The academic and athletic fallout of the ongoing Covid-19 situation has regrettably affected rising star and Golden Jaguar international Curtez Kellman, who unfortunately lost his ongoing full scholarship at Eastern Florida State College of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).
This unfortunate occurrence was revealed by the former Georgetown Football Club (GFC) standout, who was pursuing a diploma in Business Administration, during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday.
The soft spoken Kellman disclosed, “The current situation has affected by collegiate career, causing the school programme to be shutdown. Because of this, my scholarship got cancelled which was a full scholarship. This happened because the budget got cancelled causing many of the players to lose their scholarships also. The situation has affected me academically and sporting wise.”
Kellman, 22, recently returned to local shores alongside several other Guyanese following an 80 day stay in Miami, Florida. Kellman was unable to travel due to travel restrictions on Guyana’s national ports of entry. He divulged that Daytona State College, a rival within the Region 8 conference, has offered a full scholarship when the current situation normalizes, which he declared is a timely silver lining given what has transpired.
Kellman revealed, “Daytona State is a conference rival and we have played against them before. I have been in contact with several schools but Daytona State has offered me a full scholarship unlike the others. The scholarship has already been secured but we have to go through the process and do over the entire paper work. This school has reached out to secure my services when the situation is over. While the situation is unpredictable as no one knows when it will end, hopefully that it will end soon.”
According to the central midfielder, while the current situation has affected his training schedule, sessions with former Golden Jaguar International captain Chris Nurse during his lengthy stay in Miami, aided in maintaining a semblance of fitness.
He said, “Before I returned to Guyana, we often worked out with Chris Nurse. Jeremy [Garrett] and I worked with him and some of his teammates three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for two hours. They were regular sessions that really helped to keep to keep me in shape during this period.”
Kellman has been capped twice for the Golden Jaguars senior team, with his most recent cap occurring in 2017 against Indonesia. He stated that his intention is to return to the setup, adding, “That is always my aim to be part of the national setup and I will work and try my best under the new head coach and show him my talents and qualities to get back into the setup again. Once I keep myself fit and focused because I know what it takes to play at that level, I am sure I will be a long term member of the national setup. That is the objective.”
