VETERAN sports administrator Patrick Anderson has expressed disappointment about the progress of GC Foster as a sports college.

Anderson said that as the only institution of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, the college ought to be doing more to nurture the nation’s young athletes.

The GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sports was established in 1978 as a gift from the Cuban government and, since its inception, has dedicated itself to training “specialist teachers in physical education and sport”.

The college has produced some of Jamaica’s best sporting minds, including Wendel Downswell, former coach of the national football team; Janet Guy, former national netball coach; and renowned track and field coach Michael Clarke.

GC Foster, located in Angels, St Catherine, has also been a dominant force in the local inter-collegiate circuit, with a number of Jamaica’s top athletes donning their colours annually.

But Anderson, a former president of Jamaica Football Association (JFF) and the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA), is questioning whether the region’s only sports college is stuck

in limbo.

“I think GC Foster is missing the bus because as the only sport college in the English-speaking Caribbean they should be doing more,”

said Anderson.

“As a sports college, are they as proactive as they ought to be? Is UWI passing them? We always saw UWI as the academic scholars. What is happening at GC Foster College?” asked Anderson.

The Manchester native, who made these comments in an earlier interview with the Sunday Observer, reinforced his point on Friday at Manchester High School.

He believes GC Foster should be using the recent international successes of Jamaican athletes to attract overseas coaches, with the aim of bringing foreign exchange into the island.

“I, personally, have been trying to say for a long time, ‘sell the (success stories of the) quality coaches that you (GC Foster) introduce on the scene and get US dollars’.

“If we start getting coaches from all over the Caribbean and the world to come here (for training), the common dollar is US, and they will come… the Africans, and so on, would want to come to Jamaica because we’re doing something wonderful,” he said.

“Why are our programmes so good? Because we have been producing a number of coaches… you ever look at the form of the athletes, even at the prep schools? It is because our coaches are well-trained, so I want to say to them, put your act together,” the life member of the Manchester Football Association added.

Using former Holmwood Technical schoolgirl star Anneisha McLaughlin as an example, Anderson also took the opportunity to urge young athletes to remain in Jamaica and develop their craft, rather than go overseas where, he said, the coaches are of a lesser quality.

“… Anneisha McLaughlin, she was what we call a schoolgirl star because, if you remember well, she came a close-up second in the World Junior Championship here in Jamaica (in 2002), and for some unfortunate reason she went abroad… she did not do well there, whether it was a culture shock, I am not too sure, but she came back home,” he said.

He added: “We can keep a lot of our athletes right here in Jamaica because they can do well right here. So always think about this before you jump to the overseas choice. Think about what can happen in Jamaica and the quality coaches (that are here)… there is no American coach that can match our coaches.

“A lot of our kids who did well in the American universities did so because they were getting (good) programme from coaches ‘back a yard’,” added Anderson, the current president of the Manchester Cricket Association.

He was, however, quick to point out that keeping local athletes here will only be possible if more scholarships are offered to local universities and colleges.

“I am not happy about the amount of scholarships we are getting from the SDF (Sports Development Foundation), government organisations (and) the private sectors — not happy at all,” fumed Anderson.

“I know WINDALCO, they gave three or four scholarships over the last three years. NCB now is going to give some scholarships… (but) we want plenty more,” he added.