NIGEL SIMON
Senior Multimedia Reporter
nigel.simon@guardian.co.tt
T&T men and women teams will open their campaigns in the T&T Volleyball Federation (T&TVF) hosted Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Under-23 Championship at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Facility on July 10.
In the men’s four-team tournament, the Essiel Seecharan-coached T&T squad will serve off their title ambitions versus Martinique in the final match of the opening day of competition, while Guadeloupe and Suriname face off in the opener from 12 noon.
They will then meet Guadeloupe on Friday, July 11, from 6 pm, followed by Suriname in their final round-robin match on Saturday, July 12, from 8 pm, at the end of which the top two teams will contest the gold medal match on Sunday, July 13, from 6 pm, while the third and fourth place round-robin finishers clash for the bronze medal from 2 pm.
The local men will continue to fine-tune their preparations for the tournament with training sessions carded for the rest of the week: at Aranguez North Secondary School today from 8 pm to 10 pm; tomorrow at Aranguez North Secondary from 7 pm to 10 pm; Friday at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Pleasantville from 7 pm to 10 pm; and on Saturday at the tournament venue in Maloney from 12 noon to 2 pm.
In the women’s segment of the competition, the T&T women, under the guidance of head coach
Deon Hutchinson begins their campaign versus Curacao at 6 pm, with Martinique and Suriname meeting in the first match at 2 pm.
The ‘Calypso Spikers’ then come up against Martinique on Friday, July 11, from 8 pm, and Suriname on Saturday, July 12, and at the end of their round-robin series, the top two teams will clash for the CAZOVA crown on Sunday, July 13, from 4 pm, preceded by the bronze medal duel from 2 pm between the teams that finish third and fourth on the table.
In preparation for the tournament, local national coaches Deon Hutchinson (women under-23) and Seecharan (men under-23) have both shortlisted a squad of 15 players each, who will continue training four days per week
From the 15 players, a final squad of 12 players will be named by Hutchinson and Seecharan for their respective teams for the duration of the competition.
The local women’s team will resume their training sessions on Thursday and Friday both at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Tacarigua from 9 pm to 11 pm, followed by another session on Sunday at Maloney from 10.30 am to 1 pm.
Mushtaque Mohammed, President of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association, in looking ahead to the tournament, said an association, CAZOVA, was really happy to finally see the tournament come to fruition.
The tournament for the men was originally scheduled for the Cayman Islands, but because of some challenges they had, the T&T Volleyball Federation has taken up the challenge to stage the event along with hosting the women’s competition.
Mohammed noted that the tournament is being used as a qualification tournament for the Under-23 NORCECA Continental Pan American Cup Championship and will also pave the way for the teams that participate in the Pan American Junior Championship, which is held every quadrennial, and this year it will be held in Asunción, Paraguay.
However, this year’s qualification tournament is not for that specific competition and will serve as planning in preparation for the next quadrennial Pan American Junior Championship.
With just over a week to the serving off of the tournament, the T&TVF is still on the hunt for $1.5 million to assist with the hosting and participation of its national team in no fewer than five regional international tournaments.
The T&T is set to host the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Under-23 Champions at the Maloney Indoor Sports Arena from July 9-14, while the national teams are expected to compete in the NORCECA Senior Women’s Final Four in Puerto Rico from July 16-21, followed by the CAZOVA U-17 Championships in Jamaica from July 28 to August 4, the Pan American Cup Senior Women’s Championship from August 1-11, and the CAZOVA Senior Championships from August 14-24.
According to TTVF president Daymien Stewart, the local federation finds itself in a race against time to get the much-needed financial support for the demanding yet promising international season.
Looking ahead, Stewart boasted the international indoor season promises an exciting lineup of competitions beginning right here in T&T July 9-14, where our U-23 team will compete for the Caribbean crown.”
‘However, to fully realise the potential of our athletes and provide them with the opportunity to compete at the highest levels, we estimate that close to $1.5 million is needed,’ stated Stewart.