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Mannings out!
Three-time champions buckle under economic pressurePAUL A REID, Observer West writer
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Triple jumper Trecia Kay Smith in action.
SAV LA MAR, Westmoreland
The Mannings School, one of the most noted names in local track and field will not compete in this year's track and field season due to lack of funding.
Authorities at Mannings - three time national Girls Champions for 1965, 1966 and 1969 - told the Observer West of the "difficult decision" to withdraw on Tuesday, noting that they hoped to be back on a firmer foundation as of next year.
"We are working on strengthening the foundation and we are hoping that a fund that was started some time ago by the past students will be increased so we can resume track and field next year," said Principal Gloria Wagstaff, herself a past student who represented the school in netball in the 1960s.
Wagstaff said that ever since she took over as head in 2005, the Physical Education department has "always struggled" to fund all the sporting disciplines the school takes part in.
She vowed, however, not to let the sport die.
"I won't allow that to happen under my watch," she said, noting that the suspension was the "best move to make at this time" as "fund-raising was
not enough".
Mannings has won the Western High School track and field championships many times and has produced a number of athletes who have represented junior and senior national teams at the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
The most notable past students are Trecia Kay Smith, who won the gold medal in the triple jump at the IAAF World Championship in Helsinki, Finland in 2005; 400m hurdler Allison Beckford and sprint hurdler Vonette Dixon.
Wagstaff, who will mark 30 years as a teacher at Mannings in August, told the Observer West the school's board had set up a committee to deal "specifically with the funding of sports at Mannings."
In the meantime, Diana Gopaulsingh, head of the PE department and also a former athlete at Mannings said she felt "down hearted, let down and tormented" by the decision.
She said while they were able to keep other sports such as netball going, track and field took up a lot of their budget.
Gopaulsingh who is also a member of the executive of the County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA), the body who organises track and field athletics among western high schools says she has been keeping busy by organising inter-form and inter-house events at the school.
Mannings had withdrawn from Western Champs in 2007, citing lack of funds and had fielded only a boys' team last year despite the presence of some gifted 'field events' girls at the school.
Vowing not to allow the sport to die under her watch, she went on to say that they were confident they would be able to field a team next season.
Three-time champions buckle under economic pressurePAUL A REID, Observer West writer
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Triple jumper Trecia Kay Smith in action.SAV LA MAR, Westmoreland
The Mannings School, one of the most noted names in local track and field will not compete in this year's track and field season due to lack of funding.
Authorities at Mannings - three time national Girls Champions for 1965, 1966 and 1969 - told the Observer West of the "difficult decision" to withdraw on Tuesday, noting that they hoped to be back on a firmer foundation as of next year.
"We are working on strengthening the foundation and we are hoping that a fund that was started some time ago by the past students will be increased so we can resume track and field next year," said Principal Gloria Wagstaff, herself a past student who represented the school in netball in the 1960s.
Wagstaff said that ever since she took over as head in 2005, the Physical Education department has "always struggled" to fund all the sporting disciplines the school takes part in.
She vowed, however, not to let the sport die.
"I won't allow that to happen under my watch," she said, noting that the suspension was the "best move to make at this time" as "fund-raising was
not enough".
Mannings has won the Western High School track and field championships many times and has produced a number of athletes who have represented junior and senior national teams at the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
The most notable past students are Trecia Kay Smith, who won the gold medal in the triple jump at the IAAF World Championship in Helsinki, Finland in 2005; 400m hurdler Allison Beckford and sprint hurdler Vonette Dixon.
Wagstaff, who will mark 30 years as a teacher at Mannings in August, told the Observer West the school's board had set up a committee to deal "specifically with the funding of sports at Mannings."
In the meantime, Diana Gopaulsingh, head of the PE department and also a former athlete at Mannings said she felt "down hearted, let down and tormented" by the decision.
She said while they were able to keep other sports such as netball going, track and field took up a lot of their budget.
Gopaulsingh who is also a member of the executive of the County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA), the body who organises track and field athletics among western high schools says she has been keeping busy by organising inter-form and inter-house events at the school.
Mannings had withdrawn from Western Champs in 2007, citing lack of funds and had fielded only a boys' team last year despite the presence of some gifted 'field events' girls at the school.
Vowing not to allow the sport to die under her watch, she went on to say that they were confident they would be able to field a team next season.
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