For decades, the Business House Netball Competition has provided an avenue for women from various companies to stay active while developing the sport. Major controversy is uncommon in this recreational league, but this year proved to be an exception.

The five-month long tournament came to an end just over a week ago with National Housing Trust (NHT) claiming the Senior ‘A’ title, beating Scotiabank ‘A’ in the final at the National Arena.

However, Scotia’s route to the final on November 8 was made clear after their semi-final opponent RJRGleaner Group had to forfeit after the Business House Netball Association (BHNA) denied the media team’s request for the match to be postponed by a week.

RJRGleaner Captain Tamara Hylton told the Jamaica Observer they informed BHNA, after learning the semi-final date on October 31, that their players wouldn’t be available as they were still dealing with the impact of Hurricane Melissa, which hit the island on October 28.

Through sources, the Observer obtained e-mail which RJRGleaner wrote to BHNA to state their inability to play. One e-mail noted, “A number of our players are currently on active duty as reporters, providing critical coverage and updates. Our organisation has also launched the RG Cares Initiative, through which many of our players and staff are actively engaged in providing aid and support to affected communities.”

However, in response, the BHNA said the fixtures would go ahead “in fairness to all participants, and in keeping with the structure and timeline of the league”.

Speaking to the Observer, BHNA President Karen Whinstanley said they were left with no other choice to proceed after failing to come to an agreement.

“We did try to get to common ground. The initial semi-finals would have been last Tuesday [November 4]. Offers were made for Wednesday or Thursday, explaining the situation that all the other teams are raring to go and need it to end,” she said.

“While we empathise and we understand that you have a reporter on the ground, we figure that we have 15 persons registered on the team and we need 7 persons on the field at any one time and so we could not see where it is feasible to postpone the match.”

Whinstanley said she had a telephone conversation with Hylton on November 4 when the e-mail was sent to verify their stance. “I called the sender and I said to her, ‘Is what I am reading, am I to take as fact?’ Because it reads to me that we are to go ahead because you will no longer be able to pursue because of the difficulties you were having. Based on that, we went ahead because as far as the e-mail said, we were to go ahead, and so we went ahead full speed.”

Hylton confirmed that a telephone conversation did take place but a forfeit wasn’t suggested.

“The letter was never a forfeit letter. The letter was to say that this is a media house, we have persons in the field that are reporters and also some of our netballers will be doing care packages and stuff like that, so we just basically cannot play this. Just give me one more week to get things sorted out for next week.”

A day after the pair’s telephone conversation, Hylton sent an e-mail seeking clarity after seeing BHNA’s rejection. It said, “Does this mean that you will forfeit our semi-final match, or will there be an opportunity for rescheduling or re-entry at a later stage? We would appreciate your confirmation so that we can communicate the next steps clearly to our players and management team.”

A further e-mail was sent on Friday by the company’s HR manager, but no e-mail response was given to either by BHNA until last Tuesday, November 11, three days after the end of the competition.

It said, “The semi-final and final rounds proceeded in accordance with the competition framework that applies equally to all participating teams. The season officially concluded on Saturday, November 8, and the results are now final. At this stage, we are unable to reopen or reschedule the fixtures, as doing so would compromise the integrity and conclusion of the competition.”

Whinstanley says the association has nothing against RJRGleaner and is looking to resolve any lingering issues.

“I am very open to discussion. I’m not a closed individual, neither is my counsel. We’re open to discussions, we’re open to suggestions, we’re open to getting opinions that can make our league, our association better. We’re certainly not closed off, we’re very open,” she said.

Hylton couldn’t confirm the team’s willingness to participate in future competitions but says the players are still hurt by the situation.

“I think everybody is just at a loss, and everybody is just feeling dissatisfied how BHNA handled the situation,” she said. “We have dealt with a lot of lows this year than highs, so we really wanted to play this semi-final, regardless of whatever the outcome would have been, but they showed no form of remorse towards nothing at all.”

Business House Netball Association (BHNA) logo.