Immaculate optimistic about Corporate Area Champs
Published:Thursday | March 6, 2025 | 12:10 AMGregory Bryce/Staff Reporter
WITH THE Corporate Area High School Championships set to begin tomorrow at the Jamaica College (JC) Ashenheim Stadium, Immaculate Conception High are preparing to compete for a top spot for yet another year.
Immaculate have been a powerhouse in the regional championships for the past few years, finishing third in 2023 and 2024 as well as a second-placed finish in 2022.
Led by their head coach Franz Forde, Immaculate are aiming for another impressive showing at the two-day competition this weekend.
Speaking with The Gleaner, Forde said the aim is to keep the athletes in high spirits while they compete at their best.
“To be quite honest, we always go out there to compete at our best. I can’t tell you if our best will be good enough to win. One of the things that we tell the girls when they go out there, especially for Corporate Area Championships, is to go out there and to have fun.”
Immaculate has garnered the reputation of fielding strong class three and four teams over the past few years.
BALANCED ACROSS THE BOARD
However, Forde said this year will be much different as he believes his programme has become balanced across all classes as the athletes continue to move up the age groups.
“It has been every positive and each year, as they move up, it has been a motivation for the other classes,” he explained.
“A lot of time, what happens is that the girls from primary and prep schools will see the performances from our Class four and Class three teams, and would want to pick to come to Immaculate based on those performances.”
With his top athletes moving up to classes one and two, and talented youngsters coming into their classes three and four programmes, Forde said he will be expecting points from all disciplines across the board.
“You are going to see the points and our prowess coming from all the classes. We don’t focus on a particular class. We have trained the girls in such a way that everybody throughout all classes are important. They should just remember that each of them can contribute in order to make the programme a success.”
Corporate Area Champs will begin on Friday before the final day of competition on Saturday. Kingston College (KC) and Excelsior will be looking to defend their respective boys’ and girls’ titles.