Uni of Tech in Jamaica

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UTech an alternative to US scholarships — Davis

BY PAUL BURROWES Observer writer

Thursday, November 04, 2010

ANTHONY Davis, Director of Sports at the University of Technology (UTech), foresees an increase in international students and local enrolment as the 52-year-old institution seeks to maintain its status as the home for student-athletes in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Davis noted that UTech is also being seen as an another option for athletes pursuing scholarships in the United States.

"There has been research done in the USA which shows that colleges with high profile sports programmes have high enrolment.

"Locally, while I do not have figures, from talking with many students, they choose UTech because they have the impression they are joining a famous community.

“Our sports programme has given us more visibility and by extension, we will have increased enrolment. Our figures have move from 6,000 in 2005 to over 11,000 at present,” he added.

Davis, who is president of the Caribbean University Sports Association as well as the Jamaica Intercollegiate Sports Association, said, "Because of our high profile, there is talk in the international forums I have attended that UTech should be seen as an alternative for sending persons to the USA on scholarships, as our results are better.

"I have even had enquiries from persons in the USA, and so I am of the opinion that the number of international students will increase.

“With our success, eventually we must secure increased funding as persons can see there are benefits to partnering with a successful programme. Our success is not limited to track and field and so companies whose goods and services are aligned with other sports are gradually coming on board,” he pointed out.

Making the case that UTech has become the number one sports institution in the island, Davis pointed to “flexible admissions policy, excellent student-athlete academic support, supportive and visionary president and academic staff, as well as a deep-rooted track and field culture leading the way for the development of other sports”.

Other positives in sports at UTech, he said, included passionate coaches and staff of the athletic department, voice and speech training for student athletes, grooming and nutrition seminar, dental and general medicine support, and the presence of the world-renowned MVP Track Club.

He also stated that UTech sports has increased the opportunity for research and collaboration, evidenced recently with a partnership with the Jamaica Cricket Association.

UTech, however, has been affected by lack of playing facilities, insufficient accommodation and no on-campus merchandising outlet.

Davis added: “Corporate support is in small quantities and never large enough to make a major one-time impact.”

He believes government can do more for sports.

“The government can assist in the development of the institutions facilities,” he explained.

With the proper maintenance of facilities “the adjoining communities can use the institutions as their base. Community youth can also access academic support in addition to using the facilities”.

“Grants is also a way to assist the development of the student-athletes and liaise with foreign missions for the exchange of coaches to assist in the transfer of knowledge,” he said.

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“Grants is also a way to assist the development of the student-athletes and liaise with foreign missions for the exchange of coaches to assist in the transfer of knowledge,” he said.

What does this mean?

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So I take that coach Francis never left and brokered a better deal for MVP to stay at the track.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080914/lead/lead6.html

Francis leaving with MVP?
published: Sunday | September 14, 2008

Leighton Levy, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Francis

FOLLOWING THE shocking dislosure last week that MVP Club’s coach, Stephen Francis, might relocate his club overseas, Anthony Davis, head of the department of sports at the University of Technology (UTech), where the club is based, is not yet in panic mode.

Francis intimated last Tuesday on Sports Grill, a sports talk show on Hitz92FM, that the increasing demand for his talents and a seemingly never-ending feud with members of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association were behind his motivation to relocate. Francis’ athletes won more than half of Jamaica’s record-breaking 11 medals - including three of six gold medals - at the recently concluded Beijing Olympics.

According to sources at UTech, early last season, Francis had said that he was considering leaving, in part to prevent his methods being ‘stolen’ by other coaches. Those sources said that members of the MVP coaching staff strongly believed that there were spies on the university campus who took information to other coaches and athletic programmes across the island.

worrying

But Davis told The Sunday Gleaner that he had yet to hear anything from either Stephen Francis or his brother, Paul, to suggest that their departure is imminent. Until either does, Davis said, he would prefer not to speculate on what the future might hold.

He said, however, that if what he reads in the media is true, it is worrying.

“Yes, there would be cause for concern,” he said. “There is no organisation that really wants to lose someone who contributes significantly to that organisation, but these things do happen.”

Davis revealed that there were no extraordinary contingencies in place to replace Francis should he decide to leave. “It’s no different than any lecturer or administrative staff who, by virtue of their contract or terms of employment, can give you 30 days’ notice if they decide to leave,” Davis said.

Just about 10 years ago, Francis and UTech entered into an agreement wherein he was granted full access to the university’s facilities and would coach the athletes in their track programme. A number of Francis’ most successful athletes are students at the university.

Davis concedes that Francis’ shoes would be hard to fill, but said the programme would survive. “We would have to make do the best we can,” he said. “At different points in time, people choose to leave. We would just have to find the best replacement possible.”

He said those athletes who were students would be free to leave with Francis if they chose to.

Should Stephen Francis choose to leave, one scenario, sources argue, could be that his brother Paul, a Level One coach and an assistant coach at MVP/UTech, would remain at the university to continue an athletic recruitment and coaching programme. That would effectively mean there would be two branches of MVP.

no ordinary coach

But Stephen Francis is no ordinary lecturer or coach. Since 1999, when he took on a struggling Brigette Foster and made her Jamaica’s best-ever female sprint hurdler and also one of the best in the world, Francis has transformed a growing list of overlooked athletes into world champions. The list includes former world record holder Asafa Powell, Olympic gold medallists Melaine Walker and Shelly-Ann Fraser, as well as silver medallists Sherone Simpson and Shericka Williams. He is now one of the most-respected and sought-after coaches in the world.

Following the success of the Jamaican team in Beijing, track-and-field authorities in Great Britain are mulling contracting his or Glen Mills’ services to prepare their athletes for the 2012 Games in London.