For generations, sport has helped satisfy some of the Caribbean’s deepest desires: pride, prestige, pleasure, passion, patriotism and power. Cricket grounds, sprint tracks and playing fields have become places where national dreams are tested, celebrated and remembered, helping to shape school rivalries, community loyalties, and national mythology.

Dr Roy McCree believes that, for all our passion, the region has been thinking far too narrowly about sport for far too long. The newly appointed Dean of The University of the West Indies’ Faculty of Sport is challenging the region to view sport not simply as a cultural touchstone, but as a serious academic discipline, developmental tool and economic sector.

“In this rampant pre-dinosaur mindset, sport is still seen primarily as a source of identity formation to promote nationalism and regionalism,” he said.

It is a deliberately provocative assessment, but one grounded in a larger argument: that while the Caribbean remains deeply invested in sport, it has yet to fully embrace the systems and industries that now define it globally. As only the second dean since the Faculty’s establishment in 2017, McCree steps into the role at a pivotal moment, not just for the Faculty, but for the wider conversation around sport in the Caribbean.

Read full article by Kieran Khan here