News Releases

UWI Games kick off at the St. Augustine Campus

For Release Upon Receipt - May 21, 2015

UWI


Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. (May 21, 2015) – It’s a packed week ahead for student athletes as the 2015 University of the West Indies (UWI) Games get underway today at the St. Augustine Campus’ Sport and Physical Education Centre (SPEC). The eight-day meet began with the Opening Ceremony today, May 21.

The St. Augustine team will take on their regional counterparts Mona from Jamaica, Cave Hill from Barbados and for the first time in the games’ history, the Open Campus, comprised of student athletes based all over the region. Teams will compete for bragging rights in 10 sporting disciplines - table tennis, lawn tennis, swimming, netball, cricket, basketball, football, hockey, track and field and volleyball.

Immediately following the Opening Ceremony, the inaugural event will get under way at 5 pm, with hosts St. Augustine taking on Cave Hill for basketball. Tomorrow will really set things off for the female athletes – as the ladies will compete in three disciplines (netball, football and volleyball) beginning with the Open Campus vs Mona netball game at 11am at the SPEC Indoor Court. Football action heats up at 3pm on the St. Augustine South Field with Cave Hill vs Mona at 3pm. Volleyball events will also take place in the Indoor Court at SPEC. The ladies will bring Day 2’s sporting events to a close with volleyball as Mona will take on Cave Hill also at 3pm and St. Augustine takes on the Open Campus team at 5pm. The St. Augustine Guild of Students will treat their guests to a Cultural Night planned at the JFK Quadrangle from 7pm to end Day 2.

Saturday will see a full day of games for both male and female athletes beginning at 9am as all 4 teams are scheduled for table tennis in the Indoor Court. Also on the schedule are tennis, hockey, volleyball, football, basketball and cricket, with the last event for day 2 carded to begin at 7pm. Hockey will take the athletes off campus to the Tacarigua Hockey Centre.

Swimming and Track and Field Invitational events

The highlight of this year’s games will be the track and field and swimming events carded for May 24 and May 28 respectively. For the first time, St. Augustine has opened the games to notable athletes with Invitationals planned for both disciplines.

Defending swim champion St. Augustine is hopeful to retain their title at this year’s event, which will take place at the Marlin’s Pool in Westmoorings. Noelle Smith, who swims with the Guyana National Team is among the defending team. As for the invitational events, there will be 50M Freestyle, 200M Medley, 100M Back Stroke and 100M Butterfly open to both male and female swimmers.

As for athletics, The UWI Mona team is expected to take the lead in the track and field events on May 28 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium; the events will begin at 9am. Many of the Mona athletes have demonstrated their prowess placing in the top 10 in national events, including the 2015 UWI Track Field Invitational Meet in March. Rushell Clayton, who took gold in this year’s 2015 Penn Relays College Women’s 400-metre hurdles, is also on the team and is expected to compete in three events - 400M, 800M and the 4x400M relay. Other top participants from St. Augustine include Collin Pereira (National Cross Country Team), Darlene Lewis (CAC) and Shaunna Downey (National Disc Thrower, Junior CAC, World Junior). As for the Invitational Events, the National Association of Athletics Administrations of Trinidad and Tobago (NAAA) has brought together a slew of local seeded athletes to compete in 100M and 400M events.

Live Streaming and Social Media

Select activities will be streamed via the games website http://sta.uwi.edu/uwigames/ with start times as follows: Swimming: Sunday 24 May – 9am; Football Finals: Wednesday 27 May – 3pm; Track and Field: Thursday 28 May – 9am; and Closing Ceremony: Thursday 28 May – 7pm.

Follow the games on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheUWIGames and via the hashtag #UWIGames2015.

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About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a fully-fledged, regional University with over 50,000 students. Today, The UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with three physical campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and an Open Campus. The UWI serves 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos. The UWI’s faculty and students come from more than 40 countries and The University has collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. The UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation.

Website: www.uwi.edu |(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

 

 

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