Walk and Talk

Photo Courtesy: Teen Link

The ISSA Grace Boys and Girls Championships begins this Tuesday. It is probably the biggest high school sporting event worldwide. Scouts from track clubs and colleges travel or watch from all around the world to see Jamaica's brightest talents.

I could tell you why you should watch Champs. I could tell you which races or athletes to look out for. I could even give you predictions on which High School will win. However, I'll leave that up to the people getting paid.

I'm going to talk about a very serious topic that is affecting our young athletes and the future of Jamaican track field or sports on a whole. It's something that should not be taken lightly: the interview.

After one of the girls or boys win a race, they are interviewed. Have you ever heard one ? Most of the time it's comedic relief. Why ? They don't answer the question well, they have poor grammar or my personal favourite, the generic answer.If you have watched Champs,tell me if you've ever heard the athletes give one of these answers:

1. Yes sir
2. No sir
3. My coach told me to do it so I did it
4. I just went out there and did my best

5. I've been working hard
5. Thank you sir

I could list out more but you get my point. Apart from their respect for the interviewer, I don't really get anything insightful from them. Isn't that the point of the interview ?

Also their body language or posture is poor. Them holding their faces, their head is down, hands on their knees, etc. That could be a result of nervousness or the fact they just ran their lives out.The interviewer should take some blame as well because they sometimes ask open ended questions like "Did you think you would have won the race?" or questions that would lead to those generic answers. Plus we all know they grab the athletes immediately after the race ends so we will hear their heavy breathing and see their collapsing bodies through our screens and speakers.

My advice is to introduce interviewing skills in the English Syllabus or communication majors should go into these track programmes and show them how to present and answer questions posed to them. This won't only help them in track and field but also when applying for jobs.

I don't want them to get to the big stage like some of our current athletes and not know how to conduct themselves in an interview. However, as someone pointed out to me, if they can win gold medals and break records, why should I be concerned about their interviewing proficiency ? Just give me some good answers please !

If you thought "I went out and did my best", comment and share.