One incident didn’t spoil what was a very successful UWI Games 2011.
That was the view of Professor Eudine Barriteau, deputy principal of the Cave Hill Campus and chairman of the Local Organizing Committee.
Although Barriteau was the chief spokesperson, the three campuses presented a united front at a Press conference held yesterday afternoon at the 3Ws Pavilion to close the Games.
They also addressed the brawl which broke out between students of the Cave Hill and Mona Campuses on Wednesday night at the Barbados Community College gymnasium.
Present were Horton Dolphin, head of the Academy of Sports, Cave Hill; Dalton Myers, head of the Sports Department, Mona; Lystra Francis, acting director of the sports programme, St Augustine; Roland Butcher, director of the Cave Hill Academy of Sports; and Katheryn Stewart, chef de mission for the UWI Games.
The parties also took exception to the reporting of the brawl in yesterday’s WEEKEND NATION.
“I think that the particular story attempted to use the competition in the basketball match as a metaphor for national relations that have absolutely no bearing,” Barriteau said.
She pointed out that students were not selected on the basis of nationality because they were not asked to present their passport. Coaches selected the best available players from among the eligible students.
“Overall, over the eight days of competition, we had 84 matches and you have one match in which the players became heated as [would] happen in any competition.
“This is not the first time this has happened and to take it and suggest that it speaks to relations between two Caribbean countries, we think it is really regrettable, unfortunate and sensationalized.”
The Games were not marred and, according to Barriteau, players from the two teams were hanging out together at the Games Village on Thursday night and those involved in the fracas apologized to each other.
The issue was resolved after a meeting of the Jury of Appeal which awarded the match to Cave Hill, who had been leading 60-47 at the time of the brawl.
Barriteau’s sentiments were echoed by both Myers and Francis, who were full of praise for the Cave Hill Organizing Committee.
“This was just one incident. I don’t think it marred the Games in any way, shape or form. As a matter of fact, what I think it showed again was that in sports there are times we have conflicts and there are challenges in sports.
“The beauty about it is the end result – everybody comes together unified, showing we are one University of the West Indies,” Myers said.
Francis said there were some aspects of the organizing she wanted to take back to Trinidad and Tobago when St Augustine hosted the Games in 2015.
Cave Hill won their fifth title (1985, 1987, 1993 and 2003) with 108 points, while Mona and St Augustine were joint second on 82.
An official post-mortem will be conducted on the Games.
The 2013 UWI Games will be held at the Mona Campus.
