Twenty-one students who are expected to graduate in June this year from the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) received certification in the coaching of Football, and Track and Field last Thursday, May 4, at a ceremony held at the college’s Villa Campus Student Union Building.

They were the first batch of students to enrol and pursue studies in the College’s new Applied Associates Degree in Sport Sciences Programme.

The Sports Sciences Associate’s Degree is a blend of theoretical and practical courses geared at laying a solid foundation for future involvement in physical education and sports in a variety of areas.

Addressing the students at last Thursday’s ceremony, and to present the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation/CONCACAF ‘D’ License Football Certificate, and the World Athletics CECS Level One Track and Field Certificate were the Director of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College Nigel Scott, the Football Federation’s Director of Technical Matters, Theon Gordon, its Marketing Manager Crystal Huggins; goalkeeping coach Kevin Richardson; and the SVGCCs Sports Coordinator Roxell John.

John who is also the coordinator of the Applied Associates Degree in Sports Sciences at the SVGCC told SEARCHLIGHT that “The Applied Associates Degree in Sports Science programme is an important thrust forward in the preparation of our perspective Physical Education teachers, coaches in the different sporting disciplines, as well as candidates who desire to venture off into other fields such as Sports Medicine, Sports Massage, Sports Psychology, or Sports Management.”

John pointed out that along with the Associates’ degree to be earned on successfully completing the course, “there are other certificates in coaching to be gained along the way which puts the graduates in a competitive position when seeking employment, or as they seek to further their studies”.

“The onus is now on the soon to be graduates to use the knowledge and experience they have gained in enhancing the various entities to which they are aligned across St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”