16 Mar 2013

American Samoa curbs school sports calendar

6:52 am on 16 March 2013

Parents in American Samoa are upset with a decision by the Department of Education to cancel some after school sporting for the remainder of the school year and even next year.

The main reasons given for the move are a lack of funding and to stop recurring fights at games.

Initially basketball and volleyball was postponed until after Holy Week, Spring semester and mid-term exams for the high schools.

For baseball, only three schools signed up for the competition so the high school sports association decided to cancel the competition as part of cost saving measures.

Several parents are upset saying the cancellation cheats their children out of opportunities to land sports scholarships which would enable them to attend college off island.