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Not good enough, JAAA
Jamaica's team to last weekend's Junior Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was forced to leave 10 members of the original squad behind due to problems procuring entry visas to the United States where they were scheduled to change flights.
The seven boys and three girls who worked hard all season long and no doubt were looking forward to compete in the top regional age group meet constituted a full third of the 32 athletes named by the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA).
That the kids managed to win a total of 11 medals, equal fourth in our history of taking part in the meet, speaks volumes to the quality and depth of our junior athletes not to mention their fighting spirit.
With all of what transpired between last Tuesday and Wednesday, it is still regretful that the JAAA has not sought to enlighten the nation as to what really transpired.
The JAAA after all is not a private entity, it is funded partially by the Sports Development Foundation and as such there must be as much transparency as possible.
The little information that trickled to the media and track and field lovers came from 'unofficial' sources and others close to the JAAA and while all the explanations were plausible and made sense, it is the responsibility of the JAAA to make official statements in situations such as what took place last week.
The word we heard was that the lack of US visas for stop over in Miami as well as the lack of seats on alternate routes through Panama and Cuba caused our athletes to be left behind.
It is completely unacceptable in this day and age that 'visa problems' would have prevented 10 of our top junior athletes from taking part in a meet as prestigious as the Junior Pan-Ams.
While it is understandable that the time between the ending of National Trials, the naming of the teams and the scheduled departure of the team to Brazil was a short one, there must have been some thing that could be worked out.
It is also understandable that given the level of security at United States Embassies around the world, procedures for visa interviews must change and things tightened.
We are however talking about a national team here, not a club team, and there must have been channels at the diplomatic level that could be used to ensure our full squad was able to make the trip.
The US embassy and their diplomats cannot be so inflexible that they cannot listen to an appeal from our government.
It is my view that the US has an embassy here in Jamaica as it suits them to do so and not solely because they are doing us any favours.
I am sure if the situation was reversed and it was the United States that needed help, our government would have bent over backwards to ensure everything was done to assist them.
What is even more disappointing is the lack of outrage from the JAAA or other agencies at this lack of respect for our citizens.
Jamaica's team to last weekend's Junior Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was forced to leave 10 members of the original squad behind due to problems procuring entry visas to the United States where they were scheduled to change flights.
The seven boys and three girls who worked hard all season long and no doubt were looking forward to compete in the top regional age group meet constituted a full third of the 32 athletes named by the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA).
That the kids managed to win a total of 11 medals, equal fourth in our history of taking part in the meet, speaks volumes to the quality and depth of our junior athletes not to mention their fighting spirit.
With all of what transpired between last Tuesday and Wednesday, it is still regretful that the JAAA has not sought to enlighten the nation as to what really transpired.
The JAAA after all is not a private entity, it is funded partially by the Sports Development Foundation and as such there must be as much transparency as possible.
The little information that trickled to the media and track and field lovers came from 'unofficial' sources and others close to the JAAA and while all the explanations were plausible and made sense, it is the responsibility of the JAAA to make official statements in situations such as what took place last week.
The word we heard was that the lack of US visas for stop over in Miami as well as the lack of seats on alternate routes through Panama and Cuba caused our athletes to be left behind.
It is completely unacceptable in this day and age that 'visa problems' would have prevented 10 of our top junior athletes from taking part in a meet as prestigious as the Junior Pan-Ams.
While it is understandable that the time between the ending of National Trials, the naming of the teams and the scheduled departure of the team to Brazil was a short one, there must have been some thing that could be worked out.
It is also understandable that given the level of security at United States Embassies around the world, procedures for visa interviews must change and things tightened.
We are however talking about a national team here, not a club team, and there must have been channels at the diplomatic level that could be used to ensure our full squad was able to make the trip.
The US embassy and their diplomats cannot be so inflexible that they cannot listen to an appeal from our government.
It is my view that the US has an embassy here in Jamaica as it suits them to do so and not solely because they are doing us any favours.
I am sure if the situation was reversed and it was the United States that needed help, our government would have bent over backwards to ensure everything was done to assist them.
What is even more disappointing is the lack of outrage from the JAAA or other agencies at this lack of respect for our citizens.
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