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A case for athletes changing schools
BY ANDREW C EDWARDS
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
IN the 1980s when I attended high school there were only two high schools in the parish of Portland -- Titchfield High and Happy Grove High.
St Thomas had one — Morant Bay High — and St Mary one — St Mary's High. Together these four schools competed in daCosta Cup Zone D.
All the other schools in these parishes that are today high schools were senior secondary schools or all-age schools. On the fields of sport, the best from all these schools found their way into one of the aforementioned schools.
Today there are no more senior secondary schools and most all-age schools have either been renamed Primary and Junior High Schools or have been upgraded to High Schools.
Yet, the migration from these schools to the traditional, more established high schools continue, both for academic and sporting reasons.
I note that Dr Lascelves Graham, in both national newspapers, has consistently posited his disapproval of the "transfer" of "elite" players from one school to another.
I wonder what is his position on those who are transferred to elite academic schools because the schools they 'passed' for is "not a good school".
On both sides of the academic/sport argument, there are the pros and cons about students transferring from "less functional" schools to "more functional" ones. One question therefore, requires further enquiry: Are student-athletes and their parents choosing schools (the ones they transfer to) because they believe these schools will advance their opportunities better than the school where they were placed?
Is it really the case, as espoused by Dr Graham, that 'elite athletes' are denying "less capable" ones the opportunity to shine? Or rather, a case of young athletes and their parents making calculated decisions that enhance their opportunities for success in life?
Many of our most successful sportsmen and sportswomen HAD to move from the schools they were initially placed in order to hone and develop their particular talents, and to access platforms from which they could showcase their skills, thereby enabling them to take advantage of opportunities to join the ranks of "the world's best".
Also noteworthy is the cold fact that a good number of these said athletes were able to build none athletic careers by "piggy-backing" on sports scholarships.
Records and experience tell of many who were deemed inept in the Jamaican classroom but who, nevertheless, ended up at American institutions and graduated with masters degrees, some eventually becoming successful businessmen and women.
When I coached at my alma mater Titchfield High between 2001 and 2007, not many players were transferred there from other schools. It is not a policy of the school.
Notwithstanding, as the standard-bearer for both sport and the academics in all of eastern Jamaica, there was -- and still is -- an overwhelming demand for space by academics and athletes alike.
In 2003, after Titchfield went to the DaCosta Cup final for only the second time in school's history, there was a plethora of requests from players from other schools seeking to capitalise on the success we were having.
Dwayne Phidd from Morant Bay High School, who went on to play Premier League football and is now on scholarship in the United States, was one such player.
Since my transition to St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS), the experience has been even more overwhelming, especially with the school enjoying a 'purple patch' of sorts.
Players have called indicating that they would rather sit on the bench at STETHS and become a champion; get a real shot at a scholarship, than stay at their current school and finish high school as an unknown. Parents, too, have called to request placing for their children.
Discourses with coaches from other schools confirm that players, like in the academics, are inclined to seek places in schools where they believe their chances of "success" are significantly enhanced.
Marvin Morgan, for example, moved from Mona High School to St Georges College to become a champion and was much sought after by numerous US colleges.
Jason Johnson went from Knox College to Manchester High and is now on scholarship in the USA. He also has a national senior cap under his belt, having played against Argentina in Argentina.
In track and field, we can point to Veronica Campbell being "recruited" by Vere Technical, Yohan Blake by St Jago High, among many others. Would these athletes have become the stars they are today had they stayed at the "less functional schools" they were placed?
Asafa Powell's story suggests they might have. The only difference is many of them were from schools who don't even participate at 'Champs' or in football to give them the exposure Powell got which enabled him to be "discovered".
Should these schools abandon their "recruitment" policies? Should they refuse student-athletes earnestly seeking them out? I think not.
I am yet to hear that top academics from "less functional schools" are rejected by Hampton School, Immaculate High, Wolmer's Boys' and Girls', Campion College or any other such school.
Why? They help make the schools more successful; it's a big thing for these schools to have the top boy or girl in Jamaica, or the Caribbean, and it's a big thing to be the top academic school.
It is also a big thing for schools to be tops in sports. It gives them leverage; it makes them known and attractive. One principal of St Thomas Technical is reported to have said in the early 1990s that he would use sport, and football, in particular, to put his school on the Jamaican map. I think it worked out.
St Thomas Technical is now certainly the standard-bearer of sport in the east. They also now have a sixth form. Maybe academically they are almost there as well.
Former Mona High player Marvin Morgan who transferred to St George's College
EDITOR'S NOTE: Andrew Edwards is a teacher and football coach at St Elizabeth Technical HIgh School (STETHS) and an assistant National Under-20 coach.
http://m.jamaicaobserver.com/mobile/...hools_10496792
BY ANDREW C EDWARDS
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
IN the 1980s when I attended high school there were only two high schools in the parish of Portland -- Titchfield High and Happy Grove High.
St Thomas had one — Morant Bay High — and St Mary one — St Mary's High. Together these four schools competed in daCosta Cup Zone D.
All the other schools in these parishes that are today high schools were senior secondary schools or all-age schools. On the fields of sport, the best from all these schools found their way into one of the aforementioned schools.
Today there are no more senior secondary schools and most all-age schools have either been renamed Primary and Junior High Schools or have been upgraded to High Schools.
Yet, the migration from these schools to the traditional, more established high schools continue, both for academic and sporting reasons.
I note that Dr Lascelves Graham, in both national newspapers, has consistently posited his disapproval of the "transfer" of "elite" players from one school to another.
I wonder what is his position on those who are transferred to elite academic schools because the schools they 'passed' for is "not a good school".
On both sides of the academic/sport argument, there are the pros and cons about students transferring from "less functional" schools to "more functional" ones. One question therefore, requires further enquiry: Are student-athletes and their parents choosing schools (the ones they transfer to) because they believe these schools will advance their opportunities better than the school where they were placed?
Is it really the case, as espoused by Dr Graham, that 'elite athletes' are denying "less capable" ones the opportunity to shine? Or rather, a case of young athletes and their parents making calculated decisions that enhance their opportunities for success in life?
Many of our most successful sportsmen and sportswomen HAD to move from the schools they were initially placed in order to hone and develop their particular talents, and to access platforms from which they could showcase their skills, thereby enabling them to take advantage of opportunities to join the ranks of "the world's best".
Also noteworthy is the cold fact that a good number of these said athletes were able to build none athletic careers by "piggy-backing" on sports scholarships.
Records and experience tell of many who were deemed inept in the Jamaican classroom but who, nevertheless, ended up at American institutions and graduated with masters degrees, some eventually becoming successful businessmen and women.
When I coached at my alma mater Titchfield High between 2001 and 2007, not many players were transferred there from other schools. It is not a policy of the school.
Notwithstanding, as the standard-bearer for both sport and the academics in all of eastern Jamaica, there was -- and still is -- an overwhelming demand for space by academics and athletes alike.
In 2003, after Titchfield went to the DaCosta Cup final for only the second time in school's history, there was a plethora of requests from players from other schools seeking to capitalise on the success we were having.
Dwayne Phidd from Morant Bay High School, who went on to play Premier League football and is now on scholarship in the United States, was one such player.
Since my transition to St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS), the experience has been even more overwhelming, especially with the school enjoying a 'purple patch' of sorts.
Players have called indicating that they would rather sit on the bench at STETHS and become a champion; get a real shot at a scholarship, than stay at their current school and finish high school as an unknown. Parents, too, have called to request placing for their children.
Discourses with coaches from other schools confirm that players, like in the academics, are inclined to seek places in schools where they believe their chances of "success" are significantly enhanced.
Marvin Morgan, for example, moved from Mona High School to St Georges College to become a champion and was much sought after by numerous US colleges.
Jason Johnson went from Knox College to Manchester High and is now on scholarship in the USA. He also has a national senior cap under his belt, having played against Argentina in Argentina.
In track and field, we can point to Veronica Campbell being "recruited" by Vere Technical, Yohan Blake by St Jago High, among many others. Would these athletes have become the stars they are today had they stayed at the "less functional schools" they were placed?
Asafa Powell's story suggests they might have. The only difference is many of them were from schools who don't even participate at 'Champs' or in football to give them the exposure Powell got which enabled him to be "discovered".
Should these schools abandon their "recruitment" policies? Should they refuse student-athletes earnestly seeking them out? I think not.
I am yet to hear that top academics from "less functional schools" are rejected by Hampton School, Immaculate High, Wolmer's Boys' and Girls', Campion College or any other such school.
Why? They help make the schools more successful; it's a big thing for these schools to have the top boy or girl in Jamaica, or the Caribbean, and it's a big thing to be the top academic school.
It is also a big thing for schools to be tops in sports. It gives them leverage; it makes them known and attractive. One principal of St Thomas Technical is reported to have said in the early 1990s that he would use sport, and football, in particular, to put his school on the Jamaican map. I think it worked out.
St Thomas Technical is now certainly the standard-bearer of sport in the east. They also now have a sixth form. Maybe academically they are almost there as well.
Former Mona High player Marvin Morgan who transferred to St George's College
EDITOR'S NOTE: Andrew Edwards is a teacher and football coach at St Elizabeth Technical HIgh School (STETHS) and an assistant National Under-20 coach.
http://m.jamaicaobserver.com/mobile/...hools_10496792
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