UWI sport faculty wants to reduce athlete exodus

HEAD of the Academy of Sport at the University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine campus Funso Aiyejina believes the new Faculty of Sport will be integral in not just upgrading the quality of coaches in the wider Caribbean, but also towards helping keep talented athletes in the region honing their craft.

The professor spoke with Newsday recently, at the St Augustine campus, on the “One University” concept behind the faculty, which was aimed to be one body spread across all campuses including Jamaica, Barbados and the Open campus.

Each campus has an academy of sport and its advantage is that it gives access to lecturers in each campus, with students able also to teleconference tutorials and virtual classes as needed. Aiyejina said this would bring uniformity and continuity towards the mission the faculty is trying to accomplish. She believes awareness is what needs to be increased to upgrade the current intake.

“We are preaching what we think is the best philosophy for the students,” he admitted as the faculty embarks on its first official intake in September.

“We are on a new level of approaching sport. We recognise sport as a nation-builder and identity-marker,” he added.

He made it clear this faculty wants to “capitalise on the natural talents that exist in the region,” but it has to be done by adopting a scientific approach. He mentioned new programmes such as a BSc in sport coaching as a way of helping coaches get credentials and find jobs which remunerate them well, and the BSc in sport kinetics, which both coaches and athletes can use to optimise training and performance through scientific studies of the body.

In addition, Aiyejina said the programmes educate on culture, such as how religions tie into athletes’ training, and the administrative, communications, marketing and business aspect of the trade to help build brands and products.

“Unless you know how the body works or moves at a particular level, you won’t get it to work,” he said. “You have to have the right equipment, the right facilities, and we are putting all that into the mix.

“We are also taking an approach in humanity because for any discipline to succeed, we have to take into account the culture of the people, their attitude to life and religion, as something as basic as the day of the week can be important to an athlete,” he continued, referencing fasting Muslims and Seventh Day Adventists on Saturdays as some things coaches forget.

“Our goal is to produce high-performing athletes, coaches and reporters as well,” he admitted on the exciting times ahead, something he confessed should have been embarked on a long time ago as the Caribbean has been producing brilliant athletes and coaches for decades now across all disciplines.

He wants these personnel to be “more self-sustaining” and “more professional,” and hopes the faculty’s vision will keep coaches and athletes within the Caribbean, similar to how Jamaican track and field stars remain at home and train.

A main purpose is for the faculty to help students become graduates so they can coach high schools right out the programme, assist folks in starting their own clubs and also, boost coaches on the job hunt, creating a group of sports enthusiasts as researchers, an alumni for the UWI, and more so, a network of sporting professionals across all levels. Aiyejina referenced the Sport and Physical Education Centre (SPEC) in St Augustine as a template which offers the full experience to study and train, and is the perfect place for an athlete to be.

“We have the weather and the facilities for people to train and coach year-round. There is no winter here so we can keep our talent in the Caribbean. All our bright and ambitious athletes go away to train but we can do that here,” he concluded.