Kahlil Cato - Athlete turned coach
Born on March 10, 1977 in Barbados, to a Jamaican mother and Vincentian father, Kahlil’s first sporting love was football. He enjoyed playing it while at the Kingstown Prep School, and later, the St. Vincent Grammar School. He would however say that as much he loved football, it didn’t love him back, because try as he might, he didn’t get selected to play on the school team. It was at this point, in 1993, that he decided to turn his attention to athletics, joining the Sprinter’s Association Track Club.
He made his name as a 100 and 200 sprinter, and surprised himself at Grammar School’s Inter House sports, as well as the Inter Secondary Schools Athletics Championships (ISSAC), by winning the Intermediate Boys Champ, at both events. He spent 2 more years at Grammar School before transferring to the Bishop’s College Kingstown, for his final 2 years of school. He graduated in 1996, after winning the Senior Boy’s Champ twice, and setting a 200m record of 21.32.
During his high school career, Kahlil got his taste of national representation. In 1995 he went to the Hampton Games, and the C.A.C Junior championships, in Trinidad and Tobago, and the OECS Championships in the British Virgin Islands. He also got his first taste of international travel, when he took part in the World University Student Games, in Japan.
1996 would see him retuning to Trinidad for the Hampton Games, and being the sole Vincentian representative at the Carifta Games in Jamaica, where he placed 8th in the 100m. Kahlil would also be a part of SVG’s largest Olympic contingent, being a part of the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, running the 4×100 relay.
In January of the following year, he took up an athletic scholarship to the Missouri Valley College, where he pursued a degree in Mass Communication, and switch events from the 100 and 200, to the 200 and 400. On completion of that degree, he returned home in 2001, and made his last appearance in national colours as an athlete, at the C.A.C. Senior Games in Barbados.
Going by the sobriquet, “The GruveMaster”, Kahlil became a household name on the radio and dj landscape. He started out at WE-FM 99.9, but soon moved on to the now defunct powerhouse, Hitz 103.7. He spent 4 years there before working in Barbados on 98.1 The One, for just over a year. With the pending birth of his second son, Kahlil moved back home, and back to Hitz 103.7, where he commanded the airwaves for another 8 years.
Feeling it was time for a change, he hung up his headphones and got back into the sport he loves, this time as a coach. Kahlil is a World Athletics Level 1 certified coach, and is a part of the X-Ceed Sports Club, as a sprints and High Jump coach. He would say his biggest achievement to date, was coaching his younger son to back-to-back Inter Primary School Athletics Championship (IPSAC) High Jump titles, and to an IPSAC record of 1.50m, in 2019.
He now sits on the executive of TASVG, as a committee member. Kahlil works as an Assistant Sports Officer in the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture, while being one of the most sought after event emcees. He’s also a news anchor for the Evening News on SVG-TV.
