If you were at the National Hockey Centre in Tacarigua or SPEC’s Indoor Court right here on campus you might have been privileged to see some of the most dominant and professional performances in the entirety of UWI Games. They came from Cave Hill campus’s women’s netball, hockey, and volleyball teams.
“I am proud of the athletes,” says Dr Rudolph Alleyne, Head of Cave Hil
l’s Academy of Sport, and the campus delegation. “They performed very well, especially our female athletes.”The women’s teams took the champion’s trophies in all three sports, as well as multiple special awards.
“I was pleased with my performance,” says a very subdued Shonica Wharton, goal shooter for the netball team.
While she might sound laid back, Shonica was beyond outstanding for her team. Once she received the ball under the opponent’s net, she scored almost every shot.
“As an athlete,” she says, “I always try to give my best in every game and always look for areas where I can improve for the next game.”
That outlook, combined with her accuracy and court awareness, have served her well. She’s represented Barbados at the international level in netball for years, competing at both the Netball World Cup and Commonwealth Games.
Having recently completed her Social Sciences degree with minors in Management, Psychology, and Sociology, Shonica says she wants to “continue competing and representing Barbados at the highest level possible. At the same time, I am focused on continuing my professional career.”
Her teammate, Sierra Rayside age 20, is also balancing sports and studies, entering her third year in Sports Science at Cave Hill. And though she was also a member of the championship netball team, her true sport is volleyball. As the Blackbirds’ middle blocker, she was like a wall, intercepting balls and even furiously spiking the ball when the opposing team dropped their guard.
“I was very satisfied with my performance,” she says. “I worked really hard to get to where I am today, so it’s lovely to finally see that hard work paying off.”
It did indeed pay off. Apart from winning the championship as part of the team, she also won the award for Best Middle Blocker. Outside of The UWI, she has represented Barbados in both court and beach volleyball in the Under 19 and Under 21 categories, and plays Division 1 club volleyball.
"I enjoy everything about sport, from the learning nature of it straight to the competitive atmosphere,” Sierra says. “I love the experiences, along with the amazing people you meet.”
After days of leaping and diving at the net, she came out to collect her medal and trophy with the rest of the squad on crutches. She suffered an ankle sprain in their final match against St Augustine.
Sierra is unbothered: “I’m currently getting treatment for it back home in Barbados so I can be playing again as soon as possible.”
That spirit of resilience and enthusiasm for the game was all over the indoor court, from the Cave Hill team but also their opponents, who faced the strongest of adversaries in the Blackbirds.
Dr Alleyne believes this is the purpose of sport: building character.
“Sport means a lot to our young people. It teaches them many things. It teaches them values for life. We need to make sure that we provide them with sports education in schools. The character traits they learn will carry them through the rest of their lives.”
For the head of the Cave Hill team, these UWI Games were very special. As only his first of the games, he is very proud of their showing. Though they did not win, they performed very well, even though several students and staff were afflicted with gastro. Perhaps his proudest moment, however, was that of a father. Dr Alleyne’s daughter, Kenya Alleyne, was a member of the championship-winning hockey team. She also won the awards for top scorer and Most Valuable Player.
“My proudest moment was my daughter winning MVP for field hockey,” he says.
And though the week was filled with sports, the Blackbirds still found a little time to enjoy T&T and their regional UWI family.
“The vibes were great,” says Shonica. Sierra even got a chance to leave the campus and see some of the island. She visited one of the malls, enjoyed local food, and limed with other athletes. “I truly loved the T&T culture and can’t wait to be back!” she says.
Dr Alleyne, having enjoyed the feeling of island fraternity at UWI Games, wants to take it further for the 2028 edition at his home campus in Barbados.
“I think we need to invite other universities from the region to be part of UWI Games,” he says. “Guadeloupe, Martinique, we have UTT here, and we have other universities. We should include all our brothers and sisters and really build regional integration through sport.”
That would be as stunning a performance as the Lady Blackbirds.
