Athletics president unhappy with lack of crowd support

Delroy Murray, president of the Cayman Islands Athletic Association, is pleading for more public support, as empty stands remain the status quo at track meets.

“One of the problems that we have in this country for many years, is crowd support for these athletes,” Murray told the Compass.

Domestic competitions and leagues throughout various sports have failed to fill seats. The Truman Bodden Sports Complex, which has a seating capacity of 3,000, averages around 50 spectators during the majority of track meets for the season.

Even events like the national championships don’t bring in large crowds. While inter-school meets attract hundreds to the stands, most of those are usually students who are in fact taking part in the competitions.

Regional neighbour Jamaica, on the other hand, has no problem filling seats.

During that country’s biggest school meet – the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships (better known as Champs) – Jamaicans turn out by the thousands to cheer on their teams banging pot covers and waving flags.

Murray wants to see that level of support become the norm in Cayman.

“We need crowd appreciation for what the athletes are doing and even though we are trying with the high school meets, it hasn’t reached that level of competitiveness,” Murray said, noting that parents are also to be blamed for empty stands.

“When their kids reach a certain age, they say ‘I can’t be bothered’, but when they were young, they are all excited,” Murray said.

However, when it comes to Cayman hosting regional or international events, fans do show up.

The last time a track meet almost filled Truman Bodden was the 2018 Cayman Invitational, which featured around 2,000 spectators watching athletes like Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce compete.

Football events hosted by CONCACAF or FIFA have recently drawn north of 500 supporters to the stadium but Murray wants to see higher numbers in the stands.

“We really need to build a sporting fraternity, not just track and field, but a fraternity that comes out at the football matches, the cricket matches, the basketball matches, and cheer on our athletes,” Murray said. “Not just track and field but [all] Cayman athletes, so that the athletes can get a feel that the community is with them, and that is very important.”