Utech focus: Sports sciences degree expands needed professional training

Research has indicated that there is a severe shortage of sports professionals in all areas of sport in Jamaica, the Caribbean region, Latin America and in Africa. It has been estimated that Jamaica needs some additional 200 football coaches, 200 sport health science personnel, (excluding doctors), 300 sport managers for elite athletics, teams and associations and other related specialists in order to respond to the needs of the national programme of sport development.

The new Bachelor of Science Degree in Sports Sciences offered by the Faculty of Science and Sport at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) has been specially designed to meet this demand for sports professional training.

Dr Colin Gyles, acting dean of the faculty, notes, "UTech currently enjoys a world reputation for training athletes to the highest level of athletic competition," adding, "in order to be sustainable in this regard, the university is now moving to transform physical strength and competition into sustainable academic work and scientific research."