NDC puts damper on Covent Garden school sports

Sep 27, 2015 News

When students of the Covent Garden Secondary School and their parents turned out at the Covent Garden Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) ground on Friday, they had expected to begin a day of sports and fun.
Instead, they were met with the poor conditions of the ground. They were forced to not host their annual inter-house sports competition because of this unforeseen hindrance.
School officials, parents and students alike are now voicing their disappointment that an arrangement that had been made a week before was unfulfilled.

Clifford Ruffino

One of the frustrated parents is Clifford Ruffino, who is also the Chairman of the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
In an interview with Kaieteur News, Ruffino explained that the condition of the ground had come as a complete surprise. He explained that he and other school officials had turned out at about 7:00am to prepare for the event when they were met with the unprepared field.
He described the field as uncut with “cow holes” and mud. According to him, the NDC had been contacted two weeks ago. He reminded that the school will be holding the event.
Ruffino said that the NDC was contacted again on Wednesday to ensure that everything was progressing smoothly.
“At no time these people told us that they could not deliver. They were insisting that they would be ready for us when the time comes,” Ruffino said.
He said that it was impossible to hold the annual inter-house sports competition under such conditions.
“You can’t send children to run around on that field! You might end up with a few broken feet,” a clearly frustrated Ruffino said. The ground has been used by the school and several others for years. Ruffino expressed disbelief that the NDC did not come through, particularly since sports season is in full swing across the country.
“It’s not like we are first timers or something; and it’s not only we does got to use this ground. What’s going to happen now to the other schools?” he questioned.
He further explained that the sudden change in plans was a setback for the school. According to Ruffino, a large quantity of drinks had been ordered from Banks DIH Limited to supply to students. Tents had also been ordered for the event.
He said, too, that students would have been preparing for weeks to participate. Parents would have had to expend funds and use precious time to allow their children to attend the event, he said.

The “cow holed” ground

Some of the students who turned out

While he noted that money would have gone to waste, he stressed that the issue went beyond finances.
“We’re looking at the entire scenario here. These people had a responsibility. A lot of planning went into this; we had extensive meetings and held fundraisers,” he said. “It’s so frustrating when you put effort into something and things like this happen, simply because someone failed to do their job.”
The day was not completely lost, however. Rather than send everyone home who turned out, the sports day was instead turned into a mini fun day.
“We didn’t think it would be fair to send the children back completely empty-handed after they would have put so much effort into this,” Ruffino explained.
However, he noted that the setback had consequences. He said that the school could not simply shift the date for its inter-house sports. He said that the date had been set aside by the Ministry of Education. Therefore, the school would have to go through the necessary channels before it can hold another sports day.
He further said that the setback could affect the school’s performance at the inter-school championships.
“Without first having inter-house sports we can’t make it to the inter-school. We held pre-trials for our students in some areas and they all put their hearts into this so it’s very unfair. At this point I can’t say if the event has been postponed or cancelled entirely,” he added.