You have no power here

THE TT Committe (TTOC) has received correspondence from the Rodriguez family, who are appealing a decision made by the Tennis Association of TT to snub their son, David, for selection to represent TT in the Junior Davis Cup and are consulting their legal team for advice on the matter.

But, in a conversation with head of the tennis association, Hayden Mitchell, Newsday was told the TTOC has no power over any of the local associations unless a matter concerns an Olympic event.

“TTOC has no jurisdiction over any national sport body, so I am surprised that they would make such a statement,” Mitchell said yesterday.

Mitchell explained when selecting players to represent TT the following applies: the top eight players would be invited based on their Association ranking, or ATP, WTA, or ITF rankings; perforamace is assessed in Association sanctioned tournaments and international events;also,they are assessed in singles and doubles tournaments,and performance in head to head matches over the past six months. According to their Junior Selection Policy on the Tennis TT website, the players selected would also have to adhere to the requirements of the team with respect to discipline, positive attitude, conditioning, commitment and teamwork, and fitness.

The policy also dictates that the selection committee has the power to decide – based on its discretion – to take into account of any circumstances which may have resulted in a player’s performance being negatively affected.

Rodriguez, being the number one ranked junior player in the country, was invited to try out for the Davis Cup trials, which were scheduled a month and a half ago, but was hurt while at school and was unable to attend.

Because of the injury Rodriguez was removed under section 9.2 (d) of the Junior Selection Policy, which gives the Association the power to remove a player from the selection pool if he or she has an illness, injury or medical condition which, in the selection committee’s opinion prevents the player from continuing to meet the criteria for selection.

Speaking with Mitchell, Newsday was told Rodriguez’ situation was compounded by the fact that he had not played a game in over six months.

Mitchell said Rodriguez had not played a match since claiming his title at the Annual Catch National Junior Tennis Championships, which ended early in April.

Nevertheless, the Rodriguez family forwarded a 16-page appeal to the TTOC, saying the tennis association was unreasonable in their decision to eject Rodriguez from the list of qualifiers.