PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – A new Executive Sports Management programme from The University of the West Indies (UWI), FIFA and the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) could be just what the Caribbean needs to strengthen this region’s standing in the international sporting fraternity.
On February 19th, Professor Clement Sankat, UWI Pro Vice Chancellor and St. Augustine Campus Principal, hosted the launch of a new postgraduate diploma programme in Sports Management which is being described as the first of its kind in the region to be offered at a tertiary level. Professor Sankat acknowledged that the programme was made possible only by the combined efforts of Government stakeholders, FIFA/CIES, the local sporting fraternity and the wider UWI family.
The new programme, which is coordinated by the UWI Department of Management Studies, aims to provide broad-based understanding of sport management, marketing, finance, facilities management and policy development issues, law, communication, and event management challenges involved in delivering sports services in a globalised environment.
Dr Iva Gloudon, Director of UWI Sport and Physical Education, will call on private and public sector stakeholders to continue to support the initiative through its formative years ahead. She indicated this while addressing an audience that included Mr Jack Warner, FIFA Vice President, and Mrs Margaret Richardson, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education.
Mr Vincent Monnier, CIES International Relations Director, reminded the new students attending the launch that through their enrolment in the new UWI/FIFA/CIES programme, they had become members of the International University Network (IUN), which includes nine universities from South Africa, Costa Rica, Argentina, Egypt, Senegal, Palestine, Turkey, Chile and Ukraine. As IUN members, students have gained access to resources from any of the member institutions of this network and have become part of the international student fraternity operated by the CIES, Monnier said.
Mr Brian-Anthony David, speaking on behalf of the inaugural class, said that the group was looking forward to pioneering innovative solutions to the many challenges in the local sporting industry and fraternity.
The history of the programme dates back to September 2008, when FIFA President Joseph Blatter and The UWI Vice Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris signed a Memorandum of Agreement to undertake cooperative programmes in the areas of research, training, education and facilities development in sport within the region.
The signing ceremony for this Agreement was hosted by Professor Clement Sankat, Principal of the St. Augustine Campus and was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education and the Ministry of Sport; Mr. Jack Austin Warner, FIFA Vice President; Mr. Oliver Camps, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation; and Lord David Triesman, Chairman of the English Football Association.
The University has also introduced a Master of Science degree in Sport Management which commences in February 2010.
