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WITH two of the best athletic training camps in the world based right here in Jamaica, there may be no more reason for local athletes to pursue options in the United States once they leave high school, according to former 200-metre world champion Ato Boldon.
Boldon, speaking at last week's Business of Sport seminar at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, said while there have been some success stories, it often doesn't end quite like that.
BOLDON... some of the young people go to these universities and get run into the ground
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"If you look at the percentages... some of the young people... go to these universities and get run into the ground and then are worthless after four years," Boldon told the Observer.
"Sometimes there are some really talented young stars who were on their way and were derailed, or were prevented from reaching their full potential because they were over-raced and over-trained," he added.
An alum of UCLA, Boldon said he was able to benefit from the US collegiate system because his coach ensured he only ran a certain number of meets each season.
"I don't want to be accused of biting the hand that fed me because I am a product of that system," Boldon said.
However, he pointed out, for many other athletes once they enter the US system on scholarship, they have to run week after week, both indoors and outdoors.
"There's nothing wrong with going to a US university, but I know if I have a child there are certain ones that I would not send that child to, and there are certain ones I know you can go and get a great free education and things will be okay," he added.
"The average parent and average child in Jamaica doesn't know that, so they go to the school that maybe has had the greatest success or the most history, and sometimes that is not the most beneficial move for the child," he declared.
Herb McKenley, Don Quarrie, Merlene Ottey, Juliet Cuthbert, and Grace Jackson are some of the leading Jamaican athletes who studied at universities in the United States.
Jamaica became a more viable option when the MVP Track and Field Club was started in 1998 and later, Racers Track Club.
Both have had incredible success, producing between them eight of Jamaica's 11 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Trinidadian Boldon, who was born to a Jamaican mother, was quick to point out that not every athlete who excelled at high school was meant to be an outstanding senior.
The two contemporary Jamaican success stories are Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell Brown who have six Olympic gold medals between them.
Boldon and Bolt are the only two male World Junior champions who went on to become senior champions as well.
"Prodigies in the sport usually don't pan out. It just means they are ahead of the curve and usually the curve catches up," Boldon noted.
"I think sometimes the universities get blamed for athletes who were never going to be world beaters. Sometimes you're just good for your age, and then it just peters out."
Along with those challenges also come the difficulty of living away from home and having to supplement scholarships by taking part-time jobs.
"Some athletes who've never left the island... go to some cold place and they're miserable and the most important part of an athlete's performance is psychological," he told the Observer.
"So if you're in a place where you don't see the sun; it's cold, you're homesick, sometimes that is enough to derail your career."
Boldon's advice for athletes contemplating US colleges is to look at the schools, their alumnae and the success of their professional careers.
"Pay attention to what that school's alumnae has done after school," he said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1MKkYO2Pj
Boldon, speaking at last week's Business of Sport seminar at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, said while there have been some success stories, it often doesn't end quite like that.
BOLDON... some of the young people go to these universities and get run into the ground
1/1
"If you look at the percentages... some of the young people... go to these universities and get run into the ground and then are worthless after four years," Boldon told the Observer.
"Sometimes there are some really talented young stars who were on their way and were derailed, or were prevented from reaching their full potential because they were over-raced and over-trained," he added.
An alum of UCLA, Boldon said he was able to benefit from the US collegiate system because his coach ensured he only ran a certain number of meets each season.
"I don't want to be accused of biting the hand that fed me because I am a product of that system," Boldon said.
However, he pointed out, for many other athletes once they enter the US system on scholarship, they have to run week after week, both indoors and outdoors.
"There's nothing wrong with going to a US university, but I know if I have a child there are certain ones that I would not send that child to, and there are certain ones I know you can go and get a great free education and things will be okay," he added.
"The average parent and average child in Jamaica doesn't know that, so they go to the school that maybe has had the greatest success or the most history, and sometimes that is not the most beneficial move for the child," he declared.
Herb McKenley, Don Quarrie, Merlene Ottey, Juliet Cuthbert, and Grace Jackson are some of the leading Jamaican athletes who studied at universities in the United States.
Jamaica became a more viable option when the MVP Track and Field Club was started in 1998 and later, Racers Track Club.
Both have had incredible success, producing between them eight of Jamaica's 11 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Trinidadian Boldon, who was born to a Jamaican mother, was quick to point out that not every athlete who excelled at high school was meant to be an outstanding senior.
The two contemporary Jamaican success stories are Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell Brown who have six Olympic gold medals between them.
Boldon and Bolt are the only two male World Junior champions who went on to become senior champions as well.
"Prodigies in the sport usually don't pan out. It just means they are ahead of the curve and usually the curve catches up," Boldon noted.
"I think sometimes the universities get blamed for athletes who were never going to be world beaters. Sometimes you're just good for your age, and then it just peters out."
Along with those challenges also come the difficulty of living away from home and having to supplement scholarships by taking part-time jobs.
"Some athletes who've never left the island... go to some cold place and they're miserable and the most important part of an athlete's performance is psychological," he told the Observer.
"So if you're in a place where you don't see the sun; it's cold, you're homesick, sometimes that is enough to derail your career."
Boldon's advice for athletes contemplating US colleges is to look at the schools, their alumnae and the success of their professional careers.
"Pay attention to what that school's alumnae has done after school," he said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1MKkYO2Pj
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