by Michael Bascombe
NEW YORK, October 20, 2025 - President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC), Keith Joseph, has proposed the creation of a regional university sports system — a Caribbean equivalent of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — to strengthen athlete development and reduce reliance on overseas scholarships.
Speaking on the weekly TalkSports programme on Saturday, Joseph said that the region already has the institutions, talent, and coaching capacity to support such a system but needs stronger coordination among universities, governments, and the private sector to make it work.
“UWI (University of the West Indies) has its own games,” Joseph explained. “But they have not looked at incorporating other institutions like UTech or GC Foster in Jamaica, or the University of Guyana. We need to think regionally, not just campus by campus.”
Joseph warned that the Caribbean’s dependence on U.S. athletic scholarships could become risky given the shifting
geopolitical landscape. He suggested that the region must begin preparing for potential restrictions on access to international sports scholarships.
“Given the kind of geopolitics we are seeing now coming out of the U.S., it may not be far-fetched to think that at some point we may face blockages in access to scholarships,” he said. “So, why not build our own system here in the Caribbean?”
He pointed to examples of Caribbean athletes who found early success through regional cooperation and training in Jamaica’s secondary school system, including Zharnel Hughes of Anguilla and Handal Roban of St Vincent and the Grenadines. However, recent restrictions imposed by Jamaica’s Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) have limited the number of foreign students eligible to compete in national school championships — a move Joseph cautioned could unintentionally hinder regional unity.
“I don’t think Jamaica intends to be a spoiler,” he said. “But regulations like that could end up discouraging the same Caribbean integration that sport has helped to build. Jamaica came out of the federation with a black eye in 1962 — I don’t think they want to repeat that perception.”
Joseph’s vision calls for regional universities — including the University of the West Indies (UWI), the University of Guyana, the University of Technology (UTech), and GC Foster College — to offer a set number of sports scholarships per year for Caribbean athletes. This, he said, could create a sustainable and competitive environment similar to the NCAA, while keeping athletes closer to home.
“If we can get the universities in the region to agree to provide a certain number of sports scholarships per year, we can begin the equivalent of a Caribbean NCAA,” Joseph said. “Our athletes wouldn’t have to go overseas — they could stay home, benefit from regional coaching, and still reach world-class levels.”
As part of CANOC’s broader mission, Joseph revealed that the organisation has commissioned a study through the UWI Faculty of Sport to examine the role of the private sector in Caribbean sport development. The study aims to assess the level of investment and explore new models of public-private partnership.
“We’ve asked UWI to do an analysis of the role of the private sector in sport development,” Joseph said. “Are they contributing enough? If not, why not? We rely heavily on the public sector, but we need to better understand how to balance that through effective partnerships.”
Joseph emphasised that the findings should not only inform governments but also engage the wider Caribbean public.
“The people of the Caribbean need to have an input in sport as a vehicle for national and regional development,” he said. “This is about building a shared future through sport.”
