Unfairness at Inter-School Sports heats

Editor: I write this letter as someone passionate about the development of sports in my country, a practising coach at the St Martin’s Secondary School and an individual with a strong sense of what is fair and right. There are some discrepancies with the conduct of Inter-School Sports (heats) this year, which I am compelled to raise in this public manner. In order to be precise, let me say without water in my mouth and without fear or favour that I am hereby protesting in the strongest terms the inconsistent application of the rules governing the sports. The rules must be for everyone!

By way of background, a meeting of school coaches and representatives was held last month, at which the sports organizers made it abundantly clear that the IAAF position on false starts will be upheld at the event. This means that anyone guilty of a false start will be immediately disqualified from participating in the race in question.

This policy was being consistently applied all along the way. Several athletes from different schools were disqualified from races because of false starts; examples include:

* Intermediate High School (100m Juniors Male)

* Sandy Bay Secondary School (100m Juniors Male); and

* Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia (4x 100m Juniors Male)

However, things changed when an athlete from the St Vincent Grammar School became involved. This particular athlete false started the 100m Seniors Male race and he initially was correctly withdrawn from the race. Incidentally, this athlete has a strong history of false starts. Then, lo and behold, something strange happened. After the heats were otherwise over, we saw this same athlete running a 100m race all by himself. Apparently, he was given the opportunity to run the race and on the basis of the time he ran, his name was included on the finals list at the expense of an athlete from the St Martin’s Secondary School, who had legitimately qualified for the finals. This is just so glaringly wrong and it cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. Something must be done to correct this injustice. When the great Usain Bolt false started in the 100m Finals at the World Championships in 2011, he had to sit it out even though he was the odds-on favourite to win the gold medal.

Why must things be different here in SVG? Why must a different standard be applied? That is why we are getting nowhere in field athletics! There is one standard for “regular” schools and another standard for “prestigious” schools. There is one standard for “ordinary” athletes and another standard for “elite” athletes! Rubbish! We have to get rid of this double standard system which is stifling our development. These kinds of things can cause an up-and-coming athlete to lose motivation and give up on the sports. let us get it right. This terrible wrong must be corrected. Enough is Enough.

Pamenos Ballantyne