Sports graduates honoured at UTT

The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT)’s Academy of Sport hosted its annual awards ceremony last week at UTT’s Corinth Campus, San Fernando to celebrate the achievements of its 2017 cohorts.

Graduating from the university’s sport programmes were 20 students of the Certificate in Sport Studies, 28 with the Bachelor in Sports Studies degree, and 18 from postgraduate degrees in sport.

This year saw the largest cohort of graduates from the Executive Masters in Sport Management and the International Masters in Sport for Development programmes.

Most Outstanding Student in the Executive Masters in Sports Management programme, Ian Pritchard, explained, “It was difficult in terms of time management, to be a working student; but it was an enjoyable journey.

“The atmosphere created was well-suited for learning and doing the thesis opened my mind to the world of sport and research,” he continued.

“Sport will be better positioned in Trinidad and Tobago if we continue onward in information gathering and sharing, which will increase our knowledge base and our capacity.”

Commenting on some of the advantages of pursuing the International Masters in Sport for Development, Shallona Shallowe said, “It was a rewarding experience to be around a diverse group of students and to have great intellectuals for professors.

Through pursuing the Masters degree at UTT and the connections that it afforded, I was able to participate in an internship in South Africa.”

An elated Stefan Dillon, who had the highest GPA in this year’s cohort, shared his plans for the future.

“I intend to utilise my degree to make a positive change in the sport of basketball in Trinidad and Tobago, through working with the Federation or via my own entrepreneurial endeavours.”

Congratulations were also extended to the top performers of the Bachelors and Certificate programmes, Jemima Lalchan and Teniel Campbell respectively. Campbell, TT’s top female cyclist stated, “Altogether, it (UTT’s Certificate in Sports Studies) is a fantastic programme with some awesome lecturers.

“As a high performance athlete, there is always time management challenges, but overcoming this to top my class is really a phenomenal achievement.”

Addressing the gathering, president of UTT, Professor Sarim Al-Zubaidy, applauded this year’s awardees and noted that “the Academy of Sport showcased the remarkable talent and potential of students as they are able to hone their athletic and academic abilities to be future sport leaders.”