Laurie Foster | Top talent needs special care

Kevona Davis, Edwin Allen High School's super sprinter, is truly an extremely special talent. Her phenomenal personal best times of 11.16 at the 100m and 22.72 going 200m, done at the 2018 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Championships, serve as confirmation of her elite status. They have only been marginally bettered by Veronica Campbell-Brown (11.12) and Simone Facey (22.71) at the high-school level.

When they had those accomplishments, those two student athletes were older by three and a half years than Davis was in her turn, this year. This is further testament to the class of the 2017 World Under-18 Championships bronze medallist. She was zeroing in at going even better at the World under-20 event, coming up in Tampere, Finland, in July.

When the news came on the threshold of the National Senior & Junior Championships, that Davis could not compete, there was widespread disappointment in the sport's fraternity. However, it was not surprising as the athlete had been quite inactive since her heroics at Girls Champs. She was earlier reported as being unavailable for the Carifta Games. Accompanying the latest release was a message from her coach, Michael Dyke. He is reported to have said that Davis suffered a hamstring injury and it was in her best interest to pull her out of the meet as she still has another chance to compete at the World Under-20 championships in two years' time. This entire episode has left Foster's Fairplay with a measure of discomfort.

SUPPORT NEEDED

The overriding feeling is that athletes who have demonstrated that they are above the ordinary should be properly monitored at this level. Let us take nothing away from Coach Dyke, as his stewardship with many of Jamaica's young athletes has been nothing short of exceptional and as such, deserving of credit. However, he should not be asked to bear the burdens of proper athlete care without adequate support.

Close marking of junior athlete preparation programmes, which is essential to progress, is urgently required. It should come from the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), which should take a pivotal position in the development of outstanding talent. With the economic situation in the country and, by extension, the high schools, being as tight as it is, the governing body should not be seen to leave all things to the school management system. That is a direct recipe for the loss of talent which, in the absence of proper nurturing, can reach nowhere.

In that regard, Foster's Fairplay calls on the JAAA to take a hands-on approach to the reservoir of talent, wherever it may be. With that in mind, remedies can be applied before such withdrawals, as that which has befallen this young athlete, become reality.

Another worrisome factor is the call made about Davis, having "another chance to compete at the World Under-20 championships in two years' time."

This gives the unfortunate impression that "all is well, she has another chance." This is not a feeling that should be cultivated. Bear in mind that Davis secured the bronze medal in the 100m at the World Under-18 level, at a time when she was said to be running with an injury. Time did not allow her a revisit.

In the view of this columnist, if an athlete is of an age that guarantees two visits to the global junior level, so be it. It should not be acceptable to deny the athlete the opportunities for which he or she is eligible. There have been cases where athletes do up to three trips to what is the pinnacle of junior achievement, and the privilege to add that to one's rÈsumÈ should be appreciated.

Foster's Fairplay is not so naive to think that the monitoring of these young athletes and seeing to their welfare do not come with a cost. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that several institutions do not fund their athletes' programmes after the Penn Relays. It is an expense that the governing body cannot afford not to afford. The search for funds to run all the programmes under the JAAA's purview should include thoughts of taking on this matter as an additional expense.

To ignore it can be to the detriment of the future of the sport.

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