Though their collaboration with The University of the West Indies (UWI) Faculty of Sports is still in its infancy, deputy director of CREPS Antilles-Guyane Jean-Marc Clavier is optimistic that the relationship will blossom exponentially to foster greater sport development in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean.

CREPS, a sports resource, expertise and performance centre, is responsible for developing sports and coaches in the French Antilles, but has in recent times spread its wings to include those from English-speaking countries in the Caribbean.

Its facility in Guadeloupe was opened in 1965 but underwent numerous changes and, to date, houses 200 athletes who live, study and train in their specific sport under a comprehensive team of experts.

CREPS’s partnership with the UWI Faculty of Sports, headed by Dr Akshai Mansingh, was initiated in 2019, with an aim to develop the skills of Caribbean coaches and, by extension, drive sports development through various projects.

“We developed a training corporation project with UWI where we worked together for one year and, in spite of the pandemic, we successfully delivered this study which I believe can allow us to launch another project in the Caribbean with different countries to include Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Puerto Rico,” Clavier told the Jamaica Observer during a recent interview at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel.

Though high-performance programmes have been touted in the English-speaking Caribbean and are emphasised in every sport policy, it is widely believed that execution is severely lacking.

Apart from track and field and cricket, Clavier pointed out that most high-performance coaches are sourced internationally. It is for that reason they are intent on bridging the perceived competency gap through educational opportunities.

“It is very important for us to help each other, in whatever way we can, to develop the expertise in each Caribbean country. This project could represent the start of other bigger projects between Jamaica and other Caribbean countries in the phase of high-performance development,” Clavier stated.

“We think that we [Guadeloupe] can learn from Jamaica and Barbados expertise in high-performance training for our athletes and also how we can improve our skills in coaching. So we have now prepared this project to develop skills for coaches,” he added.

Through the alliance, dubbed the Caribbean Sports Institute, Clavier said they are targeting improvements in disciplines such as basketball, football, tennis, and judo among others, with each nation sharing its expertise in its strongest disciplines.

“This will specialise in promoting sporting disciplines that need improvements in the various countries. For instance in Guadeloupe, we don’t practise cricket or netball, so we can learn from each other,” Clavier noted.

He continued: “We think that it is possible to develop corporation in different disciplines. We are talking about track and field because Jamaica is big in track and field, and we are also talking about rugby and fencing because we in Guadeloupe can help your athletes here to improve their skills in fencing. There is also soccer because Jamaica is better than Guadeloupe in soccer.

“Where rugby is concerned, we think we could bring some expert coaches from Guadeloupe and France to help people here in Jamaica. We are also thinking about corporation in handball because we have a former national champion who can bring some expertise to Jamaica in handball.

The deputy director, who is accompanied by Director Eddie Couriol and Catherine Chicate-Moibert, in charge of public relations, are also in the island to enjoy action at the 49th Carifta Games, starting today in Kingston.

“We have some athletes on campus in Mona who are training with Jamaican athletes but now we might not be so competitive, because for two years we haven’t done anything. So we are looking forward to see what the athletes can do and we are glad that we could come,” he ended.