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The real story of the Munro protest that the Observer failed
to clarify.
Munro College leads this years Western Champs by 27 points after the first
day of eliminations. Our performances were highlighted by record breaking
throws from 2nd year Class II man Rajae Gayle (DT-46.35m and SP 14.44m) and
placements in all of next week's sprint and distance finals. I will post
the other final performances on the blog after the final day on Tuesday the
19th.
However, I want to take this time to fully support a team that was subject
to the vagaries of poor officiating and blatant cheating. Head Boy and
Class I sprinter, Andrene Nelson, clearly won his 400m heat early Tuesday
morning and it was officially recorded. When the semi-finalists for the
event were being marshaled his name was not called. He mentioned to the
official that he had won his heat earlier in the day and so must obviously
be in the semi-final. He was literally told to "go away". He then went
and told his coach, Mr. Richard Wilson. Mr. Wilson went to the official to
highlight the obvious error. He also received a negative response. At
this point it became obvious that there was no official route to lodge a
protest. Normally at a track meet one has a clear path to lodge a protest
before an event takes place. You should also understand that if the
semi-final was run without Nelson the school would have no recourse,
official or otherwise. Incidentally this was the second time for the day a
Munro athlete was obviously left out of a semi-final. Adam Cummings, the
nation's fastest Class III 100m athlete so far this year, won his heat and
was also left out of the start-list for the semis. Had it not been for his
rather distinctive look (see the blog) the officials would not have
recognized him and would have again left him out.
So faced with no official route of recourse the coach did his
stentorian-best to highlight the error before the race started. When this
failed and with no official path of action available, the senior members of
the team stepped on to the track and stopped the meet. I SUPPORT THEM 100%. They refused to move until a solution was found for the error which at that point was acknowledged by all. They never moved until Nelson was placed in the semi-final 20 minutes later (he cruised to a 2nd place finish and a place in the final). Many will blame these athletes for having the meet run late but the real reason is that the meet started 2-hrs late.
In the United States they are now celebrating Black History Month. It is a
time when that country reflects on the ills of it past, the achievements of
African Americans and the success of the civil rights movement of the '50s
and '60s. This was a movement that was driven to and typified by
non-violent protest when the official legislative channels offered little
solution for change. Gentlemen, on Tuesday February 12th 2008, Munro's
senior athletes held a "sit-in", drank from the "White's Only" water cooler
and sat in the front of the bus.
The heart of the matter here is that a meet of this size can no longer be
officiated by a handful of teachers and students at the host school. The
sport, in Jamaica, has evolved to a level and magnitude way beyond this. I must also add that I truly regret not being there. With Western Champs
being a mid-week meet I opted to go only to the finals next Tuesday. I
never miss a meet unless greater matters prevail. However, had I been
there, I would have been honoured and privileged to stand on the track with
my fellow Munronians.
Team Manager
Munro College leads this years Western Champs by 27 points after the first
day of eliminations. Our performances were highlighted by record breaking
throws from 2nd year Class II man Rajae Gayle (DT-46.35m and SP 14.44m) and
placements in all of next week's sprint and distance finals. I will post
the other final performances on the blog after the final day on Tuesday the
19th.
However, I want to take this time to fully support a team that was subject
to the vagaries of poor officiating and blatant cheating. Head Boy and
Class I sprinter, Andrene Nelson, clearly won his 400m heat early Tuesday
morning and it was officially recorded. When the semi-finalists for the
event were being marshaled his name was not called. He mentioned to the
official that he had won his heat earlier in the day and so must obviously
be in the semi-final. He was literally told to "go away". He then went
and told his coach, Mr. Richard Wilson. Mr. Wilson went to the official to
highlight the obvious error. He also received a negative response. At
this point it became obvious that there was no official route to lodge a
protest. Normally at a track meet one has a clear path to lodge a protest
before an event takes place. You should also understand that if the
semi-final was run without Nelson the school would have no recourse,
official or otherwise. Incidentally this was the second time for the day a
Munro athlete was obviously left out of a semi-final. Adam Cummings, the
nation's fastest Class III 100m athlete so far this year, won his heat and
was also left out of the start-list for the semis. Had it not been for his
rather distinctive look (see the blog) the officials would not have
recognized him and would have again left him out.
So faced with no official route of recourse the coach did his
stentorian-best to highlight the error before the race started. When this
failed and with no official path of action available, the senior members of
the team stepped on to the track and stopped the meet. I SUPPORT THEM 100%. They refused to move until a solution was found for the error which at that point was acknowledged by all. They never moved until Nelson was placed in the semi-final 20 minutes later (he cruised to a 2nd place finish and a place in the final). Many will blame these athletes for having the meet run late but the real reason is that the meet started 2-hrs late.
In the United States they are now celebrating Black History Month. It is a
time when that country reflects on the ills of it past, the achievements of
African Americans and the success of the civil rights movement of the '50s
and '60s. This was a movement that was driven to and typified by
non-violent protest when the official legislative channels offered little
solution for change. Gentlemen, on Tuesday February 12th 2008, Munro's
senior athletes held a "sit-in", drank from the "White's Only" water cooler
and sat in the front of the bus.
The heart of the matter here is that a meet of this size can no longer be
officiated by a handful of teachers and students at the host school. The
sport, in Jamaica, has evolved to a level and magnitude way beyond this. I must also add that I truly regret not being there. With Western Champs
being a mid-week meet I opted to go only to the finals next Tuesday. I
never miss a meet unless greater matters prevail. However, had I been
there, I would have been honoured and privileged to stand on the track with
my fellow Munronians.
Team Manager
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