Increased Demand for Sports Massage Therapy Programme at G.C. Foster College

The G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, is reporting “overwhelming” support for its two-year diploma programme in sports massage therapy.

Principal of the institution, Edward Shakes, said there has been high demand for admittance to the programme, which was introduced to deal with the rising incidence of sports-related injuries.

“In fact, there are more persons than we can accommodate for that programme,” Mr. Shakes told JIS News.

He attributed the increased interest to the publicity that emanated from the trained masseuses accompanying the Jamaican delegation to the London 2012 Olympics and the recent IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow. Those masseuses graduated from the sports massage programme, which has been offered at GC Foster since 2004.

Additionally, Mr. Shakes said that graduates of the programme have been finding employment in the sport, recreational and hospitality sectors as massage therapists, resulting in the increased demand for the programme.

He said that persons wishing to enroll in the programme should have at least four Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) passes. Persons without the required CXC qualifications can still be accepted based on their years of experience in the profession.

Mr. Shakes said the college is making every effort to remain significant and relevant and “is looking for the many opportunities that may evolve.”

He said that there is also strong interest in the coaching programmes, which have been training and providing qualified coaches, teachers and officials for various sports since 2004.

In her contribution to the recent sectoral debate in Parliament, Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Sport, Hon. Natalie Neita Headley, lauded the work of the G. C. Foster College-trained coaches.

“There is no doubt in my mind, and in the minds of many Jamaicans, that our sporting success is as a result of the solid training of the physical education teachers and coaches that are deployed into our high schools,” she stated, adding that over 90 per cent of all coaches in Jamaica have been trained at G. C. Foster College.