BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SCHEDULING for this year’s Rams Primary School Track and Field Championships has caused a serious row between some private religious learning institutions and the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Athletics Association (SKNAAA).
While the event has typically been held during the week over its long history, the 2010 edition will be the first to be held as a Saturday-Sunday event (Mar. 27-28). This has caused the administration and parents of the Seventh Day Adventist Primary School to feel they are being discriminated against because of their religious practices.
“Since last year we had some folks from the SKNAAA who were bent on having the meet on the weekend. There are basically two schools who cannot take part, that is the Seventh Day Adventist on Saturday and the Maurice Hillier Memorial on Sunday because of the Sabbath,” Seventh Day Adventist Coach Keithley Blanchette told SKNVibes.
One parent of a Seventh Day Adventist Primary School athlete, Douglas Wattley, went as far as to say that he viewed the SKNAAA’s decision as “religious persecution” and a major detriment to the students of the school.
“I think it is an insult to ask these schools to do away with years of principled doctrine not to participate on the Sabbath because that is the day that they have set aside for worship,” Wattley said at the school’s recently held Sports Day.
The parent added that, at a time when St. Kitts-Nevis has seen a rise in delinquent youth behaviour, he could not see any legitimate reason why large groups of children would be prevented from participating in the nation’s premier youth track and field event.
“At a time when we see our youngsters getting involved in all kinds of deviant behaviour, it is important that we do not show them that we as adults are failing them by disqualifying them from participating.
“I think it would send the wrong message to the youngsters. Right now we want to find as many activities as possible for them to participate in. We must find things to make sure they don’t go astray,” he said.
Blanchette detailed that the parents and administration of the school had written numerous letters to the Government and Sports Department, requesting them to hold the meet during the week. Though the Cabinet discussed the issue, it was ultimately decided that they would have little influence on the issue, despite former Minister of Education Hon. Sam Condor reportedly being a deciding factor in last year’s competition being held from Wednesday to Friday.
According to Blanchette, the SKNAAA said they would be incapable of providing their technical expertise and wide-array of volunteer officials if the meet were held during the week, and subsequently event sponsor Rams stated they would pull their financial support if the high-standard established by the SKNAAA was not maintained.
“To me, it really is dictatorship. [SKNAAA President] Mr. Glen Jeffers, I’m not afraid to say, he is the one that really has us in this bind. You also have many of the coaches who are looking for trips overseas. They want to be head coach; they want to be technical director and so they all got sucked up into this.
“As I’m speaking to you now, I’m at a loss for words. Since I got the news, I’ve been down for the entire week and frustrated,” Blanchette said. “Our athletes have been training since last September and to now tell them a week before that they can’t compete….Many parents invested in expensive track shoes. I just went to the airport this week and cleared some uniforms through customs for US $4 000 from Miami and all of that has gone in vain.”
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Jeffers stated that the decision to move the meet to the weekend was taken for a number of reasons, including being able to provide officials during weekdays because of their jobs, ensuring children are home at a reasonable hour and providing parents with ample opportunity to see their children compete.
“Last year we had to start the meet around five [in the afternoon] and the children would reach home 12 or 1 o’clock the next morning. It was just really disorganized.
“The other reason we are moving it is because the parents want to see their kids run, but they can’t always because they have work. They may want to see their children, but other factors in their life may prevent them from really coming out. It’s important to have the community and parents involved in the joy of seeing their kids participate,” the SKNAAA President said.
He further noted that the association continues to work toward being in accordance with international standards, and if “you look back at the Carifta Games we had a few years ago or the CUT Games we are having here this year, they are always on a weekend”.
As an association, Jeffers said it is hoped that they could help grow the Rams Primary School Track and Field Championships into an event on par with the recently completed Interschool Championships, and he is regretful that a conflict over religion has marred the competition this year.
“It is too bad that the [Seventh Day Adventist Primary School] has made that decision. Sports tries not to have a mixture of politics and religion, and when you see any kind of major competition it is always on a weekend. That is not something that the SKNAAA made up. That is how track and field in the region goes on.”
The SKNAAA President said that while “change is hard”, the association plans to permanently hold the Rams meet on weekends. Blanchette, however, stated his hope that a compromise could be negotiated for 2011 and beyond.
“When this meet was designed, it was not about officials. It was not about profit-making. It was for the development of the young athletes. Last year, Seventh Day Adventist came sixth out of 23 schools. It is no secret that had we performed this year we would have certainly been in the top three and I would go as far as saying that we could have won the championship.
“But even if Adventist would have come last, it’s not about winning. It’s about the principle and all schools should have gotten a chance,” the coach stated.
