In my opinion, the decision by Dave Myrie, the principal of Kingston College (KC) to terminate the services of Lenworth 'Teacher' Hyde as the school's Manning Cup coach, which came in the aftermath of the 7-0 trashing the school got from North Street neighbours St. George's College, has some troubling implications.

In fact, while it was Myrie who handed out the dismissal letter to Hyde, I rather suspect that he was merely carrying out the dictates of others, possibly the school's powerful old boy''s fraternity, whose collective egos must have been badly battered and bruised by the beating from an opponent many of them consider as less illustrious.

If the 7-0 thrashing was the sole basis for the firing of Hyde, I believe the KC connection would have done both the school and the players a great disservice. A refusal to accept defeat sometimes creates a win at all cost mentally, which invariably cause some persons to turn to cheating and other unacceptable behaviour.

Like all other aspects of school life, sport is an integral part of the overall process of building character and encouraging proper socialisation. It should emphasise team-work, discipline, tolerance and an acceptance that sometimes one's best effort is not good enough to guarantee success.

In my days as a student footballer, my coach often told us that while he is preparing us to win; he was prepared to accept that once we gave of our best, the results didn't matter. As a consequence, I grew up with the notion that while it is okay to be elated in victory, it was also important to be generous to my opponents in defeat.

respect the contribution of old boys

Much as I have had reasons over the years to respect the contribution of some old boys' groups to their old school, especially the traditional ones with enviable sporting and academic accomplishment, I must also state that the image of some schools have suffered as a result of old boys with the wrong attitude to life.

A few years ago, I was at a daCosta Cup game and I was rather shocked to hear some Cornwall College old boys hurling some of the nastiest abuse imaginable at distinguished past student Steve Bucknor, who was coaching the school's daCosta Cup team without much success that year.

Knowing Mr. Bucknor's iconic status in terms of the numerous national and international awards he has won for his enviable achievements in sports, which at one time included being the only person in the world, who was both ICC cricket umpire and a FIFA referee at the same time, I felt like what I was hearing was an act of sacrilege.

Surely, as a result of the old boys' inept behaviour, which unfolded in the presence of numerous present day students at the time, the fact that Bucknor was a daCosta Cup winner for the school in 1963 and was the coach when the school ended their winless 19 years drought that followed, the impression was given that greatness should not be respected.

In the current Kingston College scenario, if the old boys felt that Hyde was not a good influence on the boys or was not taking his job seriously, I would support the decision to fire him. However, if he was fired solely because they happen to be poor losers, I would consider such an action unworthy of any person seeking to influence the lives of our youngsters.

Based on what I know of coach Hyde, he is not only an extremely talented coach but he is also a disciplinarian with many fine qualities, including being an exemplary family man. In my gut, I feel that Hyde was fired because egos got battered and persons felt someone, in this case Hyde, had to pay for it.

Ps. feel free to send your feedbacks to adrianfrater@hotmail.com