Ray Harvey – Driving the Western Relays for Decades

One of the main reasons why Track & Field in Jamaica is booming is an abundance of talent. The other is because there are a set of volunteers islandwide who are totally committed to the development and care of the sport. Without these heroes, the sport would wither and die. One of those persons is Ray Harvey.

Harvey, a businessman, competed for Kingston College and Jamaica in the sprint hurdles in the 60s. He has been driving the Western Relays for decades; navigating with and without sponsorships, before the synthetic track and stadium came to Montego Bay and now, with that track in disrepair, taking the relays to Eastern Jamaica.

Harvey spoke about the disadvantages of hosting the meet at GC Foster College in Spanish Town.

“We have to take everything (to Spanish Town) and transport everything back (to Montego Bay),” he moaned unintentionally. “Also, we don’t get much gate receipts here. When we are at the Catherine Hall stadium, it makes a big, big difference to our budget.”

He has seen it all and looks at the event like an extended family.

“Milo (long stand sponsor) is back with us and that helps with the ability to relocate from Montego Bay to GC Foster,” Harvey told @Athletics_JA as he sat and watched the preparations taking place for the event. “This is our fifth year away from home. It is really, really difficult to relocate the meet but we have to keep the thing alive. We have to make sure that Track & Field in Western Jamaica has something to look forward to.”

He warned that the fans in the West are getting used to the idea of no more track & field meets, calling it a disaster.

“The fans looked forward to seeing some of the great athletes competing in Montego Bay,” said Harvey.

“The youngsters seeing their heroes on the track, live and direct. That is missing and it is going to take us a long, long, time to get that back. It was an inspiration that the junior athletes looked forward to. They looked forward to rubbing shoulders with the greats. There is a whole generation who will not get that opportunity and that cannot be good.”

Harvey made another appeal to the powers that be, who have been promising to renovate the track for the last six years.

”For us to properly contribute to the development of track & field in Western Jamaica, we need the track. For those youngsters in the west to be inspired, we need the track and for the west to continue to input quality athletes into the system, we need the track.”