Info: March 27, 2006 Posted by: Leon 7 comments

Well it’s that time of year again, time for the VMBS/ISSA Boys & Girls Athletic Championships, aka “Champs.” It begins in only 2 days, and already we’re beginning to see the signs: schoolers proudly waving their school flags, graffiti on buses and popular teen hangouts, random displays of school spirit, etc. For those who don’t know what Champs is (and by that I mean most of you), it is the biggest event on the Jamaican high school calendar. Think high school March Madness plus track and field and other Olympic-type events and minus the basketball.

But in the midst of all this excitement and anticipation, a war is being waged between rival boys’ schools in the Corporate Area. Calabar, Jamaica College, Kingston College and Wolmer’s Boys’ are the rival factions. Wolmerians (being the gentlemen that we are) have not participated in the war, but we may be drawn into it since we’re a force to be reckoned with. The war has already claimed a few causalities. On Wednesday, a brawl broke out between students of Calabar and KC, resulting a member of each school being stabbed. The KC student was sent to hospital and a 17-year-old Calabar student was charged in connection with the incident. You might be wondering “Why would they do such a thing?” Well, for one, Jamaicans are a very passionate people. When we believe in something, we believe it strongly! We’re not “flip-floppers”. And we don’t just wear our school colours, we bleed our school colours. Our school’s honour is very important to us, and we will defend it to the death. I’m not excusing the actions of the students, just trying to make you understand the situation here.

We even have “territories,” places where rival schools are not welcome, at least not in frequency or numbers. Cross Roads is “owned” by KC and Wolmer’s. We share an uneasy truce since our schools are close to each other. Half-Way-Tree is “owned” by JC and Calabar. There are even “hunting grounds,” girls’ schools or co-ed schools that we get our females from. A school’s “hunting ground” is usually within close range of it. Usually these rules are pretty lax, but get more strict as Champs rolls around, as members of each school sense the opportunity to reign supreme over their rivals. I like this friendly competition. It makes interscholastic events more exciting. But when it becomes unfriendly competition, that’s where the line must be drawn.

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