Though Cayman lost out on Olympic qualification, a significant beach volleyball tournament will return in a few weeks.
The North, Central America and Caribbean Confederation starts its annual beach volleyball series in Grand Cayman on 21-26 March. Public Beach will serve as venue for the fourth straight year.
In years past the event has drawn a huge response, in terms of competing teams and spectator turnout. Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation Vice President Kennedy McGowan states the feeling is that there will be more of the same this year.
“This is the first stop in the NORCECA tour and Cayman will be the highlight,” McGowan said. “It kicks it all off and we’re expecting good representation again from countries like Cuba, the US, Puerto Rico and Canada. The tour is a seasonal event and we’re expecting a large audience.
“This is its fourth year in Cayman and it’s a very popular event. It has a lot of support from NORCECA, the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee, the Cayman government (especially the Department and Ministry of Sports) and private sponsors. At this point I would invite as many people as possible to volunteer for this event and assist with the organization of the event.”
The NORCECA tour opener has a rich history in Cayman. Last year a record 40 teams stormed these shores, eight better than the previous NORCECA mark. Every edition has seen more squads take part as Cayman attracted 17 teams in its first year in 2009 and 24 sides in 2010.
News of the NORCECA opener comes after Cayman was eliminated from the Continental Cup (a regional 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament). The women’s team of Cristin Alexander, Jennifer Bily, Taylor Burrowes and Stefania Gandolfi placed fifth in Mal Pais, Costa Rica while the men’s squad of Richard Campbell, Philippe Deslandes, Shervin Rankin and Olney Thompson were out of the top five in Montelimar, Nicaragua.
McGowan states both sides will be looking to compete in more tournaments in the coming months.
“The teams finished their round of the Continental Cup and will continue training over the next few weeks. They will compete in next month’s NORCECA event and after that they will do another NORCECA tournament in Florida as part of the tour. They will take on countries registered to NORCECA that are at level three and four like Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.”
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