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Where is the teamwork ISSA?
LASCELVE GRAHAM
Saturday, June 08, 2013
THE Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), the body comprised of principals of high schools which controls high school sports in Jamaica, is another group that needs a new and enlightened approach in its thinking and actions, especially with respect to public relations, communication, conflict resolution, and the role of sports in our high schools.
In the SportGlobe issue of 22-28/5/13, the front-page headline was "Wolmer's In Turmoil". The article had to do with the withdrawal of the Wolmer's Boys Under-14 basketball team from the competition. It is reported that the young players "broke down" totally bewildered, de-motivated and distraught after they were told of the situation. Of course, a shroud of silence descended on the matter with parents and those concerned reportedly unable to get meaningful responses from the powers that be at Wolmer's or at ISSA, regarding the specific reason why the team was withdrawn. It was said that parents were pushing for a meeting with the principal which "was proving to be very difficult". It is alleged that a similar situation arose re a meeting when an impasse developed between the former head honcho for sports at Wolmer's and the principal. My understanding is that that meeting has still not been held. The principal of Wolmer's Boys is also the president of ISSA. This unwillingness to dialogue seems to be an ISSA hallmark, its modus operandi, especially if it concerns matters which may prove uncomfortable for ISSA.
President of Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Dr Walton Small.
President of Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Dr Walton Small.
A group of us (alumni of high schools, many of us were very involved and excelled at high school sports), who are concerned about the ill effects of the practice, has been trying since 2010 to meet with the ISSA executive or general membership to discuss this business of recruiting for sports purposes by our high schools. We have used various strategies -- including going to Wolmer's to meet with the president -- letters, intermediaries, etc, all to no avail. I am told that schools have tried to get this topic on the agenda at ISSA meetings, again without success.
Glen Mills, one of our foremost track coaches, was quoted a few months ago in a daily newspaper as saying, "A couple years ago, under sustained pressure from the Sports Medicine Association, ISSA was forced to limit athletes..." My group has still not been able to meet with the ISSA executive or general membership. It has taken the power and standing of the Office of the Minister of Education to persuade representatives of ISSA to sit in a meeting -- which I attended -- with other stakeholders to discuss aspects of the practice of sports recruiting by our high schools. Understandably this meeting could only deal superficially with the topic because of time constraints.
Why does ISSA need "sustained pressure" to be "forced", and "persuasion" to attend to matters that are in the best interest of our children? Are money and glory the only concerns of ISSA? Why is it such a hassle for concerned stakeholders to even have a discussion with ISSA about relevant issues of interest to the general public? Does ISSA not understand that idiocy and corruption thrive in darkness? Is this what ISSA wants or seeks to perpetuate? Don't they understand that we should be on the same side in the best for our children? Why is ISSA so defensive, resistant, intransigent and obstinate; having to be dragged screaming to places where it should be leading the procession? If the people responsible for moulding our children into good citizens cannot or will not entertain an alternative point of view, without friction or animosity, what should we expect of our youth? Why is ISSA not facilitatory of discourse, especially if others have a different perspective?
Our educators are role models for our students, since students learn what they live, what they see, what they hear, what they feel. If they live with hostility, they learn to fight. If they live with frustration, they learn to be angry, to give up, to be de-motivated, to be negative. Our schools are supposed to be teaching our children conflict resolution, how to get along with others. Sports, which represents a microcosm of life and which ISSA controls at the high school level, can be a very powerful teaching tool in the arsenal of the school in its attempt to inculcate the emotional skills and expertise necessary for conflict resolution. Do our educators recognise this? Does ISSA realise the enormity of its responsibility as role model for our children? Is the example of our educators a step in the right direction or is it a case of do as I say and not as I do? On the basis of the actions of our educators, is it any wonder that our children often resort to violence to resolve their disputes?
How will disputes, misunderstandings, disagreements be settled otherwise if there is not discussion, dialogue, discourse? Burying one's head in the sand and making belief that all is well will not make the problem go away, it will only make it worse.
ISSA needs to be reminded that school sports play a key role in the socialisation of our youth and that the tone for this, the effectiveness of this process, is determined at the head of the stream by leadership by ISSA.
Dr Lascelve "Muggy" Graham is a former Jamaica football captain.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2VrkGZO00
LASCELVE GRAHAM
Saturday, June 08, 2013
THE Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), the body comprised of principals of high schools which controls high school sports in Jamaica, is another group that needs a new and enlightened approach in its thinking and actions, especially with respect to public relations, communication, conflict resolution, and the role of sports in our high schools.
In the SportGlobe issue of 22-28/5/13, the front-page headline was "Wolmer's In Turmoil". The article had to do with the withdrawal of the Wolmer's Boys Under-14 basketball team from the competition. It is reported that the young players "broke down" totally bewildered, de-motivated and distraught after they were told of the situation. Of course, a shroud of silence descended on the matter with parents and those concerned reportedly unable to get meaningful responses from the powers that be at Wolmer's or at ISSA, regarding the specific reason why the team was withdrawn. It was said that parents were pushing for a meeting with the principal which "was proving to be very difficult". It is alleged that a similar situation arose re a meeting when an impasse developed between the former head honcho for sports at Wolmer's and the principal. My understanding is that that meeting has still not been held. The principal of Wolmer's Boys is also the president of ISSA. This unwillingness to dialogue seems to be an ISSA hallmark, its modus operandi, especially if it concerns matters which may prove uncomfortable for ISSA.
President of Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Dr Walton Small.
President of Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Dr Walton Small.
A group of us (alumni of high schools, many of us were very involved and excelled at high school sports), who are concerned about the ill effects of the practice, has been trying since 2010 to meet with the ISSA executive or general membership to discuss this business of recruiting for sports purposes by our high schools. We have used various strategies -- including going to Wolmer's to meet with the president -- letters, intermediaries, etc, all to no avail. I am told that schools have tried to get this topic on the agenda at ISSA meetings, again without success.
Glen Mills, one of our foremost track coaches, was quoted a few months ago in a daily newspaper as saying, "A couple years ago, under sustained pressure from the Sports Medicine Association, ISSA was forced to limit athletes..." My group has still not been able to meet with the ISSA executive or general membership. It has taken the power and standing of the Office of the Minister of Education to persuade representatives of ISSA to sit in a meeting -- which I attended -- with other stakeholders to discuss aspects of the practice of sports recruiting by our high schools. Understandably this meeting could only deal superficially with the topic because of time constraints.
Why does ISSA need "sustained pressure" to be "forced", and "persuasion" to attend to matters that are in the best interest of our children? Are money and glory the only concerns of ISSA? Why is it such a hassle for concerned stakeholders to even have a discussion with ISSA about relevant issues of interest to the general public? Does ISSA not understand that idiocy and corruption thrive in darkness? Is this what ISSA wants or seeks to perpetuate? Don't they understand that we should be on the same side in the best for our children? Why is ISSA so defensive, resistant, intransigent and obstinate; having to be dragged screaming to places where it should be leading the procession? If the people responsible for moulding our children into good citizens cannot or will not entertain an alternative point of view, without friction or animosity, what should we expect of our youth? Why is ISSA not facilitatory of discourse, especially if others have a different perspective?
Our educators are role models for our students, since students learn what they live, what they see, what they hear, what they feel. If they live with hostility, they learn to fight. If they live with frustration, they learn to be angry, to give up, to be de-motivated, to be negative. Our schools are supposed to be teaching our children conflict resolution, how to get along with others. Sports, which represents a microcosm of life and which ISSA controls at the high school level, can be a very powerful teaching tool in the arsenal of the school in its attempt to inculcate the emotional skills and expertise necessary for conflict resolution. Do our educators recognise this? Does ISSA realise the enormity of its responsibility as role model for our children? Is the example of our educators a step in the right direction or is it a case of do as I say and not as I do? On the basis of the actions of our educators, is it any wonder that our children often resort to violence to resolve their disputes?
How will disputes, misunderstandings, disagreements be settled otherwise if there is not discussion, dialogue, discourse? Burying one's head in the sand and making belief that all is well will not make the problem go away, it will only make it worse.
ISSA needs to be reminded that school sports play a key role in the socialisation of our youth and that the tone for this, the effectiveness of this process, is determined at the head of the stream by leadership by ISSA.
Dr Lascelve "Muggy" Graham is a former Jamaica football captain.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2VrkGZO00
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