EDITORIAL - Congratulating sporting vision

Maybe it is just that the event couldn't compete for Jamaica's attention with World Cup football in South Africa. But three weeks ago there was an event at the Alfred Sangster Auditorium at the University of Technology (UTech) that is likely to add value to Jamaica's already rich sporting prowess.

Already a trailblazer in sporting development, UTech officially launched its Faculty of Science and Sport and graduated its first cohort of students with advanced degrees in physical education and sport, a programme offered in conjunction with the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport.

In essence, UTech is building on its efforts of recent years when it not only forged a relationship with G.C. Foster, but established its High-Performance Centre at its Papine, St Andrew, campus and accommodated the Jamaican base of Stephen Francis' MVP club, with its stable of world-class athletes. These moves by the university were not only visionary, but represented a ringing declaration by UTech of its belief that, contrary to the assumptions of the past, Jamaica's world-class athletes could be nurtured at home. That is an idea that is no longer in dispute and its effective articulation is no longer the prerogative of UTech.

Economic value

What UTech came to earlier than most others in Jamaica was that sports was important to nation building and national development in more than a psychological sense; that it has economic value. But as with other economic activity, extracting that value requires investment, inclusive of knowledge and technology. In other words, sports development demands investment in research and development.

Indeed, as Dr Colin Gyles, the acting dean of the university new faculty, observed at its June 23 launch, "through science we hope to create new knowledge that will spawn innovation and result in the development of new industries to create employment and a better way of life for our people". We expect that sport-related ones will be among them.

The concept, on the face of it, seems to make sense to the Jamaican administration. "Our government recognises that it is time to lift sports in Jamaica and take it to another level," said Warren Newby, the junior sports minister, at the same function.

Yet, Mr Newby's statement seems to run counter to the actions of his boss, Miss Olivia Grange, and the Government broadly, with regard to accommodating UTech's effort to take sports in Jamaica "to another level". A case in point was its refusal of UTech's application to lease the so-called Trelawny Multi-puprose Stadium as the core of its proposed western campus. Ms Grange rests her decision primarily on her wish to maintain the facility as one that can be leased/rented to sporting teams for training in Jamaica. This was part of the concept under which the stadium was developed for the 2007 Cricket World Cup with a US$30 million loan from China.

That idea has gained no traction. The stadium remains a white elephant, notwithstanding the meagre $4.7 million in gross income its managers boasted of generating during the first half of the year. They hope that they can scrape $13 million for all of 2010.

It seems to us that the stadium would add far greater value as a core facility for UTech's sports development effort, which would in no way mean its loss as a venue for national sporting events. But as they say, the grass usually appears greener on the other side - especially to those who lack vision.

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