FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES NOT GETTING THE LOVE THEY DESERVE

Each year at this time it hits me squarely in the face. Champs in all its glory is here and the supporters and bandwagonists are out in all their glory. It’s an exciting time for most Jamaicans as the country’s best junior athletes display their talents on the grandest of local stages – the national stadium. Hundreds of thousands of persons tune in to every media platform to get the latest standings, the latest developments and to cheer for their respective schools.

Most of them however, cheer for the boys. The girls; not so much.

I have been trying to figure out this thing for years now and I am no closer to the truth than when I first began. It will manifest in the last two days that makes it clearer for all and what we will see for yet another year is that more girls support the male athletes than they do the females. In the lead up to Champs, most of the talk surrounded the top male athletes, the Michael O’Hara’s, the Christopher Taylors, Tyreke Wilsons, as well as the Dejour Russells, Nathaniel Banns, Jevaughn Mathersons, Akeem Bloomfields and of course, Jaheel Hydes. You see girls from even schools that have outstanding high school female athletes donning colours of the boys’ school and rooting for the boys almost as if they don’t have athletes, female athletes of their own to cheer for.

In the media, there is hardly any mention of the top female athletes. There is a nice battle looming between Vere’s Sasha-Gaye Whyte and Holmwood’s Lisa Buchannan; Saqukine Cameron is as fast as she has ever been and could break 23 seconds for the 200m but I don’t sense there is much anticipation for either of these events.

The relative lack of interest in our female athletes is why Champs had to be merged in the first place, which was disappointing because when you look at the number of international stars, Olympic and World Championship medalists that have come through from the girls’ side of things, it is somewhat befuddling that we do not show them the love they truly deserve.

Merlene Ottey, perhaps Jamaica’s most famous and decorated track and field athlete competed for Vere, so did Veronica Campbell-Brown, Aleen Bailey, and Beverley McDonald. Juliet Cuthbert, Sandy Richards, Juliet Campbell, Kerron Stewart, Sherone Simpson, Shelly-Ann Frazer-Pryce, Christania Willliams, all of these women at one point of the other, shone at Champs. But the way we treat the girls you would never have believed that it was they who carried the mantle for so many years when our men were failing to bring home the bacon.

I honestly don’t have an answer for how this situation can be remedied, perhaps better marketing and public relations for the girls but something has got to change, maybe our collective mindset because what is happening at Champs in relation to our girls is not unique to them. The Sunshine Girls also struggle with relatively tepid public interest especially among our women. Other than cricket, the netballers are among the most successful team sports in Jamaica. Only our cricketers, I believe, can boast as much success but many sponsors avoid them like they would the plague.

Something needs to be done though, because for all the success our female athletes have achieved, they certainly don’t get an equal value in the love returned.