“We are a real callaloo pot,” says Janessa Gordon, head of the Global Campus delegation for UWI Games 2026.
In her short, lyrical description, she distils the essence of The UWI’s only online campus, an institution whose unique nature allows it to be perhaps the truest embodiment of regionalism that the university is meant to represent and serve.
The games are about excellence in sport; but they are also about the many flavours of West Indian identity and how they combine to form a society of islands and mainlands kissed by the Caribbean Sea.
In his speech at the opening ceremony of the games, UWI Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles shared a tale of the final basketball match between Cave Hill and Mona during The UWI Games many years ago, saying that the media reported on a Barbados vs Jamaica battle.
“But in fact,” he said, “five of the Cave Hill students were Jamaicans, and four of the Mona team were Trinis. It was really, in fact, the West Indies vs the West Indies. And that is the magnificence of UWI.”
The contingent from the Global Campus included students from T&T, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Anguilla, Belize, Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts, St Vincent, Jamaica, and St Lucia. And for a campus where most people interact remotely, coming together made the experience of the games even better.
“We speak to each other every day via Zoom, email, work chat, or WhatsApp,” says Janessa. “But to physically interact with each other was very nice. It’s an experience I will always cherish.”
However, an online campus is at a disadvantage when it comes to sports, especially team sports. Players who never met were required to come together to compete against teams that have been training for months or even years. They were given a one-week pre- games camp, but that could only help them so much.
“I played with a team that I didn’t have any experience playing with,” says Pearl St John, Global Campus netball player and Sociology with a minor in Marketing student. “We had a lot of players from St Vincent and some from Grenada. They play a different style of netball. Our team essentially had to merge three different styles of play.”
At times, even communication was difficult.
“Sometimes the coach would say something and I’d have to ask him to repeat it,” says Javid Wilson, captain of the Global Campus men’s cricket team.
Javid, who is completing his degree in Management, describes how the team “came from different parts of the Caribbean and we didn’t know each other”.
This proved to be a major impediment in their early matches, but as time went on, the cricket team—and others—unified and improved their teamwork.
“We had difficult early matches, but as the tournament progressed we adapted. We were pretty competitive against Five Islands and Mona Campus,” Javid says.
Pearl also saw improvement in their team play over the eight days of the games: “It took time; and I know it’s because we only had one week to prepare. But we had meetings and worked on improving. We really showed that in our [draw] game against Five Islands. After that game, I sent a message in the group chat and congratulated the girls.”
As head of the delegation, Janessa is proud of the team and their performance:
“I saw that every one of them gave their best. They poured their hearts out. We had students who would come off the volleyball court and run to the football field. Some of them were tripling and quadrupling up in sports. That is how dedicated our students were in participating and representing our campus.”
More importantly, even with the difficulties, the students enjoyed the games. So much so that they are already strategising for the 2028 games and a new era of Sport at the Global Campus. Janessa says her team has been approaching stakeholders to “streamline ideas” coming out of their experience at the games. She also has plans to approach coaches in various sports to set up clubs in the Global Campus’s various territories to make sports and team-building more a regular part of the student experience.
Javid is so enthusiastic about sport at the Global Campus that he jokingly says it influenced his decision to pursue a master’s degree this September. A sportsman from St Vincent with deep connections to the sporting community, he is also interested in advocating for more student-athletes to enroll at the campus, as well as act as coaches and trainers.
“My cousin is the national volleyball captain for St Vincent,” he says. “He’s really good; and he is 24. He could make a great contribution to the Global Campus.” Pearl, who also plays club netball in T&T with the Cardinals and works as a legal assistant, is also considering furthering her studies and playing at the next UWI Games.
“I remember telling Janessa that I am going to do a master’s degree just to come back and take part again,” she laughs. “UWI Games exceeded my expectations. I am saying this and I’m smiling right now.”
For the head of delegation, that type of feedback is what it’s all about:
“This was my first time leading the team at UWI Games,” Janessa says.
She expressed her gratitude to the administration of the Global Campus, who entrusted her with the post, and her management team. Most of all, she reaffirms the uniqueness of the campus:
“We are dispersed all over the region, we are connected, and we are a family.”
