ÐÓ°ÉÐÔ°É

Coach Garth Smythe has developed a small cadre of athletes from scratch, with limited support, slowly enabling Muschette High School to make a name for themselves in high-school track and field.

The western Jamaica-based Muschette, according to Smythe, has, however, over the years, been fighting off the advances of prominent schools to lure away his top athletes, especially Shanoya Douglas and his son, Johan. These schools are trying to stack up for the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships (Champs).

Douglas and the younger Smythe competed last weekend in the Class Two girls and boys' 200 metres at the On Di Run Sprint Fest and the Pure Water/JC/R Danny Williams meet, and performed excellently.

"My school does not have a big name in the sport, so it is difficult to recruit athletes, and all my athletes have started them from scratch as (better) athletes prefer going to schools like William Knibb, which is close by," Smythe said.

"I have a good relationship with the parents, and some of these big-name schools have been trying to lure my athletes for the past four years. Even sitting in my living room with my son, he received calls from some of these coaches telling him to tell his parents that he did not want to continue at Muschette.

"My priority with my athletes is on academics, and, because of this, my athletes can have a balance, and this is also a big motivational factor in keeping them at Muschette, as I do get a lot of help for them in this area," said Smythe, who is in his fourth season at the institution.

According to Smythe, despite the limited resources, he is confident that the relationship fostered with the athletes and their parents will keep them anchored at Muschette.

He argued that promising athletes at these institutions with bigger and better financial programmes can be neglected and fall by the wayside.

"I think there are athletes in those big programmes who get lost because they are there and cannot compete at Champs and do not get enough individual attention. Staying in a smaller programme, they can get better individual attention," he said.

Meanwhile, Smythe stated that the programme's shortcomings have not deterred the athletes from preparing adequately for the track and field season, which he attributes to the excellent start they have to the season.

He is confident that Muchette's boys' and girls' teams will improve on their respective 25th and 28th place finishes at last year's Champs.

"Despite financial constraints, the athletes have put in some hard work in pre-season. It is paying off. I expect both athletes, along with several others, including Osmond Holt in Class One boys' 200 and 400 metres, to do exceptionally well," he said.

Smythe, who believes his best achievement so far as a coach is having had both Douglas and his son make the national junior team last year, is appealing for support for the programme from the school and nearby business community.

"Support from the school is minimal, and it is the parents who have given most support," said Smythe, who credited Principal Leighton Johnson for offering some assistance.