PICK OUR SON

THE parents of 16-year-old tennis player, David Rodriguez, have filed an appeal with the TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) to reconsider the decision to disqualify him from eligibility for selection in the 2019 Under-16 Junior Davis Cup.

In a 16-page appeal, Scott and Charisse Rodriguez claim the Tennis Association of TT was unreasonable in their decision to eliminate Rodriguez from the list of qualifiers for the Davis Cup, and that they were “unfair” in their enforcing of a “no make-up and no exemption rule,” given circumstances and precedents established in the appeal.

But the association’s president Hayden Mitchell said Rodriguez got injured on October 5, just before trials were held for selection to go to the cup.

“It is an unfortunate situation,” Mitchell said “We have supported Mr Rodriguez as a tennis player and he has made other national teams but he was injured and has not been playing for the last six months. They would just have to try again next time.”

In their appeal, the parents said after their son hurt his shoulder while at school, in October, a doctor certified him as being temporarily injured and he was ordered not to play or practise any competitive tennis for six weeks.

The injury meant Rodriguez was not be able to attend the selection trials on November 10.

However, his parents said other players had been allowed to compete without taking fitness test and undergoing trials after recovering from injuries and claimed this was a well-established practice of the association.

They gave the example of player Adam Ramkissoon who was exempted from competitive tournaments because of injury and later went on to be selected, along with Aiden Carter, to take part in the JITIC U16 2018 championships held from June 18-23 in Mexico.

They claimed the same happened for Ethan Wong who was exempted from trials because of illness but was selected in the top position for the JITIC U14 tournament also on the same days in Mexico.

The parents said the association established a no make-up and no exemption rule which was added to the selection criteria for the trials and next year’s Junior Davis Cup. They said they were informed about the rule in a letter dated November 6. They also said an amendment was made to the selection process confirming the rule and this was backdated to the day before Rodriguez was injured.

However, Mitchell explained that an exemption from trials can only be granted once a player notifies the association of an injury and the association agrees to their request.

This was the case for Ramkissoon who was injured in early 2018 while representing TT in a competition in Honduras, and the association agreed that he would be exempted from trials.

However, Rodriguez’s parents said the no make-up and no exemption rule was unfair because it sought to penalise players for circumstances they cannot always foresee, and may not have any bearing on a players’ performance months later.

“Usually young persons like Rodriguez (David) involved in sporting activities often dream about making it a career. It is more than just a hobby and so participating in international competitive events is a valuable opportunity for exposure and improvement ... and a legitimate expectation for every top ranked player,” they said.

The parents also submitted that the selection committee should have been guided by the association’s junior selection policy.

Rodriguez is double champion this year having won the 2018 the U14 and U16 national titles and was the U12 champion when he was only ten years old. The Junior Davis Cup is the world premier team tennis tournament for boys in the U16 category and under.