THE EDITOR, Sir:
ON WEDNESDAY November 19, 2003 I went to support my daughter who was competing for her school in the InSport Primary School Netball Competition, which was being held at the G.C. Foster College. The competition was well on the way with all the participating schools parading. To my utter surprise, my daughter's primary school was put to compete against two high schools who were placed in the same zone.
I was even more astonished when the announcers started referring to the game as an under-15 competition. Note however, that the average age for students at the primary school is 12 years! I questioned the whole situation with the announcers who were actually working in order to get some clarification on the issue.
To my chagrin there was no official available to provide answers, only referees who were actually from competing schools. I must point out that by now the mood at the game had changed considerably after the revelation that high schoolers were actually competing with the primary school students. The students became demotivated and there were signs of hurt on their faces.
My concerns as a parent are: How are the schools selected for playing in each zone? Why were two high schools competing in this event which was slated as a Primary School Netball Compet-ition? and why was there no official present at the game while the game was in full swing?
How can sponsors like InSport, who are trying to motivate children at this age, at the same time demoralise our children like this? Will someone at InSport please speak to this disgraceful issue? And please get it right for next year so that this incident does not repeat itself.
I am, etc.,
JENNIFER BARRETT
Portmore
St. Catherine
