Francis

At one time, there seemed to be no end in sight concerning the fractious relationship between noted Jamaican athletics coach Stephen Francis and officials from the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA).

However, there are a few encouraging signs things could change after the 45-year-old gave some insight into the long-standing dispute and called for more respect from the JAAA top brass.

Both parties have been at loggerheads for several years and the feud took a turn for the worst over the past two seasons with the MVP Track & Field Club coach and the JAAA embroiled in an accreditation stand-off during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, before this year's IAAF World Athletics Championship controversy that almost saw a number of MVP athletes barred from competing at the event after missing a pre-meet camp.

When speaking about a possible truce between himself and the JAAA , the usually hard-talking Francis presented a road map of sorts towards a peaceful solution.

"It's very easy I think for this so-called rift to heal, I think all that is needed is just a little accommodation from either side," said Francis in an exclusive interview with The Gleaner.

"It's very simple and I hope that sometime in the future, the people in the JAAA will understand that it is not a power issue, it's about doing everything possible to get the athletes to perform to the best of their ability," he added, in reference to his decision to keep his athletes at a separate camp before the start of the World Championships, much to the ire of the JAAA top brass.

"The JAAA needs to understand that the dynamics of the sport have changed and that a large part of the sport now relates to the preparation of our athletes. In the past that wasn't the case. They need to understand that we have to be specific about preparation; they need to show the coaches respect in that they need to understand that the coaches of the individual athletes will know a lot more about how the athletes should be prepared, more than themselves or anybody of whatever coaching pedigree that they can appoint," Francis explained.

Keep hands out

The trained accountant, who now conditions the likes of word superstars Shelly-Ann Fraser, Asafa Powell, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Melaine Walker, Shericka Williams, Michael Frater and Sherone Simpson, is beseeching the local authorities to keep their hands out of the preparation affairs of athletes and concentrate on facilitating their participation at major meets.

"I don't know if they (JAAA) will ever understand that the coaches who prepare the individual athletes at this level are the people who know what is to be done for them, but hopefully they will and if they accept their role, which is just to facilitate the work of those coaches, then I think everything will be smooth. But if they can't, then these problems will continue," stated a very candid Francis.

"Even if it was the world's greatest coach came here as a JAAA appointee, they will not know as much about the preparation of any particular athlete as that athlete's coach. So they should understand that the performance of these athletes is paramount and that they should not presume to be telling the people what they should and should not do ... and I think that once they understand that things will run smoothly," Francis added.