UWI GAMES: 10 DAYS, 10 Exciting Sports, 1 Champion

The University of the West Indies, (UWI) Mona will host the 28th staging of the biennial UWI, Intercampus Games - The UWI Games. The campus will see more than 500 students from the four campuses of the regional University: Mona (Jamaica), St. Augustine (Trinidad) Cave Hill (Barbados) and the Open Campus at the region’s largest multi-sporting event.

On May 21, 2013, the UWI Mona Bowl will erupt with excitement signaling the beginning of The Games. The four UWI campuses will battle for championship in 10 sporting disciplines held over 10 days.  The sporting disciplines to be contested by student athletes are: basketball, cricket, football, hockey, lawn tennis, netball, swimming, table tennis, track and field and volleyball. According to Professor Archibald McDonald, Deputy Principal of the Mona Campus and Chairman of the UWI Games 2013 planning committee “The Games not only allows for the showcasing of sporting talents of our students, but also fosters regional integration. We are expecting an exciting 2013 Games and hope that UWI alumni will also come out in their respective campus colours to support the University”. 

The venue for nine of the ten sports to be contested will be The UWI Mona Bowl for Sporting Excellence. Hockey will be contested at the nearby Mona Hockey Turf. “UWI Mona is proud to house facilities for 90% of the sporting events for the Games which demonstrate our versatility in sports as the leading University in the region” said Dalton Myers, Director of Sports at UWI Mona.

The Mona Bowl currently boasts the UWI/Usain Bolt Regupol track, second of its kind only to the track at the National Stadium; an olympic sized swimming pool, second also in the island as the only other is located at the National Stadium.

The Games although fun and friendly in nature  aim to develop sportsmen and women of the highest caliber and in so doing will be under the scrutiny of Jamaica’s anti-doping watchdog – the  Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) . “Having JADCO onboard helps in the development of Sports at UWI and instills professionalism in our student athletes. This is an important element   in UWI’s thrust for the development of sports locally and regionally” remarked Mr. Myers.

UWI Games 2013 will feature a culture night and an outreach project. The project is slated for Labour Day, Thursday May 23rd 2013. A beach lyme at the end of competitions at UWI Mona’s Lyssons Beach in St. Thomas is also in order for the hundreds of UWI athletes and supporters. 

About The UWI Games
The UWI Games is a regional multi-sporting event hosted on rotation by each of the 3 Campuses of the University of the West Indies: Cave Hill, Mona and St Augustine. The Cave Hill Campus in Barbados played host to the 2011 staging of the biennial games and are now the defending champions as the games move to the UWI Mona Campus on May 21- 30, 2013.

The year 2013 marks the 28th staging of The UWI Games started in 1965 by the late Keith Gardner; Olympian and the first director of sports at the UWI Mona Campus. The games were created as an avenue to foster regional integration amongst the campuses and the Caribbean as a whole. At its inception the games hosted teams from the three campuses: Mona, Cave Hill and St Augustine competing in only four sporting disciplines: Cricket, Track & Field, Football and Netball. This year ,  there will also be participation from The UWI Open campus, which offers multi-mode teaching and learning services through virtual and some 42 physical site locations across the Caribbean region.

Through imaginative development and support by The University of the West Indies, The UWI Games has blossomed into one of the region’s premier sporting events, boasting competitions across 10 sporting disciplines. UWI Games has not only grown to become the region’s largest multi-sporting event but a regional standard for fair play.  In 2011, the UWI Games planning committee implemented anti-doping measures governed by the world’s international anti-doping watchdog – the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Since its implementation there has been no instance of athletes failing to comply with testing regulations nor has there been any instance of athletes testing positive for banned substances.

Since its inception, the UWI Mona Campus has been crowned champions of The UWI Games 17 times, the last time being the year 2009. The UWI St. Augustine Campus has won the games 7 times and The UWI Cave Hill Campus 4 times.  The UWI Cave Hill Campus is the defending champion of The UWI Games, claiming the championship at home in 2011.