Welcome to the community Jump Centre here at the Patricia D James, formerly the Vide Bouteille, Secondary School here in La Clery. We are honoured to be here today and this week is really a big, big step for the sport of pole vaulting in Saint Lucia, and really a step forward, I believe, for the sport within the Caribbean region as a whole.”
The opening remark came from Programme Director for Mon Repos Athletics Academy, Jump Centre and Pole Vault St Lucia, Andy Behl. He was speaking to students on Monday, prior to a training session at the Jump Centre. The students, both male and female, were taking part in St Lucia Pole Vault Summit which had a developmental clinic, plus training sessions for our top national junior jumpers, leading up to the first-ever boys’ and girls’ inter-schools pole vault championship on Wednesday, followed by the National Day Street Vault.
Continuing with his opening remarks, Behl said: “I am honoured to see all the students and all the schools participating today, overcoming a lot of the challenges that the school year presents, to make it here to make this first-ever St Lucia Pole Vault Summit a reality. I can say from my end this is really a project that we had in mind for a really long time. We have seen things similar to this in other parts of the world and the critical role these kinds of events play in the development of the sport.”
Special guests in attendance at the Jump Centre included Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Fiona Bayer, to whom Behl referred as “a great champion for the development of this project”.
She praised the instructors who came on board with Behl for this project, saying: “Good morning to Andy and the entire team. We are so appreciative of your presence. We know there are many things you could be doing at this very moment, some of them very lucrative, but you have chosen to be here to support our children. This is why I, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, need to thank you.”
Andy’s team that she mentioned includes Micky Ferdinand, a native of Desruisseaux and graduate of Micoud Secondary School, who is returning from the Texas A&M University – Commerce, where he is on a full scholarship for high jump and pole vault. After being introduced to the pole vault at a small school clinic in 2009, Ferdinand developed himself in the sport, eventually winning the gold medal at the 2014 CARIFTA Games where he also began a transition into the high jump event. His mark of 2.15 metres (m) in the high jump in 2017 set him on a course towards university, back in August of 2018.
Also on the team are two veterans and a new face to the Pole Vault St Lucia community. Rick Valcin, a native of La Croix Maingot and graduate of Gros Islet Secondary School is returning from Dubuque, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Dubuque, after winning the 2014 NCAA Division III national championship in pole vault. Valcin was a silver medallist at the 2009 CARIFTA Games, hosted here in Saint Lucia. He later performed well in the 2009 Castries Market Street Vault, which led to entry into Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kansas, a mere four weeks later.
Shem Edward, who is also Saint Lucian, is a five-time medallist at the junior level: four time CARIFTA medallist and CAC junior medallist. Three-time Olympic qualifier Dominic Johnson was accompanied by his eldest daughter, Isabella, who is an 18-year-old senior in high school in Arizona. She has been vaulting for four years.
Key partners on the St Lucia Pole Vault Summit include Mon Repos Athletics Academy, Saint Lucia Athletics Association, Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, and Ministry of Education, with sponsorship support from National Lotteries Authority, Blue Waters Saint Lucia Ltd and Harbor Club.
