Former National football player Wayne Palmer will be the 2025 honouree at the Purewater /JC/ R Danny Williams Track & Field development meet on Saturday, January 4.

Palmer served as assistant coach of the Jamaica College Manning Cup team in 2006 and 2007 and, with great success, head coach of the junior teams from 2008 to the present.

In 2023, Palmer had surgery after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

Ian Forbes, chairman of the organising committee, said Palmer will be honoured for his contribution to the school’s football.

“For his tireless efforts as a football coach of Jamaica College, we salute him for his contribution to the continued development and success of the Jamaica College football programmes and by extension, the national programme,” said Forbes in a press release.

This will be the 31st staging of the meet, to be held at the Ashenheim Stadium starting at 8:30 am. It’s athletics’ first meet of the year and most schools are usually eager to kick start their season here as it is one of the qualifying meets for the Boys & Girls Athletics Championships.

The meet is officially sanctioned by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), the Inter-Secondary Schools’ Sports Association (ISSA), as well as World Athletics, enabling athletes to gain world ranking points based on their performance.

Most popularly known as ‘The Meet with a Difference’, the organizers are eager to maintain the meet’s well-established reputation of being a well-organised and well-run meet, ensuring that all competitors are allowed to qualify.

As the action takes place on the track and field, the meet consists of two competitive categories with an open invitation being extended to athletic teams and individuals from schools all over Jamaica in one of the two team categories or as an unattached competitor. The first category consists of schools of all types with participation in classes I-III for boys and I-IV for girls.

The second category will comprise a mix of clubs and institutions with males and females in separate competitions. The event lineup promises to be exceptional with 100M, 400M, 800M, 3000M(F) AND 5000M(M). Additionally, there will be 70M, 80M, 100M 110M, & 400M hurdles. Joining this list of events are field disciplines long jump, triple jump, discus, high jump, shot put, javelin and pole vault.

The organizers would like to let you know that all teams are asked to wear their regular competition colours. A maximum of four competitors per class per team per event will be allowed except in the 400m where each team will only be allowed a maximum total of three competitors. 

Moreover, the organisers would like to express their gratitude to title sponsor, Spike Industries Limited, through their Purewater brand, and associate sponsors, PUMA, Sports Development Foundation, Virginia Dare (Hi-Lyte), KFC, On Di Run events, Western Union, World Class Athletics, Atlas Security Group, Medic One & StrideVision TV. 

The entry fees are: $1,000.00 (adults) and $300 (students with ID).