Kingston, Jamaica – October 13th, 2025 – The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association hosted its annual Calendar Conference on Saturday, October 11th under the theme “Making Competitions Safe For All.” The guest presenter was World Athletics International Technical Official (ITO), Bryan Roe from Australia who spoke on “Safety in The Competition Area – The Responsibility of Meet Organizers & Officials”. Mr. Roe, who recently served on the Jury of Appeal for Tokyo 2025 World Championships, spoke about the safety considerations for the various events and how scheduling of concurrent events can make the Competition Area safer. He also mentioned that when safety clashes with the Competition Rules then safety should be the consideration.

Dr Safiya Franklyn from the Jamaica Association of Sports Medicine spoke to the virtual gathering about “Medical Support for Meet Patrons.” She stressed the importance of Meet Organizers to make sure those provisions are in place and the 1:100 ratio of medical personnel to patrons that should be in place. The clear signage of the First Aid station(s) and the various protocols that should be in place to make sure the proper response is possible in the case of any eventualities.

The conference which was attended by Meet Organizers, Official and Coaches also gave them insight as to the steps required for a local Track and Field Meeting to be listed on the World Athletics Global Calendar. David Riley who spoke on the topic, highlighted the application process, the minimum 70 day lead-time for all written requests and the associated fees. World Athletics implemented the requirement on January 1, 2023 and since then only Competitions listed on their Global Calendar are recognized by them and athletes can earn World Ranking points.

Other key points from the Conference were the presentation of the draft JAAA 2026 Calendar by Ian Forbes, the Chairman of the JAAA Competitions Commission. The Calendar has 105 Competitions Listed of which 32 are International Competitions including World Athletics Indoor Championships (March 20-22), CARIFTA Games (April 4-6), World Athletics Relays (May 2-3), NACAC U18/U23 Championships (June 5-7), Commonwealth Games (July 27 – August 1st), World U20 Championships (Aug 5-9), and the World Athletics Ultimate Championships (September 11-13) in Budapest Hungary. The major local competitions include Gibson Relays (Feb 28th), JAAA CARIFTA Trials (Mar 6-8), ISSA Grace Boys and Girls Athletics Championships (March 24-28), Racers Grand Prix (June 13th) and the JAAA National Junior & Senior Championships (June 23-27).

JAAA President Garth Gayle who gave opening and closing remarks challenged all stakeholders to work together to maintain Jamaica’s dominance in athletics on the regional and global stage. He stressed that the JAAA was not just the Executive members but involved all the members and the Meet Promoters, many of whom have affiliated membership.

Post conference activities include consultations with Meet Organizers where there are scheduling, venue and other issues to have those resolved within the next few weeks. The final 2026 JAAA Calendar is then presented at the Annual General Meeting of the JAAA on November 25, 2025 after it has been ratified by the JAAA Executive.