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UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2019
SPORT
Paolo Kernahan is a video producer, coach and author. He is also a columnist, having written for two national newspapers.
A nine-year-old girl takes up her position
at the white-
bordered edge of a green table. She stares intensely at the low
net on the short horizon, clutching her table tennis racket
in a pen-hold grip. She drops the weightless white ball onto
the paddle’s pimpled surface and a spirited rally begins.
UWI social sciences student Brittany Joseph is a
long way from that little girl who became enamoured of
the clackety clack cadence of table tennis. For this UWI
sportswoman of the year 2018/19 though, her affection
for the sport has only flourished. What began for Joseph as
ping-pong is starting to look like the road to Tokyo 2024...
the Summer Olympics. Big things have small beginnings.
This is thanks, in part, to a commitment by the university to
boost the sporting ambitions of students at the institution.
This commitment is echoed in a student athlete policy
that lays out an established framework for students to go
for sporting gold in national, regional and international
competitions.
They’re reaching for the stars while keeping their feet
on solid academic ground. The university is, however, also
walking the talk through a sports scholarship programme
geared towards giving student athletes much needed
financial assistance to chase their dreams on the court,
pitch, field or tennis table.
In 2018, Deputy Principal Professor Indar Ramnarine
approached the UWI Development and Endowment Fund
(UWIDEF). His goal was to prod them to finance ten
sports scholarships at $5,000 each. With no arm-twisting
necessary, the UWIDEF was down with cause. UWI
received outstanding support from UWIDEF Chair Nigel
Romano and Secretary Kenrick Nobbee. Thus was born
their sports scholarship programme. The ten, one-year
scholarships were provided to four young women and six
young men in areas such as football, cycling, swimming,
volleyball, basketball, track and field, cricket and table
tennis.
To be sure, the sum of $5,000 is modest. The
underpinning philosophy of the scholarship programme,
however, is anything but. For Professor Ramnarine, this
investment has positive repercussions for the wider society
well beyond a campus boundary. This is sport with a vision
to build society.
When is a sport bigger than the game?
For the Deputy Principal, the recently minted
UWI Faculty of Sport (launched in July 2017) and
sports scholarship programme are significant firsts for
the university. It’s an idea rooted in more unassuming
objectives – creating a sporting environment that bolsters
the physical well-being of students. It fosters a well-rounded
academic ecosystem, one that enhances the chrysalis phase
of students’ lives. Sport as positive influence in human
development isn’t, in itself, a spanking new concept. As
Professor Ramnarine points out, however, there is a grander
vision at play here.
“The global sport industry is estimated at approximately
$145 billion and growing. It’s an area where an athlete from
the smallest island can compete globally and become a
giant on the world stage. It is also linked to a number of
other industries, namely entertainment, fashion, medicine
and tourism.”
What Professor Ramnarine is talking about is the
long game. He views sport as a viable industry for T&T,
germinating lucrative athletic careers through a fledgling
scholarship programme. Pro athletes are going to need
specialist coaches, medical practitioners, financial advisers;
The UWI Deputy Principal is looking at the entire field of
play, not merely one innings.
Ours is a small nation with a need for an alternative
model of economics, one in which there are several
contributors to economic growth and stability. The
potential of sport to become a major player in a national
diversification thrust is nothing to sniff at.
The Faculty of Sport at The UWI very much sees
itself as a driving force in this regard. It’s challenging the
institution to lead the charge in research, education and
Betting on Sport
A new UWI programme provides scholarships for student athlete
B Y P A O L O K E R N A H A N
“UWI is escaping prevailing perceptions as an
institution that only favours erudition. It’s proving
itself to be more inclusive of all types of individuals
in search of higher learning as it celebrates the
development of both mind and body.”
Brittany Joseph
PHOTO: ANEEL KARIM
Sachin Seecharan.
PHOTO: ANEEL KARIM
Marcus Boneo
Akeem Braham
Malaika Dedier
Jasmine Deyal
Alexander Evans
Latoya Garraway
Emilo Gopaul
Sachin Seecharan
Mickel Besson
Brittany Joseph
From left to right: Professor Indar Ramnarine, Deputy Principal and Chair, Campus Committee
for Undergraduate Studies; Jerry Medford, Board Member, UWI Development and Endowment
Fund (UWIDEF) and President, UWI Alumni Association; scholarship awardees; Curtis Mike,
Manager, Division of Student Services and Development and Kenrick Nobbee, Secretary, UWIDEF.
UWI St Augustine Sports Scholarship Recipients
