No rush to go pro

Jacqueline Blake, aunt of teenage sprint sensation Shanoya Douglas, at Holland High School last week. Beside her is family member Courtney McIntosh. (Photo: Horace Hines) News, Western Horace Hines | Observer Writer April 10, 2026 No rush to go pro Shanoya Douglas’s aunt says star athlete’s education is focus now FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Even as sprint sensation Shanoya Douglas continues to dazzle on the track, her aunt and guardian Jacqueline Blake is urging patience amid suggestions for the teenager to go professional.

Douglas, 18, stunned the track and field world after running a scorching 22.11 seconds (1.9m/s) to break her own national junior 200m record at the recent Carifta Games in St George’s, Grenada, securing back-to-back Under-20 sprint double titles after retaining her 100m crown. This came a week after she ran a blistering 22.36 seconds to win the Class 1 200m for Holland High School at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Athletics Championships (Champs) to break Briana Williams’ 22.50 seconds national junior record set in 2018. But Blake, a teacher at Granville Primary and Infant School in Douglas’ Trelawny community, is clear about the path forward for the grade 12 student.

“I am just waiting on the day to come. I don’t have any great expectations it’s just that we have to think about her future. Track and field will not be her future alone.

She needs her subjects, so my intention is for her to finish her upper sixth — grades 12 and 13 — programme, get the subjects that are needed for the career path that she wants, then we can take a break and decide from there what is the next step. But we are not going to rush into anything,” Blake said.

“Her education is paramount because in the event things happen she will have to rally back on the education,” she stressed. The educator noted that she is being closely guided by Douglas’ coach Garth Smythe.

“I will not listen to the noise in the market. I go by what the coach says because he has been working with her from day one,” she told the Jamaica Observer. Speaking with reporters at Holland High last week, Smythe also made it clear that there is no immediate plan for his young charges — Douglas and his son Johan Ramaldo Smythe — to move to the next level.

“The season is not over, so we’re not clouding their minds with any form of going pro. A lot of times when they force these things on these kids, it doesn’t work out. So what I do is keep them grounded, focus on finishing school, and then we make those decisions,” he said then.

Blake, who has raised Douglas since she was about eight years old, said her niece’s talent revealed itself early in dramatic fashion. It came as she was being chased by Blake’s daughter with whom she had a childish dispute.

“When she started to run, the speed that she took off in, my daughter couldn’t stop her. That’s when mi know she could run,” Blake recalled. Douglas quickly made her mark at school, winning cross country and becoming champion girl in her first year at Granville Primary and Infant, before progressing to high school competition where she steadily rose through the ranks.

At infant school, Blake allowed school officials to assign her young charge to an intra-school team (called a house), careful not to fuel any perception that she was being unfair by drafting her to her team. But on school sports day, the young Douglas was initially overlooked for participation as her house leader thought she was “too little”. Blake’s intervention swayed the house leader, Douglas was allowed to run the cross country event, and the rest is history.

“She came first and that year she became the champion girl,” Blake said with obvious pride. Douglas’s journey has included setbacks, including collapsing metres from the finish line while leading a 400m race at Champs while representing Muschett High School. She used that disappointment as fuel for her third appearance at the meet.

As Blake put it, “she went with vengeance,” and won both the 200m and 400m titles. Another big win came just a week before this year’s Carifta Games when, representing Holland High, Douglas clocked 22.36 seconds at Champs to break the national junior mark previously held by Briana Williams. Her mother, Shanique Clarke, a former athlete who represented Grange Hill High School at Champs, said talent runs in the family.

“I am proud of her. At least where I left off she picked up,” Clarke told the Observer during a telephone interview.

In addition to innate talent, Blake attributes Douglas’ success to discipline and faith.

“When it comes to training she doesn’t grumble, even when it is hard she tries. She’s that determined child,” she said. For former Granville Primary principal Ivanhoe Gordon, Douglas’ rise is both surprising and inspiring.

“I am so glad that she has found a niche. She’s a sensation. I’m absolutely proud,” he said.

Coach Garth Smythe (left) leads his charges Shanoya Douglas (second right) and Ramaldo Smythe (second left) onto the compound of Holland High School last week during a welcome reception for athletes who participated in the ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships. At right is principal of Holland High School Dayle Evans. (Photo: Horace Hines)