Faculty of Sport

The Faculty of Sport (FSP) entered its third year of existence in 2019/2020 with the strategic objective of full operationalisation, development, and income generation.

Access

Increased enrolment

The year saw academic programmes being delivered at all four Academies of Sport for the first time. The MPhil/PhD programme started with the first intake of students at Mona.

The Certificate in the Art and Science of Coaching programme was fully migrated from to the St. Augustine Academy of Sport (SAAS) which also commenced the BSc Sport Kinetics programme.

Likewise the Open Campus Academy of Sport (OCAS) started their three BSc programmes.

A certificate in Sport Broadcasting was developed by our Curriculum Committee. The original proposal was to deliver this face to face linked to an active tournament. However, given the restraints imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery and assessment was adjusted to a fully online format. The certificate was successfully delivered in July 2020.

FSP Table 1: Enrolment in Faculty of Sport 2018 - 2020

Programme	Option	2018/2019		2019/2020
Student Enrollment
		Cave Hill	Mona	Cave Hill	Mona	Open Campus	St. Augustine
Certificate	Art & Science of Coaching						19
BSc	Sport Sciences	106		122
	Sport Coaching		14		29	15
	Sport Kinetics		8		34	19	12
	Sport Leadership & Management					27
MSc	Sport Sciences	11		17
	Sport Science & Exercise Medicine - Physiotherapy		6		10
	Sports Medicine		5		7
UWI/FIFA/CIES Diploma	Sports Management		2		5
MPhil/PhD	Sport				3
Total		117	35	139	88	61	31
Summary Total by year		152		319

Programme Development

Approval of the revised MSc programme in Sport Business Management was received in February. The programme will now feature specialisations in business management, sport tourism, or community development.

The Board for Undergraduate Studies (BUS) approved the first year of the BSc Sport and Physical Literacy programme which will be offered through OCAS. Following this approval, stakeholders were engaged in a virtual working meeting to address the main comments with regards to the programme alignment to the CAPE Physical Education Syllabus.

The programme proposal for a BSc in Sport Coaching specific to Cave Hill will be considered by BUS early 2020/2021.

Student Achievement

The Faculty's second graduation ceremonies, had 24 graduates (undergraduate and postgraduate) from Cave Hill and one postgraduate from Mona. There were six other graduates at Mona from our programmes in Sport Medicine and Sport and Exercise Medicine – Physiotherapy, however they completed their programme under their original registration with the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

Twenty-five students of the Cave Hill and Mona Academies of Sport were recognized for achieving the Dean's List.

Managing during COVID-19

Following the lockdown as a result of the pandemic, the Faculty moved swiftly with the guidance of the respective Campus Administrations to complete the delivery of the remaining weeks of semester 2 in a fully online capacity. The staff tuned in to webinars and forums online and some members of staff were assigned special projects.

Alignment

Strategic Partnerships

The partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) realized four key components of a project strategically designed to position the faculty and positively impact the Caribbean sporting landscape. The FSP coordinated the execution of a suite of components that informed and strengthened its internal processes in order to provide a roadmap for self-sustenance. Components of the project also created unique opportunities to gifted athletes and “at risk” youth by enabling them to appreciate sport as a tool for development and peace.

A new partnership was forged with the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) on December 4, 2019. The MOU entails the UWI Sports Medicine Clinic providing medical, strength training and conditioning and physiotherapy management of the athletes from the JCA, while the JCA would be upgrading facilities at the UWI Mona Bowl. The medical/rehabilitation services provided to the Jamaica Scorpions during the T20 tournament season resulted in increased revenues for the clinic.

Negotiations for a proposed partnership with the Barbados National Oil Company Limited (BNOL) with the Cave Hill Academy of Sport to install 1 Megawatt solar photovoltaic system on the roof tops of the Usain Bolt Sports facility, 3Ws pavilion and indoor cricket centre started in the final quarter of 2019/2020. Once finalized, BNOCL will cover the entire cost of design and installation and the Campus will benefit from revenue sharing.

Activism and Public Advocacy

Faculty members were appointed to national/regional organisations as follows:

Dr. Dorothy Hudson-Gayle was appointed Chairman of the Intercollegiate Association of Jamaica and was selected as a Working Group Member of the FISU (International University Sports Federation) Committee for the Development of University Sport (CDSU).
Dr. Roopchand Martin was appointed to serve a term on the National Bioethics Committee for Jamaica.
Dr. Aldeam Facey continued to serve as a Doping Control Officer at the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (2015 to present).
Margaret Cutting, UWI Blackbirds netball coach, was promoted to Barbados Senior National Netball Coach for 2020.
The Head Coach at Cave Hill, Mr Floyd Reifer was seconded to Cricket West Indies for the year.
Mrs. Amanda Reifer remained a member of the Cricket Committee of CWI.
Mr. Mario Davis, the head coach for the Men and Women Basketball teams at the St. Augustine campus was selected as the head coach for the Trinidad and Tobago National Under-16 Team.
Ms. Nadia James, Sport Coordinator at the Academy of Sport, was appointed Team Manager of the Women's National Under-17 Football Team.
Dr. Akshai Mansingh remained a non-member (independent) Director of Cricket West Indies. He was also appointed to the Medical Advisory Committee of the International Cricket Council.

Publications in peer reviewed journals were through the Mona Academy of Sport. The Faculty also continued a fortnightly column in the Trinidad Guardian Newspaper entitled “Sport Matters” to which several faculty members contributed articles. A total of 23 articles were published during the year. Members of faculty also made several conference presentations.

The Faculty started its Research Seminar Series in February with presentations on the rise of eSports in Jamaica. This led to preparatory steps taken for the formation of an eSports Club at Mona for 2020/2021.

Agility

Generate Economies of Scale and Scope

A thorough Business Plan for the Faculty and a Condition Survey on the Faculty's infrastructure and equipment across Cave Hill, Mona, and the St. Augustine campuses were completed with the aid of the grant from the CDB which will inform commercialization of facilities in the future.

A project management consultant was engaged for the Usain Bolt UWI Sport & Exercise Medicine Centre US$70,000 project being funded by the Government of Jamaica through the Public Investment Management Committee (PIMC), to prepare a business case and business plan for the proposed centre. Although the pandemic delayed completion of this project, it is expected that it will be completed next year.

The Cave Hill Academy of Sport reported that Sagicor Financial had renewed its MOU arrangement. Sagicor was extremely pleased with the way donor funds had been utilized to promote research, upgrade facilities, science labs and other critical programs for the purposes of short, medium and long term development of sport including the pursuit of new innovations for the Faculty of Sport. The Academy is expected to receive BDS $500,000.00 as per the MOU agreement.

Regional and International Collaboration

During the year, collaborations were pursued with regional Ministers of Sport and their Permanent Secretaries as well as sport governing bodies in the area of sport policy development, certificate programmes for staff, capacity building for sport professionals and greater integration of sport curricula in schools. However, there was a lag in responses from the various governmental institutions and an alternate approach will be pursued for 2020/2021.

Members of the FSP who attended the 1st Interregional Congress of Caribbean Sport Performance Centres, December 2019 in Guadeloupe, received the congress report, and have had discussions relating to next steps. These highlighted the need for the FSP to assist with developing online/ face to face programs for students and coaches in the Spanish/ French speaking Caribbean.