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'Cruel' act! - Expulsion of 13 ‘Jago’ athletes angers coach
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer
Thursday, March 22, 2012
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Head coach of St Jago High School's boys team Danny Hawthorne has described the decision by the Inter-Secondary Schools Supports Association (ISSA) to exclude 13 of his charges from next week's 102nd staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships as "cruel".
An angry Hawthorne asked, "who is ISSA representing, is it the students or someone else?" As his anger spewed, Hawthorne said he was "ashamed and embarrassed" by the decision which, he said, would seriously affect his chances of finishing in the top five of the premier school track and field event in Jamaica.
HAWTHORNE... ashamed and embarrassed by the decision
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Six of the 13, he said, would be competing at 'Champs' for the final time. "What do I tell them now?" he asked.
Competitions officer at ISSA, George Forbes, confirmed yesterday that 13 of the over 70 athletes entered by the Spanish Town-based school would not be allowed to participate in the championships that starts on Tuesday as their entries were not properly done.
Forbes said the requirement was that each entry must be accompanied by a copy of the athlete's birth certificate, but that was missing from the 13 that included Webstan Pennant, who just returned from representing Jamaica in the NACAC Cross Country in Trinidad last weekend and Sanjay Pantry, a multiple medal winner at 'Champs'.
Forbes told the Observer further that the deadline for the birth certificates was February 17, but the documents were only taken to the ISSA office two weeks later and were rejected.
The decision to exclude the St Jago athletes is the second highly publicised decision made by ISSA this season after they had rejected a late entry form by Eltham High, who would be returning to the annual meet for the first time in eight years, denying 13-year-old Aneka Brissett a chance to win her first 'Champs' medal.
Forbes explained that birth certificates were required to complete entries despite ISSA having on their electronic database the details of every athlete who has competed in any sports under their umbrella.
"We have had situations in the past where an athlete leaves one school at a certain age and when they get to another school, their age suddenly changes," Forbes said, while going on to add that the St Jago girls entries were done "immaculately" and that none of the other over 200 schools taking part had made that mistake.
Hawthorne rubbished that explanation, however, saying that once the students had taken part in any ISSA competition and had submitted birth certificates, the unique serial numbers could not be tampered with as that would show up on the computers.
"I am angry, I have wasted the last seven to eight months preparing this team and now the entire team is demoralised," Hawthorne told the Observer.
He said he did not prepare the entry forms but had given the school the names of the boys that should be registered for 'Champs'.
Efforts to contact St Jago admistrative staff including the principal proved futile.
Hawthorne also asked: "Why is it that it is always the athletes who are made to suffer?" He believes the boys should be allowed to compete as they had not done anything wrong.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1ptyoCRW4
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer
Thursday, March 22, 2012
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Head coach of St Jago High School's boys team Danny Hawthorne has described the decision by the Inter-Secondary Schools Supports Association (ISSA) to exclude 13 of his charges from next week's 102nd staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships as "cruel".
An angry Hawthorne asked, "who is ISSA representing, is it the students or someone else?" As his anger spewed, Hawthorne said he was "ashamed and embarrassed" by the decision which, he said, would seriously affect his chances of finishing in the top five of the premier school track and field event in Jamaica.
HAWTHORNE... ashamed and embarrassed by the decision 1/1 Six of the 13, he said, would be competing at 'Champs' for the final time. "What do I tell them now?" he asked.
Competitions officer at ISSA, George Forbes, confirmed yesterday that 13 of the over 70 athletes entered by the Spanish Town-based school would not be allowed to participate in the championships that starts on Tuesday as their entries were not properly done.
Forbes said the requirement was that each entry must be accompanied by a copy of the athlete's birth certificate, but that was missing from the 13 that included Webstan Pennant, who just returned from representing Jamaica in the NACAC Cross Country in Trinidad last weekend and Sanjay Pantry, a multiple medal winner at 'Champs'.
Forbes told the Observer further that the deadline for the birth certificates was February 17, but the documents were only taken to the ISSA office two weeks later and were rejected.
The decision to exclude the St Jago athletes is the second highly publicised decision made by ISSA this season after they had rejected a late entry form by Eltham High, who would be returning to the annual meet for the first time in eight years, denying 13-year-old Aneka Brissett a chance to win her first 'Champs' medal.
Forbes explained that birth certificates were required to complete entries despite ISSA having on their electronic database the details of every athlete who has competed in any sports under their umbrella.
"We have had situations in the past where an athlete leaves one school at a certain age and when they get to another school, their age suddenly changes," Forbes said, while going on to add that the St Jago girls entries were done "immaculately" and that none of the other over 200 schools taking part had made that mistake.
Hawthorne rubbished that explanation, however, saying that once the students had taken part in any ISSA competition and had submitted birth certificates, the unique serial numbers could not be tampered with as that would show up on the computers.
"I am angry, I have wasted the last seven to eight months preparing this team and now the entire team is demoralised," Hawthorne told the Observer.
He said he did not prepare the entry forms but had given the school the names of the boys that should be registered for 'Champs'.
Efforts to contact St Jago admistrative staff including the principal proved futile.
Hawthorne also asked: "Why is it that it is always the athletes who are made to suffer?" He believes the boys should be allowed to compete as they had not done anything wrong.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1ptyoCRW4
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