Dean
The Faculty of Sport entered its second year of existence in academic year 2018/2019. Having spent the first year establishing regulations and modifying University ordinances to define the Faculty, year two saw the start of academic programmes, the bolstering of existing programmes and a push to spread programmes across all campuses. New programmes for the following academic year were also formulated and passed through the scrutiny of the University’s quality control process. A Curriculum Development Specialist joined the Dean’s Office to guide this process. New Heads of Academies of Sport were appointed in two academies. The Open Campus appointed Mr. Kervin Jean as Head of the Open Campus Academy of Sport. He comes with a strong background in Sport Policy. Professor Emeritus Funso Aiyejina joined as Acting Head of the St. Augustine Academy of Sport. His institutional knowledge has assisted immensely in shaping the structure of that Academy.
The Faculty of Sport oversees all campuses through an Academy of Sport on each campus. These academies are departments of the Faculty, each with sections focussing on academic and research activities, sporting activities and outreach programmes. The Mona Academy of Sport also has a section for Sports Medicine. When the Faculty was formed, these were clearly defined, but posts were not established to fill the needs beyond the Academy and Section Heads. Until now there remains no defined new posts to address these needs on any of the academies.
On the playing field, the Faculty was instrumental in some historic events, especially in cricket. The Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) cricket team created history by winning the Regional 50 Over competition. This was followed by victory in The UWI World Universities T20 tournament, put on by the Faculty of Sport. Our footballers and track and field athletes continued to perform well in local competitions as well as representing their nations internationally. All other sports showed improvements in standing in their respective competitions.
In terms of partnerships, the Faculty signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Argentine Football Association through the Argentine Embassy in Barbados. This will allow exchange of coaches and players. Cricket West Indies (CWI) also agreed that it will be offering its Level II coaching programmes through The UWI following the formalising of the syllabus and course delivery modules. This was previously executed by a partnership between CWI and the English Cricket Board.
Outreach activities were possible through grants and partnerships, with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) enabling projects in Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados. The Pace Like Fire campaign in particular facilitated scouting of fast bowlers in six countries and was televised in a series on Flow Sports. The Open Campus Academy of Sport also performed outreach activities including assisting many territories with developing their Sport Policy.
In the academic year 2018/2019, programmes were delivered at all levels by the Faculty. On campuses where there were no programmes, provisions were made to have them ready for the next academic year.
The Sport Sciences programmes at the Cave Hill Campus were transferred to the Faculty of Sport. The MSc Sport Sciences programme, which offers a double degree with the University of New Brunswick in Canada had suffered low enrolment in the last few years. Its survival was assured by scholarships offered by the Government of Barbados for the upcoming academic year. The Faculty’s first indigenously produced programmes, the BSc Sport Coaching and the BSc Sport Kinetics commenced through the Mona Academy of Sport. The enrolment was low, mainly due to late official notification of the approval for the Bachelors programmes.
| PROGRAMME | OPTION | ENROLMENT Cave Hill Campus |
ENROLMENT Mona Campus |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSc | Sport Sciences | 106 | 0 |
| Sport Coaching | 0 | 14 | |
| Sport Kinetics | 0 | 8 | |
| MSc | Sport Sciences | 11 | 0 |
| Sports Medicine | 0 | 5 | |
| Sports & Exercise Medicine – Physiotherapy | 0 | 6 | |
| Diploma | Sports Management | 2 | |
| TOTAL | 117 | 35 |
With no new full-time lecturers at the Cave Hill Academy, the programmes continued to be taught by part-time lecturers, except for those courses taught by Dr. Rudolph Alleyne, who is also the Academic Coordinator on secondment from the Faculty of Social Sciences. At Mona, the two temporary lecturers are assisted by part-time tutors as well. With more programmes being produced to respond to the demand from students, it is becoming difficult to progress without more full-time lecturers appointed to all academies. This is particularly necessary for MPhil and PhD students who require supervision.
Students receive practical exposure in the labs and alongside coaches at the various campuses. Internships with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and similar regional sporting events allow exposure to large scale events with international coaches and players, which has benefitted our students.
Twenty-two students of the Cave Hill Academy of Sport were recognised for achieving the Dean’s List for 2018/2019.
A MOU was signed with the Argentine Football Association which opens the door for a Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) football team. Additionally, collaboration with coaches and player exchanges would enhance offerings to our players and coaches.
The Mona Academy of Sport contributed to publications in peer reviewed journals. The Faculty also commenced a fortnightly column in the Trinidad Guardian Newspaper entitled ‘Sport Matters’ with faculty members making article contributions.
The Community Inclusion Project, aided by a grant from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) allowed engagement of youth from the Cane Farm community in Trinidad and Tobago and the August Town community in Jamaica. This pilot project exposed youngsters from 9 to 16 years to the values and ethics of sports. Vocational opportunities in and around sport were explored and participants were given exposure to mingle and compete with some of the top sportsmen and sportswomen in the region.
Another portion of the CDB grant was used to commence the Regional Emerging Athlete Development programme. National sporting organisations around the region each nominated an athlete forming a contingent from which a final three were selected. These athletes accompanied by their coaches benefited from extensive baseline medical and sports science testing in Barbados, following which individualized programmes were forwarded to their coaches. The athletes will be retested in the next academic year to monitor their progress.
The Faculty also launched the Pace Like Fire programme scouting fast bowlers. Testing was conducted in multiple sites in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, St. Lucia, Barbados and Jamaica in which participants bowled balls which were measured using a radar gun. The top twenty were then assessed by an expert panel of elite coaches and were enrolled in a camp at Cave Hill for intensive baseline testing and programmes to enhance their bowling techniques. The entire process was filmed by Flow Sports working in conjunction with UWItv and aired as a multi-episode series on Flow Sports.
During the review period, the Sports Medicine section at the Mona Campus continued to deliver specialised care to national and regional athletes via The UWI Sports Medicine Clinic. Additionally, many seminars were conducted with coaches, trainers and athletes on varied topics. These were well attended and well received, and provided a steady revenue stream for the section.
Courses addressing regional needs in Sport were delivered throughout the year. In addition to those in Sports Medicine, Basic Groundsmanship was delivered at the St. Augustine Academy.
Fitness programmes for staff and students were held at St. Augustine and Mona, which catered to all age groups. Summer camps for children were also held at these two academies.
The Open Campus and St. Augustine Academies held workshops on Sport Policy and Business Development in Trinidad and Tobago.
The St. Augustine Academy was involved in a project in the village of Lopinot that should yield some income for the Faculty.
Partnership with the Jamaica Hockey Federation was strengthened through the provision of medical coverage for the ISSA U14, U16 and U19 Schools Field Hockey Tournament. The Mona Academy is an official partner in the National Youth development programme for Field Hockey which began in March 2019.
The Mona Academy continued to maintain its partnership with Olympic swimmer Alia Atkinson, facilitating another swim camp at its facilities this year.
The Faculty completed an agreement with Cricket West Indies which will see the Faculty delivering the coaching level courses in cricket. This will yield revenue for the Faculty.
In 2018/2019 members of The UWI’s Faculty of Sport were appointed to regional and national sporting bodies as follows:
The Sports activities across all academies remained at a high level, with the football and cricket teams at Cave Hill and Mona competing at the highest levels of national competitions. Many athletes competed for their countries in many different sports across the region.
The highlight of the year, however, was the first ever victory in the CWI Regional 50 Over Competition. The team was captained by Carlos Brathwaite, UWI alumnus and captain of the West Indies T20 team. Coach Floyd Reifer prepared the team well after a change in selection procedure saw improvements in that process. Towards the end of the competition, Mr. Reifer was called to coach the West Indies A team, and the CCC team was ably guided to championship victory by Coach Pedro Collins. Floyd Reifer has since been appointed the interim Head Coach of the West Indies Cricket Team.
In January 2019, the Faculty hosted the Inaugural World Universities T20 Competition at St. Augustine. Again, the CCC team prevailed in the finals, under Coach Pedro Collins. This competition was held in conjunction with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and five top players were guaranteed spots to train with CPL franchise teams in the upcoming competition. Fedrick Dacres of Mona Campus was voted the 2018 Sportsman of the Year in Jamaica and remained one of the leading discuss throwers in the world.
The UWI SPEC Half Marathon, which remains a feature on the Trinidad and Tobago athletic calendar, this year featured The UWI Chancellor and the Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Sport, among its participants.
Staff across all academies were instrumental in the arrangements for The UWI Games, particularly those at the Mona Academy of Sport where the games were hosted. Their involvement at all levels of organisation was invaluable to the Deputy Principal in executing the games.
Cricket
Football
Volleyball
Hockey
Basketball
