AFTER 50 years of existence, the Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association now has a permanent home which was opened yesterday.

The office is located at the newly-formed Faculty of Science and Sport (FOSS) at the University of Technology’s (UTech) — fitting as director of sports Anthony Davis is also the current Intercol president.

The Intercol body has grown from eight members to its current complement of 18, including all local universities, community colleges, teachers’ colleges, CASE and Caribbean Maritime Institute.

It is a member of a wider international body headed by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), headquartered in Belgium.

Eleven sports — including athletics, basketball, badminton, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rugby, swimming, table tennis and volleyball — are governed by the Intercol body, with tennis and golf being demonstration sports.

Each sport has its own committee while the association is in the process of becoming a limited liability company.

Davis told the Observer that having a permanent address meant stability for the association.

“It means even in terms of getting our mail, everything will come to one place,” Davis said. “We can have paid staff in an office to assist us, so it will take some of the pressure off the other volunteers because someone will be able to sit and do their work … it makes a total difference when you have a home.”

The body has struggled for respect in the past, which Davis acknowledged, but said it came from the history of a single university in the island.

Now that the fraternity is growing, Davis hopes that perception will also change: “In the absence of competition there really is no excitement,” he said.

Intercol has also instituted a number of changes, including extending the term of office from two to four years.

UTech has been known as the home of sports and president, professor Errol Morrison, said they would be doing all it could to support all aspects of sport.

Meanwhile, former president Dr Alfred Sangster, who spearheaded Intercol from 1978 to 1996, is confident Intercol will thrive under Davis’ leadership.

The local body will be sending a 26-member delegation to this year’s Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China.