full of enthusiasm. Some kids were here from schools that weren’t even supposed to be in school, yet they showed up to participate. I didn’t hear one complaint about the rain.”
There was lots of laughter at the final event of the mixed relay event. With a mixture of athletes, coaches and volunteers making up seven mixed relay teams, they managed to race together on a six-lane track.