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Mystery illness stalls young striker Ottey
By Howard Walker Observer staff reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, January 18, 2009
A mystery illness recently forced young and promising striker, Allan Ottey, out of the National Under-20 World Cup qualifiers after collapsing during training prior to departure for St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Allan Ottey with the daCosta Cup trophy after his team's victory in December.
Team doctor Carlton Fraser told the Observer that he made the request not to include Ottey after he collapsed after training one evening.
Said Fraser: "It was strickly medical. He had a persistent problem and I think what happened is that they have not really regarded it as important as it seemed to be and I didn't want us to take that risk of travelling with a youngster with a problem that we are now aware of and not knowing exactly what he was suffering from."
Ottey at 16 has captured the heart of many football fans, especially in western Jamaica, after leading St James High to the daCosta Cup and Ben Francis KO titles in the first time in the school's history with 25 goals.
He was the leading goalscorer in rural area schoolboy football last season and tied with Kamal Malcolm of St George's College as the leading scorer in the schoolboy season.
However, Ottey scored a number of goals in leading St James High to the Ben Francis KO trophy, thus ending as the leading scorer overall.
St George's College never made it to the Corporate Area equivalent, the Walker Cup KO, and was thus not able to add to his 25-goal tally.
Allan, who is a cousin of legendary sprint queen, Merlene Ottey, also scored the winner in the first leg of the Olivier Shield which St James won 2-1 before losing the second leg 0-2 at Jarrett Park.
For his heroics, he was called to train with the 28-man National Under-20 team and had it not been for the mystery illness, he would have been part of the successful outfit in St Vincent last week.
"He was complaining of severe headaches and some amount of facial palsy at the same time it came, secondary to high exertional efforts," acording to Fraser, who revealed that the youngster fainted some three times earlier in the schoolboy season.
"They pulled him out for about two days, let him rest, then resumed training. But they've really never done any real medical investigations to find out exactly what is happening with him. I thought that was a bit awkward and not sufficient," said Fraser.
"We have order a medical investigation and as long as we can find what's wrong... what we will do is dependent on what his medical circumstances are," Fraser noted.
Ottey, who is also a useful sprinter, won his 100m heats last week at the First Chance Meet at Irvin High School and yesterday placed fifth in the 200m in 23.40 seconds at the Douglas Forrest Meet in Kingston.
He started his football career as a goalkeeper but switched to striker because the coaching staff at St James High felt his speed and ability to kick the ball with both feet were being underutilised.
By Howard Walker Observer staff reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, January 18, 2009
A mystery illness recently forced young and promising striker, Allan Ottey, out of the National Under-20 World Cup qualifiers after collapsing during training prior to departure for St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Allan Ottey with the daCosta Cup trophy after his team's victory in December. Team doctor Carlton Fraser told the Observer that he made the request not to include Ottey after he collapsed after training one evening.
Said Fraser: "It was strickly medical. He had a persistent problem and I think what happened is that they have not really regarded it as important as it seemed to be and I didn't want us to take that risk of travelling with a youngster with a problem that we are now aware of and not knowing exactly what he was suffering from."
Ottey at 16 has captured the heart of many football fans, especially in western Jamaica, after leading St James High to the daCosta Cup and Ben Francis KO titles in the first time in the school's history with 25 goals.
He was the leading goalscorer in rural area schoolboy football last season and tied with Kamal Malcolm of St George's College as the leading scorer in the schoolboy season.
However, Ottey scored a number of goals in leading St James High to the Ben Francis KO trophy, thus ending as the leading scorer overall.
St George's College never made it to the Corporate Area equivalent, the Walker Cup KO, and was thus not able to add to his 25-goal tally.
Allan, who is a cousin of legendary sprint queen, Merlene Ottey, also scored the winner in the first leg of the Olivier Shield which St James won 2-1 before losing the second leg 0-2 at Jarrett Park.
For his heroics, he was called to train with the 28-man National Under-20 team and had it not been for the mystery illness, he would have been part of the successful outfit in St Vincent last week.
"He was complaining of severe headaches and some amount of facial palsy at the same time it came, secondary to high exertional efforts," acording to Fraser, who revealed that the youngster fainted some three times earlier in the schoolboy season.
"They pulled him out for about two days, let him rest, then resumed training. But they've really never done any real medical investigations to find out exactly what is happening with him. I thought that was a bit awkward and not sufficient," said Fraser.
"We have order a medical investigation and as long as we can find what's wrong... what we will do is dependent on what his medical circumstances are," Fraser noted.
Ottey, who is also a useful sprinter, won his 100m heats last week at the First Chance Meet at Irvin High School and yesterday placed fifth in the 200m in 23.40 seconds at the Douglas Forrest Meet in Kingston.
He started his football career as a goalkeeper but switched to striker because the coaching staff at St James High felt his speed and ability to kick the ball with both feet were being underutilised.