Representing the Regional Organizing Committee (ROC), Acting Deputy Principal of The Open Campus, Dr Francis Severin (left) and Deputy Principal of the Mona Campus and Chairman of the ROC, Professor Ian Boxill (right), are pictured handing over the Championship trophy to Team Mona Captains, Kadeem O’Sullivan (centre left) and Erica Harris (centre right) at the Closing and Award Ceremony of the UWI Games 2019 held on Friday, May 31, 2019 at the Mona Campus.

The Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies was declared the winner of the UWI Games Championship for the 19^th time. The announcement was made at the Closing and Award Ceremony hosted on May 31, 2019.

The 31st staging of the ten-day biennial inter-campus competition started on Thursday, May 23, 2019, in Kingston, Jamaica - making it the 12^th time the Mona campus is hosting The Games.

More than 500 students competed in 10 disciplines, these include: basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, swimming, table tennis, lawn tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Following intense competition among the four campuses, Mona accumulated 106 points, followed by St Augustine with 88 points, Cave Hill with 86 points and the Open Campus with 18 points.

Speaking at the Closing and Awards Ceremony, Deputy Principal of the Mona Campus and Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and Regional Organizing Committee (ROC), Professor Ian Boxill, said “these Games are not simply about sports and winning competitions, these Games are about building a spirit associated with the University.”

Prof. Boxill also thanked the local organizing committee who, he highlighted, worked hard for more than a year to put The Games together. He also made special mention of Dr Dorothy Hudson-Gayle, head of Athletic Development Training at the Mona Academy of Sport and Mr Athol Hamilton, Students Services Manager for Taylor Hall for their tremendous contribution to the execution of The Games.

(R-L) Professor Ian Boxill, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of the UWI Games 2019 pictured as he hands the ceremonial baton to Ms Grace Jackson, Head of Sports and Facilities at the St Augustine Campus - confirming the hosts of UWI Games 2021. 

St Augustine to host UWI Games 2021
At the end of the Ceremony, Prof. Boxill passed the ceremonial baton to Ms Grace Jackson, head of Sports and Facilities at the St Augustine Campus where the UWI Games will be hosted in 2021.

Vice-Chancellor’s Sports Awards
The UWI Games commenced with the Opening Ceremony and the announcement of the coveted Vice-Chancellor’s Sports Awards. Vanessa Bobb, club netball captain of the Cave Hill Campus won the Sportswoman of the Year Award and Jordan Reynos, national hockey player from the St Augustine Campus, won the Sportsman of the Year Award.

Winners of the UWI Games Championship
In the 31 years of hosting the UWI Games, formerly The Inter-Campus Games, Cave Hill and St Augustine won the championship five (5) times. On two occasions, Mona and St Augustine tied for the Championship – in 1967 when hosted by Mona and in 1989 when hosted by St Augustine.

Evolution of the UWI Games
The University of the West Indies Intercampus Games, now known as the UWI Games, has been and is continuing to be a successfully held biennial friendly competition within the University family.  It stands on a legacy which started in the 1960’s when in 1965 forty (40) students from the St Augustine campus journeyed to Mona to participate in the first Inter-campus Games. During that decade, the games rotated annually among the 3 main campuses (Cave Hill - Barbados, St. Augustine - Trinidad and Mona - Jamaica). However, Cave Hill joined the games for the first time in 1968. The UWI Open Campus which was established in 2008, did not participate in the UWI Inter Campus Games until 2015.  A small observer team was sent to the 2013 Games held at Mona Campus; the following year, then Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Hazel Simmons-McDonald insisted on Open Campus’ participation, and a Local Organizing Committee (LOC) was formed to make this a reality.

Throughout the years, the UWI has seen two of the main objectives of the UWI Games come to fruition, these include; to help, through friendly and healthy rivalry among the students in sporting activities, to emphasize and strengthen the regional character of the University; and to encourage and motivate sportsmen and sportswomen of the University to aim for excellence in sports.

For more information about the UWI Games 2019, visit: www.uwigamesatmona.com

END

Note to the Editor

Link to Photos.

Captions:
Photo # 1:Representing the Regional Organizing Committee (ROC), Acting Deputy Principal of The Open Campus, Dr Francis Severin (left) and Deputy Principal of the Mona Campus and Chairman of the ROC, Professor Ian Boxill (right), are pictured handing over the Championship trophy to Team Mona Captains, Kadeem O’Sullivan (centre left) and Erica Harris (centre right) at the Closing and Award Ceremony of the UWI Games 2019 held on Friday, May 31, 2019 at the Mona Campus.

Photo # 2: (R-L) Professor Ian Boxill, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of the UWI Games 2019 pictured as he hands the ceremonial baton to Ms Grace Jackson, Head of Sports and Facilities at the St Augustine Campus - confirming the hosts of UWI Games 2021.  

Photo # 3: Team Mona Captains, Kadeem O’Sullivan (centre left) and Erica Harris (centre right) pictured after collecting the Championship trophy at the Closing and Award Ceremony of the UWI Games 2019 held on Friday, May 31, 2019 at the Mona Campus.

Photo # 4: Team Mona following the announcement of their victory at the Closing and Award Ceremony of the UWI Games 2019 held on Friday, May 31, 2019 at the Mona Campus.

About The UWI

For the past 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and four campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Asia, and Africa such as the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development, the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. 

As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. Times Higher Education has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018, and was the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.  For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)