Jamaican coaches need to learn effective management

THE EDITOR, Sir:I WISH to make a recommendation to all clubs, associations, coaches and athletes, especially in light of the rash of bad news we have heard coming from Jamaican track and field.

First, please note that MOST of those who have had their reputations trashed have NOT been found to be using performance enhancing drugs. Indeed, the overly eager efforts to declare our hand as 'innocents' have perhaps led us down the untenable path of demonising our athletes; rather unnecessarily.

I think here of the very vicious attacks on Veronica Campbell-Brown and her reputation, last month, and, to a lesser extent, the unfolding drama which has engulfed the two big-named Maximum Velocity and Power (MVP) track club athletes - Sherone Simpson and Asafa 'Safa' Powell.

Jamaicans are famous for being excessive in our response to whatever sets of issues that hail us - and that is not to speak ill of us. It is just a fact.We are a dramatic and excitable people; sometimes needlessly.

At other times, our yearning desire to prove how compliant we are with international standards in the arena of sports has forced us to act with similar levels of excess in addressing some of these cases. Iwould hasten to caution good sense and right judgement, therefore; even in the face of the acknowledged depression many of us now feel as a result of these developments.

This is necessary if we are to recover from this crisis with any modicum of self-respect. Throwing our athletes under the proverbial bus is NOT the answer.

As we can see, that only serves to create more than enough anxiety and just looks plain bad in terms of how we manage our respective affairs.I must reiterate, Jamaican coaches in ALL sports NEED to learn effective management, including prolonged exposure to the tenets of crisis management and media relations.

We must learn to address the real issues and not respond to the anxieties and become overly defensive in our attitudes about whether our athletes and our various procedures can withstand scrutiny.If they cannot, we need to be honest and admit that and then fix it. Now.

Full disclosure might not always be the most effective way to train an athlete, especially when your competition wishes to know what you are doing to stay ahead of the game. However, a more studied approach to the use of media and information dissemination, more generally, would suit all concerned.

We are way too savvy to be acting this under-exposed.Poor management will, ultimately, be our undoing in all this.

In the meantime, we await the outcomes of the various cases in order to move forward.

AGOSTINHO PINNOCK

ohnitsoga2@gmail.com