Against the background of its long-standing history of producing some of the country's best athletes, director of sports at the University of Technology (UTech), Anthony Davis, has revealed that the institution needs approximately $65 million to upgrade its existing sports facilities. They also need millions more to be able to offer a better quality education to student athletes who take up scholarships there.


Upgrades
The infrastructure upgrades would involve putting in a world-class football field; wood flooring for volleyball, basketball and similar sports; a proper running track; and an irrigation system and netting for the golf practice facilities, among other things, Davis said

Davis, himself a former student athlete at the College of Arts, Science and Technology that eventually became UTech, was making a presentation to journalists from The Gleaner at a Gleaner-sponsored forum hosted by the university last Tuesday.

Davis said they are looking at contracting the services of a marketing company to help sell the university's aspirations to potential sponsors.

UTech is home to the MVP track club that boasts some of the world's best athletes, including former world record holder, Asafa Powell; Commonwealth 200 metres champion and Olympic sprint relay gold medallist, Sherone Simpson, World Championship silver medallists, Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Michael Frater, and former national 400-metre women's champion Shericka Williams.

The university has also helped produce elite athletes in other sports, including Jamaican and West Indian cricketers Wavell Hinds, Gareth Breeze, Uton Dowe, Sam Morgan and Courtney Daley; a former captain of the national football team Noel King and national hockey representative Duckworth Daley.

Davis reveals that UTech has plans to establish a US$15 million endowment fund, the interest of which will be used to support sports scholarships valued at about US$9,500 annually.

The university currently has 280 student athletes. For these athletes, UTech wants to be able to provide full nutritional support for each athlete - three meals a day for the academic year - including isotonic drinks during training sessions and competitions. The estimated cost of such a programme is US$340,000.

At the cost of an additional US$6,000 they would like to be able to provide routine medical check-ups prior to the start of each season, as well as related medical care, including dental and optical.


Goals
But for all the university's success why has it been so challenging to attract funding to realise its goals?

"People see the results and think that we have excellent facilities here," Davis said. "They think we are swamped with sponsors falling over each other to help us."

In short, UTech has been a victim of its own success.

"If you see someone looking good and doing well you assume that they have all they need," Davis said, adding that work must now be done to rid potential partners of this perception and make them aware of the reality.

"The challenge now is to get the message out to say that we need to partner with you so you can align your products, goods and services with us so you can help us go forward," Davis said.