Bender, Camperdown shifting focus

No longer preparing for a Manning Cup campaign, Camperdown High’s head coach Christopher Bender is ensuring that the time spent is used to prepare his players academically for the future.

The Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) announced on Monday the cancellation of all school sports competitions for the upcoming Christmas term which includes the 2020 schoolboy football season. In a release, ISSA cited the delay in the physical reopening of schools because of the recent spike in positive coronavirus cases being the reason why the decision was taken. While he was not surprised at the decision, he regretted that the final-year students would not be able to showcase their talents to attract scholarship offers from overseas colleges. However, Bender is now channelling his energies into helping students with SAT and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) preparations to give them the chance of earning a scholarship overseas.

“ Although [we] are disappointed about not playing, more importantly what we want to do is to make sure the students/athletes at Camperdown leave with at least five subjects,” Bender told The Gleaner. “With the five or six subjects plus the SAT exam, [it would put them] in good stead to get a scholarship.”

He said that he would have been expected a maximum of six players to be in their final year of eligibility had the 2020 season gone as scheduled. Bender credited the work done in assisting players with their studies as the main reason why a majority of last year’s football squad gained the necessary qualifications to enter sixth form.

“One of the things we are really proud of at Camperdown is the extra classes for those players who are not as [academically] strong. From last year’s squad of 22 we had 16 of those [going to sixth form],” he said. “That is something that we are proud of in terms of [footballers] getting their five or more subjects and that is something that we emphasise at Camperdown,” he said.

With speculation about a possible season in January should conditions be favourable, Bender says that priority must be given to the safety of students/athletes in whatever decision is taken. He hopes that students who are affected by the cancellation will use the term wisely in focusing on their academics.

“Prepare diligently with the time for your exams and not only wait on online learning. Make something good come out of the time,” he said.