Wolmer’s basketball coach cautious about slain teen’s teammates

WOLMER’S BOYS’ basketball coach, Horward Harvey, said the team’s leadership continues to provide counselling as the full extent of the impact the passing of Raheem Shaw has had on teammates is still unknown.

Following training yesterday, Harvey said they talked with the players about the issue, and the severity of the impact appeared muted.

However, he will continue to observe his charges in case he needs to make recommendations.

Shaw, a member of Wolmer’s junior basketball team, was shot fatally by his father at their home in Portmore in a case of mistaken identity.

Harvey, who has a background in counselling, said he would continue his therapeutic sessions with his players for now.

“Men deal with things differently, and there is a grieving period. But none of the youngsters have reached the point where you say they need intervention. If I need to, I will make recommendations. But none of them have given me any indication for that so far,” he disclosed.

Harvey, who described Shaw as hard working and very sociable, said the group discussed the incident, and while some were open about it, others were not.

“We will ask them if they want to discuss it, but we will not force them to.”

Meanwhile, Shaw’s classmate and Manning Cup player Benjamin Griffiths revealed that his classmates in 5R were devastated when they heard the news, and like Harvey, recalled him as industrious and a fun person to be around.

“He was the type of person you could enjoy yourself around. He wasn’t really the quiet type. He was really an active person and always involved in his school work and helping his teachers.

“He was just a good youth overall, and it was tragic when we found out what happened to him.

“It was a big shock when we heard it. Everybody liked him as a person. When we heard the news, many of us (in class) started crying because we couldn’t come to the fact that he had actually passed away,” he said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com