UTech welcomes South African delegation for study tour in sports development

A team from the Republic of South Africa’s Ministry of Sport Arts and Culture embarked on a study tour at the University of Technology, Jamaica’s Faculty of Sport and Science (FOSS) on Thursday, November 24.

The South African delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Sport, Nocawe Mafu, who are in Jamaica as guests of the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, visited UTech, Jamaica as part of their fact-finding mission to gain sound understanding of Jamaica’s sport programme. This follows the signing of a Programme of Cooperation Agreement between both countries on Tuesday, November 21. The bilateral agreement aims to strengthen international relations between Jamaica and the Republic of South Africa through increased collaboration in sport.

The delegation was accompanied by local representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and were officially welcomed by University President Dr Kevin Brown during a courtesy which preceded a guided tour of the University’s sports facilities, led by Prof Kamilah Hylton, dean of the Faculty of Science and Sport. The delegation also met with coaches and lecturers and observed brief football, basketball and track and field exhibition games.

STRONG ECOSYSTEM

In welcoming the visiting party, Dr Brown signalled his optimism for a concretised partnership. “We hope that you will learn from what we have been doing here … and maybe we can learn from you at some point in a rotational way.” He noted that “sport has always been a key part of what we do and a lot of this was pioneered through our first director of sport, Dennis Johnson – a national treasure who decided to use UTech as his home base and created a very expansive sport programme which you will hear more about.” He added, “We would be happy to support any programme whether it is you sending your coaches here to be trained or, us sending our coaches there.”

Dr Brown encouraged the deputy minister and her team to consider “the pipeline” noting that “Jamaica has a very strong ecosystem of athletes from primary school, high school and university … and then beyond the school system we have national sport events that are also at a higher level.” Dr Brown assured that UTech would be happy to twin with institutions identified by the South African government for the sport collaboration.

Nocawe Mafu, South Africa’s deputy minister of Sport said her team has been paying special attention to the ecosystem of Jamaican sport and indicated that the University of Pretoria for instance, “is steps ahead in terms of trying to do exactly what Jamaica is doing.” However, she stated that “it cannot be enough that it is only one university because of the vastness of the country.” She added that, “For us to be successful, we would need to have at least one university in a province doing that kind of work.” Mafu pointed out that while the Government of South Africa aims to adapt Jamaica’s best practices for sport development, “what we would want to see is for the universities that are predominantly black doing that work which they are far behind in terms of getting there.”

FOCUSED ON RESEARCH

Prof Hylton explained that UTech, Jamaica became more strategic in its focus on the incorporation of science and sport based on the performances of Jamaican athletes coming out of the 2008 Olympics.

She further noted that “at least 20 per cent of the athletes were UTech, Jamaica athletes” and that “50 per cent of the medals that we won at the 2008 Olympics were from UTech, Jamaica trained athletes. She told the guests, “We then recognised that if we are going to sustain sport in Jamaica in a meaningful way, we needed to be intentional” and “appreciate the science behind the sport.” Those observations, she says, “would have propelled us to launch a Faculty of Science and Sport” in 2009 which is also now home to the Caribbean School of Sport Sciences.

Prof Hylton said further that the Caribbean School of Sport Sciences is particularly focused on research for “improving the knowledge and understanding of the science behind sport,” adding that “it is important for us to ensure that we put ourselves in a position that provide the Ministry with data that can guide policy” and “that provides professionals with data that guides intervention.”

UTech, Jamaica will continue negotiations with South Africa’s Ministry of Sport Arts and Culture through the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. The international delegation is scheduled to revisit the island in March 2024, continuing their study tour by observing the annual Inter-Secondary School Association (ISSA) Boys and Girls’ Championship at the National Stadium.