In a landmark association, Royals Sports Group-owned franchise Rajasthan Royals have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The University of the West Indies (UWI) for both the parties to work together to co-create specialized educational courses for budding sports scholars from across the world.
The MoU signing took place at The University of the West Indies campus between Jake Lush McCrum, Chief Executive Officer, Rajasthan Royals, and Akshai Mansingh, Dean, Faculty of Sport, The University of the West Indies, in the presence of West Indian legend Daren Ganga, who is also a Project Officer with the University.
Since the inception of its online platform which offers educational courses covering 360 degree aspects of the sports industry – the Royals School of Business (RSB) – in 2020, the IPL franchise has developed 16 world-class programmes which have contributed to the development of more than 40,000 scholars and budding present and potential professionals keen on working in the sports industry.
This new tie-up with one of the world’s most globalised universities will see the co-creation of an Advanced Sports Nutrition Program for young athletes and professionals to help them get a better understanding of how nutrition plays an important role in the development and sustenance of an athlete’s career.
The course will be designed by subject matter experts from the industry including John Gloster, who is the current Head Physiotherapist of the Rajasthan Royals, and has also served as the Indian Men’s Cricket Team’s Head Physio in the past. His experience, along with sessions from the members of the Faculty of Sport will help in creating this multi-hour teaching course which will also consist of various assignments, assessment tests, and live athlete testimonials to help prepare the scholars to excel in sports nutrition.
Commenting on the landmark association, Jake Lush McCrum, Chief Executive Officer, Rajasthan Royals, said: “One of the driving pillars for the Royals School of Business has been the abundant potential for growth that lies within the talent that is either working in or dreams of working in the sports industry. This exciting association with The University of the West Indies comes from the vision of combining the best brains from various parts of the world to create learning modules that impart deep knowledge and live testimonials from professionals to budding individuals.”
“Our presence in the Caribbean through our franchise group has certainly played a part in connecting us with one of the best universities in the world, and we are delighted at the prospect of further contributing to the sports education ecosystem together,” he added.
At the signing ceremony held to formalize the agreement, Dean of the Faculty of Sport, Dr. Akshai Mansingh also expressed delight in delivering UWI courses to a franchise with a fan base which is much larger than the West Indian Population. He lauded the commitment shown by the franchise in deepening its footprint in the region from which scholars have already enrolled for the myriad of courses on offer at RSB.
Post the MoU signing, the Royals School of Business and The University of the West Indies are in the process of finalizing the Advanced Sports Nutrition Program and will announce the launch in the next few months.