The island has taken another step toward realising its goal of making sport a viable industry through the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus. Last week Wednesday, the campus hosted a media conference for the launch of their Sport Management Certificate, which is set to begin next week.
During last week Wednesday’s media briefing, Principal and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Cave Hill campus, Sir Hilary Beckles, explained that the start of this academic programme was the third step of an initiative that was started ten years earlier. “The Cave Hill campus has now entered the third phase of its strategic plan to establish itself as the premier university campus in the Caribbean for sporting excellence, both in terms of competitive performances and academic programmes,” Beckles stated.
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| Minister of Sport Stephen Lashley and Principal and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus Sir Hilary Beckles sharing a light moment during last week Wednesday’s media briefing at the campus’ Shell Suite. |
He explained that ten years prior, the three campuses of the university set out to establish three centres of excellence, with Mona taking responsibility for track and field, St. Augustine dealing with football and Cave Hill focusing on cricket. Having established the world-renowned 3W’s Oval, the CLR James Cricket Research Centre and an excellent cricketing programme in the Sagicor High Performance Centre, Cave Hill has successfully branched out, through the students’ amenities programme, to provide world-class facilities for football and in the coming weeks, track and field.
The third phase, which will see students beginning studies under the Cave Hill Campus School of Business from next week, is expected to continue with Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in the discipline. Both programmes, which will be supported by a consortium of international universities with proven track-records in academic sports programmes, will get under way in the new year and have already started to garner the interest of international students.
Beckles explained that if the region is to move forward with a strong sporting product, there is a need for not only elite athletes, but also other support services such as managers and coaches.
“This will liberate the academic potential of this region. This will lay the foundation for young people who do not only wish to be sporting performers themselves, but wish to establish careers in the management and in the projection of the sporting industry and the sporting culture.”
Also present at Wednesday’s briefing, Minister of Sports Stephen Lashley stated that his Ministry is very pleased to be part of the initiative and pledged the government’s support for the movement.
“I am happy that the campuses of the University of the West Indies are seeing sports in the way that they ought to be seen. For many years we have only seen sports within the context of fun and games – an activity that you would participate in on the field and you go home afterwards and look after all the various aches and pains that resulted from your activity. In a sense, while the rest of the world was speeding along and seeing sports as a science and also allowing that science to inform what occurred on the field of play[we were not], and there is indeed much catching up for us to do. So I am very happy that the University of the West Indies is taking the approach that ought to be taken.”
Lashley, who believes that the consortium of universities is a step in the right direction since they help to bring in outside ideas and concepts, stated that the strength formed by partnerships would go a long way in developing the local and regional sports industry.
“I believe that within the context of Barbados we have existing partnerships which need to be developed further in the interest of sports, and therefore it is that synergy between the Ministry of Sports, the National Sports Council and the University of the West Indies here at Cave Hill [which] we need to take …to a higher level. And I want to pledge the support of the government and the ministry in ensuring that that particular partnership can be further developed and intensified in the interest of our sporting industry,” he said.
Beckles also mentioned that with phase three under way, the Cave Hill campus will be looking to develop other sports that need a push. He stated that with facilities already in place for cricket, football, track and field and hockey, emphasis will now be placed on improving facilities for basketball, tennis, netball and volleyball in the not-too-distant future. He added that serious consideration is being given to placing road tennis on the pinnacle that it deserves through a sports programme, as well as a compilation of the history and origin of the sport. (MP)
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