Professor the Honorable Gordon Shirley outlined major developments for sports on the campus at a press conference held at the Mona Visitors Lodge. The press conference showcased the signing of agreements between the campus and both the Racers Track club and the High Performance Training Centre. The HPTC, whose athletes have been training on the Mona campus for over two years will not only call the Bowl their home but also host their athletes on the campus.

The Racers Track Club, which have been training on the campus grounds for six years now  and has within its ranks elite athletes such as triple Olympic record Holder Usain Bolt, World Championships 100m finalist Daniel Bailey, Yohan Blake, Shillone Calvert, Ricardo Chambers, Marvin Anderson and many others signed an agreement to stay on the campus for another 20 years. President of the club Glen Mills described it as a “momentous” time for his track club. The Honorable Usain Bolt and IAAF Region representative Howard 'Teddy' McCook also gave their remarks.

Prof. Gordon Shirley (L) Mr. Glen Mills (R)

 Another major announcement made at the launch was the intention of developing the Mona Bowl into a world class training facility capable of accommodating a number of different sports. The first of these projects is a 400m synthetic running track scheduled to finish in April 2010. Other announcements included the promotion of Director of Sports Grace Jackson to the Position of Sports Development Officer in the Office of the Principal, and the securing of US$70,000 towards the development of the track by Ms. Jackson.

Dr. Akshai Mansingh

Lecturer in Sports Medicine and consultant orthopedic surgeon, Dr Askshai Mansingh, summarized the role of Sports Science at the UWI, with Mona boasting doctors at the top of the field in injury assessment and management. He also outlined plans for the development of sports from an academic point of view, speaking to programmes such as the Msc. in Sports and Events Management and the Masters in Sports and Exercise Science that are in the pipeline.

In showing their support for the development of sports on the campus, PepsiCo through their brand Gatorade, and Grace Kennedy, made commitments to the Mona Sports Department valued at over 3Million and 1.8 Million dollars respectively over the next three years.