By Neto Baptiste
The Coordinator of Schools Football, Rowan Benjamin, revealed on Wednesday that the Ministry of Sports is aware of some coaches who are reportedly neglecting their duties and not turning out for scheduled sessions with their assigned school teams.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Benjamin stopped short of naming the coaches but said the matter is now in the hands of both the Director of Sports, Heather Samuel-Daley and the Permanent Secretary, Sarah Stuart.
“We have incidents that have been reported that they haven’t seen the coach between this time or that time but most of the times, these things are not reported until it probably reaches crisis level as on may put it because it is not every principal that would want to put something in writing,” he said.
A number of teams have forfeited matches in the ongoing schools football competition, more so, the Jennings Secondary School. The school is also seemingly struggling with form as they have lost their matches by significant margins.
Benjamin, who is also a coach in the league, said there are procedures in place to ensure coaches carry out duties assigned to them.
“All coaches have their timetables and I have a copy of their timetables, the school has a copy of their timetable and all coaches should and must follow their timetable. If there are issues with a coach not showing up then the school would notify us,” he said.
“There are some coaches that probably do go the schools and who do sign in but … probably most of them would have to go to a field that is separate from where the school is,” Benjamin said.
The coordinator did say, however, there are a number of reasons why schools have forfeited matches in the competition this year.
Benjamin said the under-16 boys team from the Ottos Comprehensive School has been pulled from the competition by that school’s principal, Foster Roberts.