Students and staff of the Spanish Town Infant School were left dejected recently after 20 students who were planning to participate in the annual Northwest Track and Field Classics in Miami, Florida, were denied visas.

''The students are very sad about it, and are even asking questions as to why they were not given the visas to go and perform at the event,'' principal Fae Mullings said.

The school's coach, Donovan Trail, told THE STAR that the children, who are mostly aged five and six were very disappointed. "The children were crying," he said, "They came out and hugged me and said "wi not going to foreign to run again".

financial losses

The coach said he, too, was very disappointed that the children were denied the visas as the school was planning to make a great impact at the meet this year. "It was very disgusting. If they had even given me a relay team, I wouldn't feel so bad. This is the team we were training."

There were also financial losses to the school and parents of the children who were denied visas as it cost $14,000 for each child, which amounts to a total loss $280,000.

''After giving the information necessary, all the parents were invited for an interview on Wednesday April 28 at the United States Embassy. After the parents were asked a number of questions, they simply denied the visas," the principal said.

One parent told THE STAR that she had to borrow the money and is very disappointed.

Mullings told THE STAR that the school did very well at the meet last year, and was really looking forward to participate this year. ''Last year, Tavaughn Clarke won gold in the long jump and silver in the 800 metres so the team was looking to do better with a bigger team this time around,'' Mullings explained.

The principal said the school cannot appeal as the entire application process would have to be repeated and it would take too much money and too much time.

The event, commonly referred to as the Miami Classics, is an annual event which has been held for over 30 years. The three-day-long event will be held from June 11 to 13.