Wilson The Head Coach

Andre Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

Multiple championship-winning Holmwood Technical coach, Maurice Wilson, is expected to be approved today as the head coach of Jamaica's team to the August 27-September 4 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Daegu, South Korea, according to Gleaner sources.

This appointment is perhaps just reward for his much-acclaimed work at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, last year and his constant success at the local high-school level with the eight-time consecutive girls' champions Holmwood.

Wilson effectively replaces Racers Track Club patriarch Glen Mills, who announced in 2009 that he was ending his 'reign' as national senior head coach; a position he held for 22 years and spanned every Olympic Games since 1988 and every World Championships in Athletics since the inaugural staging in 1983 and the 2003 instalment.

The Gleaner sources have also revealed that the G.C. Foster College of Sports and Physical Education head coach will be joined in Daegu by another track and field heavyweight, Fitz Coleman, who has been appointed as technical director.

Coleman, who heads the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Kingston, replaces Donald Quarrie in the technical director capacity.

The 'rotation' move was described by one Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association source as a means of ensuring succession planning within the organisation, as well as a way of adding to the levels of competence and experience of several persons within the system.

Pre-competition camp

Olympian Grace Jackson was earlier announced as the team's manager, and has been busy ensuring that everything is in place for the team, ahead of their arrival in the Asian city.

Months ago, The Gleaner revealed that the customary pre-competition camp was in jeopardy because of a scarcity of rooms. The situation was since rectified, with the Daegu organisers eventually identifying sufficient accommodation for the Jamaican delegation, which is yet to be named. There was, however, a concern with the availability of adequate training, gym and medical facilities in Daegu.

Jackson, however, advised that the organisers have now identified these facilities and that everything was in place for the camp, which will run from August 18-23. After the camp, the team will move into the Athletes' Village to continue its preparation for the championship.