Boyce explained that Sampson’s mother, Dian Gladstone, was of the understanding that she would have been able to go along with her daughter and be provided with a job and accommodation.
However this was not the case.
“She [Sampson] will not be attending anymore. Unfortunately, there was a mix up in the arrangements. ‘The impression the mother got was that a job and accommodation would be provided for her,” Boyce said.
However, according to Hugh Denbow, an executive member of the AAG who had coordinated Sampson’s selection for the scholarship, Singapore immigration laws and other factors would prevent Gladstone from being accommodated in the country and only Sampson would be allowed to reside in Singapore.
When contacted earlier in the week Gladstone stated that she was still in discussion with organisers of the scholarship.
She could not be contacted yesterday for a comment.
The SYOS is a legacy of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) held in Singapore from August 14 – 26. Six scholarships to the Singapore Sports School were being offered to six budding athletes between the ages of 13 – 15 who specialise in one of the five summer sport categories.
One scholarship was reserved for a Singapore national and invitations were send out to the 205 National Olympic Committees to nominate possible awardees to fill the remaining spots.
A promising athlete and student, Sampson, who specializes in the 400m, 800m and 1500m events, was submitted by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) after being selected by the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG).
From the 54 applicants sent, 12-year-old Sampson was among a shortlist of nine athletes that were required to attend the selection programme held at the Singapore Sports School in June. Gladstone had attended this alongside Sampson.
Gladstone had first indicated her reluctance to send her young daughter on the scholarship in an earlier interview with Stabroek Sport prior to Sampson’s attendance to the selection programme, but had stated her willingness to approach the situation with an open mind.
It was after they returned from the selection programme that Gladstone had proclaimed that Sampson would accept the scholarship.
She had told this newspaper that it had been conveyed to her that the possibility existed for her to reside in Singapore, alongside her daughter.
Following the selection programme Sampson was among six athletes awarded a scholarship, and Sampson and her mother had travelled to the Singapore during the YOG to accept the scholarship.
According to Denbow, correspondence reaching this end indicated that Gladstone had until December 29 to approve her daughter’s acceptance of the scholarship. If accepted Sampson would have been expected to travel to Singapore this weekend to settle in before beginning school on January 10, 2010.
The scholarship entailed a fully-subsidised academic and sports education at the Singapore Sports School for between four and six years. Sampson, previously a student of St. Ambrose Primary School, recently wrote the Secondary Schools Entrance Examination and currently attends Christ Church Secondary.
