Local high school athletes rarely get an opportunity to experience indoor meets and impress college scouts.

With a view to changing that, the Red-Line Athletics Club have taken up the mantle to give a crop of their athletes some experience in that area, thereby getting their feet wet in indoor competition in preparation for collegiate athletics.

A total of 20 of the club’s athletes left for the Carl Lewis High School Invitational at the University of Houston, in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday. The track portion of the meet will be held on a six-lane 200m banked track at Yeoman Fieldhouse on the University of Houston campus from Thursday to Saturday. Field events will be contested as well.

“This is our fourth year travelling to an indoor meet. We felt that it would be good to give the young athletes some exposure. This is what they have to get accustomed to when they go off to college and university,” said Red-Line Athletics Head Coach Tito Moss. “Every January, we try to go to an indoor meet and allow them to have an indoor mark. That’s important for when scouts want to recruit them. Also, this meet is very competitive and if they are able to perform well here, that will open the door for them to be seen by college scouts and garner some type of interest.”

The contingent features 12 female athletes and eight male athletes — some of whom were on the trip last year. Moss said they will be competing in the sprints, 60 meters (m) hurdles, 400m, long jump and triple jump events. Action gets underway with the heats of the boys and girls 60 and 400m today. Over in the field, the girls triple jump and pole vault will be contested.

“They are excited and are looking forwards to competition,” said Moss. “When you look at athletes like Alexis Roberts, Darvinique Dean, Bayli Major, Madison Moss and Jade Ferguson, just to name a few… all of them are CARIFTA athletes who we will be looking to make the jump to college athletics soon. It’s important that they get some type of indoor mark on their résumés. We can’t simulate indoor meets at home and this is an opportunity for them to show off their skills to some college scouts who will be in attendance. They are definitely excited. We’re looking forward to some good performances.”

The ages of the Red-Line athletes ranges from 14-17, and the meet encompasses athletes in senior high school.

The three-day meet will wrap up with the 4x400m races on Saturday.