News Releases

ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago. May 3, 2016 – In collaboration with the First Citizens Sports Foundation, The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus will host its second conference on Sport and Higher Education from May 18-20, 2016.  The theme for this year’s conference is Physical Literacy: Gender, Science and Sport for Development. 

The specific goals of this conference are to develop a body of Caribbean oriented knowledge or scholarship on sport development and sport for development, show the critical importance of sport research to sport development and sport for development, help further develop and institutionalise a culture of sport research, scholarship and sport conferencing in the Caribbean region, lay the groundwork for an integrated academic programme for sport in higher education and review best practices for the development of athletic and academic oriented programmes in the context of sport in the Caribbean.  To achieve these aims, local, regional and international scholars, researchers and stakeholders from multi-disciplinary, cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields related to sport have been invited to participate in the conference.  

Presenters hailing from countries including Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, the UK, USA, Lebanon and Canada, comprise academics specializing in sport in higher education and related areas, students involved in sports education programmes, sport administrators, experts and resource persons as well as other higher education practitioners and professionals.  

The keynote speaker this year will be Dr Dean Kriellaars, Associate Professor at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Manitoba, Canada. He is a renowned exercise physiologist and keen advocate of and expert in Physical Literacy. 

Papers will be presented on a range of thematic areas including Physical Education and Athletic Development; Rehabilitation and Performance; Sport Media and Technology; Women, Gender and Sport; History, Psychology and Sociology of Sport; Nutrition, Youth and Student-Athletes; Anti-Doping; Sport Business and Economics and Sport for Development. 

Specific papers will address topics such as the role of sports in crime prevention, rural development and peace-keeping, attitudes to exercise, motivation and barriers to engaging in physical activity, sports sponsorship, the dietary and eating habits of athletes, analysis of the anti-doping code and doping jurisprudence for Caribbean athletes, physical activity in Muslim women, water-based sports tourism, benefits of boxing for women, motivation and resilience in cricket and tennis players, injuries and rehabilitation in athletes, and sports coverage in the print media. 

The interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary character of the conference has opened up new facets of knowledge and possibilities for intellectual and policy engagement that had not yet been brought to the fore in this region. It is hoped that what is presented and discussed will function as a platform for more research and development of the area of sport studies in the Caribbean and will lay the groundwork for the establishment of integrated academic programmes at higher education institutions of the region. One important immediate outcome of this conference is a broader regional and international sport network of scholars and practitioners.  

The conference takes place at the Learning Resource Centre (LRC), The UWI St Augustine, with an opening ceremony at 6.30pm on May 18, and full day discussions on May 19-20, 2016. All are invited to attend. The registration fee is TT$500 and TT$250 for students. Special discounts can be arranged for groups of over 10 participants.  Registration includes access to conference material, meals and all sessions. Deadline for registration is May 13, 2016. 

For further information or registration, please contact Ms. Kyome Pascall Mortley at sportstudiesconference@sta.uwi.edu or Mrs. Camille Charles at Camille.Charles@sta.uwi.edu. Additionally, persons may go to the conference website at https://sta.uwi.edu/conferences/16/sportstudies/.

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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 full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. 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: http://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.)