Protect students from recruitment overdrive

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Dr Lascelves ‘Muggy’ Graham has written extensively on the issue of high schools engaging in the recruitment of student athletes. Dr Graham’s crusade against this practice has been long and without the desired result. By all indications, Dr Graham will continue to be a lone voice crying in the wilderness, as those in authority to effect change will not do so because they, too, are caught up in the euphoria of their respective alma mater winning the much-coveted football and track and field trophies. From the prime minister and Leader of the Opposition on down, the government has continued to take a hands-off approach because they dear not upset powerful boosters who carry significant political sway,

The Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), over the years, has morphed into a multimillion-dollar enterprise, given the meteoric rise in high-stakes athletics. ISSA has tried to regulate recruiting/transfers but has failed miserably at stemming the practice. It seems that ISSA has a vested interest in keeping its coffers overflowing. The discourse, however, has not highlighted enough, the tragedy meted out to students who articulated into these high schools by way of the PEP exams. Many of these students, because of recruitment, have been denied the opportunity and glory of representing their respective schools. By any measure, this cannot be right. The win-at-all-cost mentality has infiltrated our schools and there appears to be no end in sight.

Proponents of recruiting have posited a few bogus justifications. However, with the proliferation of quality coaches coming out of G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, there should be hardly a school without a qualified coach.

Whereas some schools lack adequate infrastructure, these said schools perennially produce top-class junior athletes, and it is these student athletes that enter the annual ‘draft.’ The fact that these under-resourced schools can produce top-performing student athletes, why should the system deny them (the schools) their moments of glory. I support Dr Graham’s ‘ and call on our government to protect students from the avaricious tendencies of schools we all know very well.

RICHARD KITSON-WALTERS

Sandy Bay, Clarendon

richardkitsonwalters@gmail.

com