Alrick Clarke ... The fact is that the rule has helped a lot of guys (left) and Jackie Walters ... To a large extent, it's a very necessary rule (right). - File

In what is often a battle between a burning desire for sporting achievement and the need for academic success, schoolboy football coaches often find themselves stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

The harsh reality, often portrayed in many movies and novels, is that the players with the most sporting talent are often, for a variety of reasons, simply not the most gifted academically. With the Inter-Secondary Schools Association's (ISSA) stipulating that a player cannot take part in any sport without having achieved a 45 per cent grade in at least four subjects, a talented player may well find himself or herself on the sideline for half, or the entire season.

While many coaches agree the rule is a necessary and beneficial one, there seems to be a general consensus that there is a downside, as at the end of the day, it is the player, unable for whatever reason to make the grade, who suffers.

"It's a rule and you just have to abide by it. Education is important at the end of the day, but the fact is that at the end of the day, not everyone will be able to pass," said Calabar coach Alrick Clarke.

immediate disadvantage

"In some cases, you have schools that get students from GSAT that are just not up to the grade, so they are at an immediate disadvantage.

"It's hard to watch. Not for me as a coach, not in terms of the team, but to see a youngster with such tremendous talent simply unable to benefit from it, knowing that it can take them a far way," Clarke added.

There may well be a great deal to complain about. While the grading system does not allow students academically not up to par to enter some schools, having entered a high school that accepts lower grades, they are immediately expected to raise their standard if they are to continue taking part in sport. While some schools have programmes in place to aid students who start at a disadvantage, this is not the case right across the board, and they may simply be left out of the loop.

"It is not a bad idea, but it could do with some modification in terms of helping to bring the students up to a certain standard, not at high school, but even before that," Clarke suggested.

"However, the fact is that the rule has helped a lot of guys. They come in at 29 per cent and by the time they leave, they can leave with five or six subjects," he added.

necessary rule

Another highly successful schoolboy football coach, Jackie Walters of Glenmiur High, agrees that the rule is a useful but could be improved with some support.

"To a large extent, it's a very necessary rule and I have seen youngsters work really hard to make the grade, to be eligible to play, so at the end of the day they leave with a number of subjects," Walters said.

"However, you have to consider a number of socioeconomic factors, which almost ensure that some students start at a disadvantage.

"The fact is, unlike a number of other countries that have development programmes, academies and such that allow sports-oriented individuals to develop outside of school, we have no such things here, so the individual can be totally left in the cold.

"However, there are students ... who would otherwise have come to school to waste time that leave with eight or nine subjects. So the rule is effective and with a little more in place, it could go a far way."