The 2023 renewal of the ISSA Boys and Girls Athletics Championship gets underway on Tuesday March 28 at the National Stadium with several exciting and mouth watering clashes on both sides of the gender divide.

 Title-holders Kingston college will be hard pressed by Jamaica College, Calabar and St Jago on the boys side, while defending girls champions Edwin Allen will face their toughest  battle from Central Champs winners hydel, along with Holmwood, St Jago and Wolmers.

 Among the top awards are two digital technology plans from title sponsors Grace Kennedy worth half a million dollars…….to the school of the boys’ and girls’ teams which break the most records.

 Additionally a new special incentive will be awarded to the top coach and teacher at the respective boys and girls champion school valued at 250 Thousand dollars each while a special bursary worth 500 thousand dollars will be awarded to two female athletes with academic interest in the stem field.

Governing body Issa in the meantime will issue one million dollars to the winning team at the end of the five-day event.

 The schools finishing second will pocket 750 thousand dollars with half a million dollars going to the third place finishers.

 In total this year’s event will be contested by 179 schools….88 boys and 91 girls, with over 100 student athletes from 20 other countries also competing.

The meet gets underway with the running of the girls 2000 meters steeplechase at 9 am.

Some 88 events are to be contested over the five days,  with the blue ribbon events the class one boys and girls 100 metres final set for Wednesday night.

The Sporting Choice Irie Fm will have live and continuous coverage of the championship throughout the five days.