Jacobs returns after terminating ABIIT scholarship

Jan 06, 2009 Sports

financial constraints cited as main reason

Nichola Jacobs

Michaela Burnette

By Edison Jefford
Her dream was to always reap due rewards from years of sacrifice and hard work behind local female basketball but when that time came, Nicola Jacobs once again found herself between a rock and a hard place.
After accepting an Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology (ABIIT) scholarship late last year, Jacobs has apparently scrapped the arrangement because of lack of financial support on the island.
The premier female basketball player had told Kaieteur Sport about her dilemma in a previous interview where she had indicated that from the way things seem, a decision to return home was the likely outcome.
So said so done; Jacobs returned to Guyana unannounced sometime late December after indicating that she was aiming to come back home this month. Several enthusiasts were mystified to see the player back in Linden.
But Jacobs had sufficient reasons and some Guyanese aficionados in Antigua believed that she made the right decision after officials on the island did not provide what was expected as part of the scholarship deal.
“The people that gave me the scholarship have not checked on me. I applied to places for work but they say I am here as a student so I can’t get a work permit when that was part of the arrangement at first,” Jacobs had said.
According to Jacobs, only three months’ stay on the island was issued to her upon arrival, which she claimed was renewable upon expiration. She said that was strange for someone scheduled to spend two years on scholarship.
After touring the island with a national women’s select team in January last year, Jacobs was offered a scholarship to pursue studies in Business Administration after her dominant performance in the tournament.
She did not immediately show interest in the erudition offer but consistent thought over a period of months compelled the athlete to yield and migration moves began in August last year and she subsequently left in September.
“I don’t think I can manage school and help out [financially] in the home where I staying without a job,” Jacobs had told this newspapers in a previous interview when she was seriously thinking about returning to Guyana.
To compound her financial struggles in Antigua, she had explained that books for school cost almost EC$2000 (averagely $150,000 Guyana dollars) per subject every semester and she still has to buy her own food.
“There were some people that promised to help out like the Guyana Consulate but when I arrived, they did not give me anything. It’s not easy,” the national stalwart, who played at both the junior and senior levels, said.
This newspaper understands that the Guyana Amateur Women’s Basketball Association is unhappy with Jacobs’ decision to return home since the association was unaware of her situation and could have offered help.
Another local female player was the recipient of a financial subvention to attend the University of Guyana on the intervention of the women’s basketball group. Apparently, that money could have gone to Jacobs.
However, the association only became aware of Jacobs’ situation when this newspaper broke the story on her contemplation of cancelling the scholarship. There has since been talk about the negative impact of her decision. In fact, a women’s team was expected to tour Antigua in November last year but the tour was suddenly cancelled without a reason. It seems as though the local women’s body and the Antiguan authorities are at loggerheads.
President of the local women’s association, Michaela Burnette has been surprisingly quiet on the developments, whether negative or positive, of the female version of the sport here when she is known to be outspoken.
It was Burnette who openly condemned the treatment of the Guyana national female team that participated at the 2007 Caribbean Basketball Confederation Championships in Puerto Rico when she highlighted those issues.
Burnette also spoke out against Chris Bowman’s moves and relationship with the national female team that participated at the InterGuiana Games in 2007. Her recent perceived silence could be quiet before a storm.

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