Don't relax it ISSA

ON THE SPORTING EDGE

Paul Reid

Thursday, January 12, 2012

ONCE again the question of relaxing the transfer of student/athletes between schools participating in ISSA run competitions has been thrust into the limelight.

Presently, the rule states that unless a student taking part in any sporting event is going to sixth form, or is coming from overseas, they must sit out a year before they are eligible to take part.

Prior to this, the rule had exempted students under the age of 16, who would be eligible to participate right away.

Any move to change this rule, I believe, would be dangerous.

It is my firm opinion that the rule should be left where it is and any move to relax it should be strenuously resisted.

My good friend Andrew Edwards, the football coach at St Elizabeth Technical High, wrote an article in the Observer a few weeks ago defending the move to relax the rules.

I am of the opinion that if Andrew was still at Titchfield High, where he had to struggle with the school's administration every year in his efforts to field a competitive team, his views on transfer would be different.

It should be noted that the transfer rules only seriously affect three sports, football, cricket and track and field and to a lesser extent boys basketball, as none of the other sports under the ISSA umbrella are as 'important' to the majority of the sport- loving public.

What Andrew did not address in his well-thought-out piece was the reason why ISSA was forced to take such drastic actions in the first place.

It should be noted that it was the rampant acts of alleged dishonesty on the part of schools, principals and coaches as they tried to win titles at any cost, that apparently forced ISSA to take the decision.

While sports is becoming increasingly important in our society -- as young men and young women have more chances at carving out a career in that sphere -- whether participating as athletes or on the sidelines as trainers, physiotherapist etc, I have held the view for a long time that our school system cannot become sports academies.

Our economy and class sizes cannot absorb students whose only focus is on sports and not sufficiently on academics.

Additionally, even if the student goes on to make millions in his or her chosen sporting discipline, if they are not sufficiently smart enough to know how to invest it, they will lose it faster than they earned it. We need only to look to the American professional sports to see former super stars who have become broke and even homeless or in prison for fraud.

Andrew's idea of creating super teams by farming all the top players in a select group of 'top schools' is a backward step that would prevent the spread of talent around the island.

We now have more qualified coaches in all sports due to the excellent work that is being done at GC Foster Sports College and to shrink the talent pool to a handful of schools makes no sense to me.

For every boy or girl who thinks he or she has to leave an underachieving school to go to a 'big' school they should remember Alvas Powell, who became a star while staying at a 'no-name' school and who later became an inspiration for others.

Jermaine Hue was a big time player at a small school, as was track star Omar Brown who was advised to stay at Albert Town High instead of taking up offers to transfer to a so called 'powerhouse' track programme in Kingston.

If any change ISSA needs to make soon is to raise the academic eligibility from the pathetic 45 per cent in four subjects to at least 50 per cent overall.

I can't speak for everyone but I am tired of our football players, cricketers and track athletes embarrassing the nation with their lack of ability to communicate when called upon.