Western Bureau:

While not doubting the reasons they have advanced, the request by St James High School that the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) not consider its students Allan Ottey and Ricardo Morris for the upcoming Digicel Caribbean Championship training squad does not sit well with me for a variety of reasons.

Like the school's administration, I also believe that the academic life of the students should not be jeopardised on account of their involvement in the national football programme. However, I am sure that, through negotiation, a less contentious solution could have been arrived at.

I believe the school should have requested, even insisted, that the JFF provide tutors for Ottey and Morris while they are away from school on national duties. I see no great difficulty in the school developing a study schedule for the boys, and the JFF putting in the supervisory component.

patriotic Jamaican

Had the school sought such accommodation and it was not facilitated, then I would have no hesitation in throwing my full support behind any decision on their part to withdraw the students. However, in the absence of any dialogue aimed at finding an amicable solution, as a patriotic Jamaican, I would have to side with the JFF.

It has always been the policy of the JFF to invite talented schoolboy players into the national senior team, and I can't ever remember any such invitation being snubbed. In fact, when Ricardo Gardener represented Jamaica at the 1998 World Cup in France, he was still a student at Wolmer's.

While not seeking to downplay the concerns expressed by St James, in a country like Jamaica where our rich history of producing world-class sporting stars is unmatched by any other small nations, I believe no effort should be spared in encouraging our youngsters to choose sports as a career.

gifted athlete

Had the administration at William Knibb High School used the same reasons advanced by St James and decided not to allowed Usain Bolt to represent Jamaica at the CARIFTA games and the World Youth Championships while he was a student there, who knows, this gifted athlete might not have evolved into the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen.

While I am reluctant to buy into the argument that the real reason Ottey and Morris were pulled out of the national football programme, was to ensure their availability for their school in the latter stages of the 2010 ISSA/ Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup, if that was the case, I would support the JFF suggestion that if they cannot represent the country, they should not be allowed to represent their school.

The national Under-17 squad, which is made up solely of schoolboys, is slated to leave shortly for a 20-day training camp in Brazil. One shudders to imagine what would become of our preparation for next February's CONCACAF Under-17 championship, here in Jamaica, if all the schools should suddenly decide that their students are unavailable because of academic commitments.

Maybe this situation between the JFF and St James is a wake-up call that should not be ignored. Personally, while I do not believe a student's academic development should suffer on account of being called up for national duties, I also do not believe our national sporting endeavours should be undermined by the inflexibility of schools, for selfish reasons.

Instead of leaving this important matter to chance, I believe ISSA, the JFF and the Ministry of Sports should jointly develop a protocol governing student athletes' involvement in sports at the national level. In a country where there seems to be a propensity to put individual interests first, this matter should not be left in the hands of either the schools or the JFF.

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