Jamaica Volleyball

After two rounds of quarter-final matches last week, defending champions St. Jago, Wolmer’s Boys and Knox College booked semi-final places in the ISSA U-19 National Volleyball Schools’ League (Boys). In the girls equivalent, Mannings and St. Jago joined defending champions Wolmer’s Girls in sealing their semi-final spots with wins over St. Andrew High and Camperdown, respectively … full report here

The opening of Jamaica’s first-ever synthetic volleyball surface took place earlier today at the eastern section of Independence Park Limited in Kingston. The synthetic volleyball surface was a gift from the North Central America and Caribbean Area Association (NORCECA).

The concept of a synthetic volleyball court here in Jamaica was birthed during being during NORCECA boss, Cristobal Marte Hoffis’ visit to Jamaica last year. Hoffis watched a local high school match being played on an asphalt surface, and expressed concern about the wear and tear such surfaces could cause to the knees of local volleyball players.

Hoffis has said the court was more of an investment than a gift, and demonstrated NORCECA’s commitment to developing the sport in the region. As part of that continued investment, NORCECA will also be donating a beach volleyball court to the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JAVA). It will be built adjacent to the current hard court.

Jamaica’s Major Warrenton Dixon, was recently elected second vice-president of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA), and has been given responsibility for the technical programme of the regional body. Major Dixon, who is also president of the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JaVA), said for the first year, he would inject “several foreign coaches into the national programmes across the region” … more here

Jamaican beach volleyball standard-bearer and Olympic hopeful Mark Lewis remains upbeat about his dreams for London 2012, despite misrepresentations about his availability and partner Donovan Richards to participate in last week’s CAZOVA leg of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup in Trinidad last week. The duo hope to become the first English-speaking Caribbean ball sport team to qualify for the Olympics … more here

Jamaica’s top beach volleyball pair of Mark Lewis and Donovan Richards are intent on keeping their Olympic dreams alive, thus they will offer free introductory lessons and international visibility in exchange for corporate partnership / sponsorship so that they will be able to attend the finals of the 2010 Sizzlin Sands Caribbean Beach Volleyball Tour scheduled for November 1-7, 2010 in Bridgetown, Barbados … more here

Volleyball’s world governing body, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), through the regional body North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation, has reportedly committed to funding the establishment of a volleyball development centre here in Jamaica.

President of the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JaVA), Major Warrenton Dixon, reportedly secured conditional approval of US$60,000 over four years for the establishment of the development centre here. This was done while he attended the September 9-10 World Congress which was held at the Rome Marriott Hotel, as Major Dixon reportedly used the occasion to “establish friendships and initiate agreements”.

Both the male and female Jamaica teams lost their quarter-final matches yesterday evening at the 13th Caribbean Volleyball Championship. They both lost tense five set matches with the men beaten 25-14, 17-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-13 by Guadeloupe, and the women beaten 25-20, 25-27, 14-25, 25-22, 15-10 by the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Both teams will now play for fifth place in the competition, with the men facing hosts Suriname in the play-offs, while the women will go up against the Netherlands Antilles.

The 2010 Reggae Jammin Business House Volleyball tournament continued yesterday (the second day of the league competition), at the UWI gymnasium. Here are the results:

Mixed Division Matches

• Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) beat National Water Commission (NWC) 2-0 (21-6, 21-15 score line)
• BOJ beat University of the West Indies (UWI) 2-0 (21-20, 21-10 score line)
• AMECO beat Guardian Life 2-1 (15-21, 21-14, 21-11 score line)
• NWC beat UWI 2-1 (21-19, 10-21, 21-17 score line)
• UWI beat AMECO 2-0 (21-7, 21-11 score line)

Current Mixed Division Points Standings
BOJ 12 points
Guardian Life 7 points
AMECO 6 points
NWC 6 points
UWI 5 points

Male Division Matches

• Guardian Life beat AMECO 2-0 (21-16, 21-15 score line)
• Guardian Life beat NWC 2-0, (21-18, 21-19 score line)

Current Male Division Points Standings
Guardian Life 8 points
BOJ 6 points
NWC 5 points
AMECO 5 points

The competition is reportedly set to become even more exciting in the coming weeks, a new skills challenge element will be introduced to this year’s competition. Each team will submit three male and three female players, who will then showcase their individual skills in various challenges such as digging, serving and volleying. The players will be vying for a spot in the final of the skills competition which is set to happen on the final day of the season.

The Jamaica Volleyball Association (JAVA) is reportedly seeking to launch a primary/prep school programme this year, and also to have an official national volleyball court set up soon.

In a recent interview, President of the association Major Warrenton Dixon stated that the primary/prep programme is a part of the organization’s “short-term objectives … as we believe it is one of the fundamental steps toward our long-term goal of qualifying for all major international tournaments“.

Major Dixon noted that the association was also moving on an offer that was made by Cristóbal Marte Hoffiz (President of the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORECA)) earlier this year, offering Jamaica a national volleyball court if it finds a site. According to Major Dixon, “A space was identified at IPL (Independence Park Limited) but it needs to be cleared and prepared with a hard surface … The estimate of expenditure is approximately 1$m, which we are trying to source through the SDF (Sports Development Fund). The allocation has not yet been confirmed.“

2010 Reggae Jammin Business House Volleyball Tournament, now in its 6th year, kicked off yesterday (June 6) at the UWI gymnasium. Here are the results:

Mixed Division Matches

• Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) beat Guardian Life 2-0 (21-6, 21-12)
• BOJ beat National Water Commission (NWC) 2-0 (21-15, 21-9)
• Guardian Life beat NWC 2-0 (21-17, 21-14)
• Guardian Life beat Ameco 2-1 (18-21, 21-11, 21-17)

Male Division Matches

• BOJ beat AMECO 2-0 (21-12, 21-13)
• BOJ beat NWC 2-0 (21-11, 21-8)
• NWC beat Guardian Life 2-0 (21-20, 21-16)
• AMECO beat Guardian Life 2-1 (21-17, 10-21, 21-19)

Notably, defending champions the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) will not be available to take part in this year’s competition due to the unavailability of their players (as a result of the state of emergency and the increased role of the JDF in the crack down on crime in parts of the island). This year’s competition has also seen one rule change, with teams only being able to feature a single national player each.

Action continues this Sunday, June 13.