HC outfitted to hit the track

Any athletes to suffer the misfortune of coming down the home stretch of the track behind a Harrison College student in the 2020 edition of the Powerade Barbados Secondary Schools Athletic Championships (BSSAC) will be in for a surprise. With the highly-anticipated annual competition set to kick off tomorrow, the Crumpton Street team will be rocking a new-look uniform as they revealed it recently during their morning assembly.

Having won the Best Team on parade last year, HC will be looking to retain their title in their new duds, which were sponsored and donated through a joint venture between NCB Capital Markets Barbados, Exousia Consultancy and Cemix. With NCB Capital Markets leading the charge as the main sponsors, the Jamaican company sponsors several similar programmes in its native land and hopes to do the same here.

Speaking to the Barbados Advocate after the big reveal, Chief Executive Officer of NCB Capital Markets Simona Watkins explained the thinking behind joining forces with Harrison College. “As Jamaicans, athletics is a big part of who we are, therefore we wanted to partner with a school like Harrison College based on the successes that they have had and we want to affiliate ourselves with the school’s success; and we also want to grow the brand – Harrison College and NCB Capital Markets in Barbados. We are new to Barbados as a company so it was a good anchor for us to be able to sponsor Harrison College’s Track and Field programme, which is something that we are very passionate about – growing the youth, growing development and also using it as an opportunity to branch out into the market,” she said.

Principal of Harrison College Juanita Wade said that she was pleased to receive the helping hand as every contribution – big or small – went a long way to making her school’s participation a reality. “We are really glad that this year we have been able to attract three different sponsors and what that means is that we can continue to support the Track and Field programme. We can continue to replace our implements. We can continue to ensure that they are well-outfitted. We usually have a very large team and it takes a lot to keep them at BSSAC for four days,” she said.

With NBC Capital Market’s sponsorship covering more than the uniforms and expected to go beyond this year’s championships, Principal Wade said that there were several other needs that would be fulfilled. “We understand that the sponsorship is in for the long haul – it’s going to continue – and this means we can continue to develop our programme. One of the main things we are missing right now is a High Jump set. It costs a significant amount of money so obviously some of the sponsorship that we have this year will go towards that purchase because we are really lacking in that area and we are looking forward to be able to upgrade our equipment,” she said. (MP)