The tragedy that threatens to derail Dinthill Technical High School’s daCosta Cup title chase is a sad example of all that has gone wrong with high school sports in Jamaica.

Dinthill Technical started the season as favourites to go one step further than they did last year, when they were beaten by St Elizabeth Technical in the final. But after a great start, their season seems to be unravelling at the seams.

A loss in the first round of the FLOW Super Cup, and their opening game in the quarter-final round, sandwiched a nasty divorce between coach Kevin Williams and the school, as well as long-time sponsor/manager Andre Hylton leaving the programme.

In the pursuit of sporting glory – football, track and field, and cricket mostly – schools have virtually sold their souls and have used their students as pawns. Past students or people with no substantial link to the institution of learning are now running many school programmes.

In the case of coach Williams, he was not hired by the school, nor apparently was he interviewed and vetted by the school board, but by Hylton, a successful businessman.

As such, Hylton felt he did not need the school’s permission to fire Williams, as he has fired a series of other coaches over the years in his quest for the right man who would bring back the glory to his beloved school.

This situation is not unique to Dinthill Technical, and successive administrations at the school are more than happy to have a good programme – one that brings positive energy and attention without costing them a dime.

What was meant by the organisers of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) to be an extra-curricular activity is now a semi-professional situation in some schools, where coaches work between June and December, making more money than even a senior teacher.

Although money can’t be found to purchase necessary equipment for classes and laboratories, it is found to ensure that teams are well equipped and prepared for must-win games.

The need for instant success has seen a transfer market in high schools that makes the Red Stripe Premier League look like a joke. Two years ago Jamaica College began the season with a starting team that had eight players who might not have been able to find Old Hope Road on a map a few months before.

In an effort to keep up with the Joneses, schools are luring coaches who, in the not-too-distant past, would never be seen anywhere near a school campus, and it is not uncommon to see coaches juggling jobs at a high school and Premier League.

This has led to undesirables and people with very few scruples, who should have nothing to do with teenagers, being unleashed on the system and on unsuspecting students.