‘SHAMELESS’
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William Knibb Principal Linvern Wright.
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Holland High School’s Shanoya Douglas arrivees at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday after her Austin Sealy award-winning exploits at the Carifta Games in Grenada on the weekend.
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Sanay Seymore displays the two gold medals he won in the Boys’ Under-20 200 metres and the Boys’ Under-20 4x100m relays at the Carifta Games in Grenada on the weekend.
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William Knibb High School’s Sanjay Seymore displays the gold medals he won in the Boys’ Under-20 200 metres and the Under-20 4x100m relays at the just-concluded Carifta Games in Grenada.
WESTERN BUREAU:
Linvern Wright, the principal of William Knibb High School, says governments over the years have failed to provide adequate sports facilities for athletes in western Jamaica, leaving them at a significant disadvantage to athletes from the Corporate Area, who are exposed to high-quality facilities.
In a Facebook post last Thursday, during the staging of the annual ISSA Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championship (Champs), Wright described the strong political presence at the high-school showpiece as “shameless”.
“Our politicians are shameless. They are at Champs in prime seats but have done little to develop facilities in communities and schools for sports development,” wrote Wright.
“If they took sports and arts development as seriously as they took photo ops, Jamaica would have been far more impressive.”
Wright, who is also president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, went on to lament the absence of a suitable venue in western Jamaica to host a major track meet or football competition.
“Western Jamaica’s athletes do not have one sport facility to host a decent track meet or a football game, and these unconscionable politicians are cheerleading as if they had anything much to do with the successes. Just shameless!” he said.
Despite the concerns raised by Wright, athletes from the region again delivered standout performances at the five-day championship, which was staged at the National Stadium in Kingston.
Among the brightest stars was Shanoya Douglas, of Holland High School, who completed a sensational sprint double, capturing the Girls’ Class One 100 metres and 200 metres, the latter in a championship-record 22.36 seconds.
Western Jamaica also celebrated another major title through Sanjay Seymore, of William Knibb High School, who won the Boys’ Class One 200 metres gold medal in 21.14 seconds.
Wright believes the performances of Douglas and Seymour reinforce his belief that the region is primed to produce elite talent despite the lack of investment in sports infrastructure.