The fervour and fever of the 2009 Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships will peak today, as the champions are crowned. It is an annual explosion of competition and pride at the National Stadium, which never fails to pull in a bumper crowd of current and past students of the many competing schools.

However, behind the exciting spectacle of various school colours in the stands and students putting out their best efforts on the track, there is a staggering financial cost. Yesterday's Gleaner reminded us of some of those costs, speaking to the massive bills rural teams rack up in order to participate in 'Champs'. Under the headline 'The real cost of success', it was reported that Holmwood is spending close to $2 million, while Edwin Allen will be forking out about $1.2 million, these seeming to be among the higher expenditures for the championships.

Even if there was no recession, the amounts would still be striking. And we would still have to ask whether it was worth it.

Granted, there are the obvious potential returns of scholarships for individual athletes as well as the intangible but still significant individual and collective pride that accrues as athletes not only do well but also do their best, regardless of result. And, as the Holmwood team's manager, Chester McCarthy, said, "With what is happening these days in the schools in relation to violence, sports is one means of saving these children. And if we can save them 100 at a time, then that alone is worth it."

not strong contenders

We must point out, though, that Immaculate Conception High School does not, as far as we know, have a problem with violence and The Gleaner reported the Constant Spring Road school's excellent maths and English results recently. They are traditionally not strong Champs contenders.

While we are not suggesting a stark comparison between schools' academic and athletic performance, we do believe that a reassessment of the vast sums of money spent on school (especially at the secondary level) sports is in order. And this is not only for track and field but also football, which also gobbles up huge sums of cash annually, as well as the other sporting endeavours.

And let us not forget that the cost of schools' participation in competition is only a part of the overall expenditure on that particular sport, as the actual external contest comes at the end of a long and costly training process.

Just how much money is injected into encouraging a higher academic performance is unknown, but certainly, there is much less fanfare around the scholastic than the sporting pursuits. Even on the plane of establishing priorities for schoolchildren, this is an intolerable imbalance.

It could be, of course, that this is simply a reflection of the wider society's priorities, in that past students and sponsors readily support sporting endeavours and are reluctant to put money and time into less obviously glamorous facets of school life. Still, it would be up to a school's administration to attempt to address this situation.

So, while we enjoy the grand spectacle that is Champs, let us look again at what it is actually costing the schools that participate and the nation as a whole - and that applies not only to finances.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.