Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
THE HEAD coach of Jamaica's contingent to the fourth IAAF/Maroc Telecom World Youth Championships in Marrakesh, Morocco, Raymond 'KC' Graham, believes quantity over quality detracted from the team's performance.
"I think in the future we should think of having a quality team," Graham told The Gleaner on his arrival from the fourth World Youth Championships on Tuesday night.
"I feel we sent too many people to the championships," he said.
MEDALLING PROSPECT
Graham, who is the high school coach of two of Jamaica's three medallists, Natasha Ruddock and Latoya King, said athletes should not have been selected just because they had qualified.
"It goes beyond that; you must have prospects of a medal or even to reach finals, not just qualifying," said the St. Jago coach.
"Although they qualified, most of the athletes failed to pass the first round."
He believes a smaller team would also have helped the coaches more.
"We (coaches) would get to spend more time and give more individual attention to those athletes (medal prospects)," he said.
He said the number of athletes also detracted from the team's entire performance "because people are going to say we carried 25 athletes and only got three medals."
In repeating that quality is what should come first, he cited Cuba who sent five athletes and won five medals.
Jamaica finished 19th in the medal standing, its lowest ranking at four championships.
ONLY REWARDS
Sprint hurdler Ruddock's silver medal, Schillonie Calvert's 100m bronze and King's 200m bronze were the only medals reaped, and it was the first time Jamaica did not leave with a gold medal.
Graham also believes coaches for championships should be selected first and then have input in the team selection.
