After their recent success in Jamaica, Cayman’s beach volleyball stars are gearing up for competition in Cuba.
The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation 2012 tour shifts to Varadero, Cuba on 6-11 June. Suiting up for Cayman will be experienced pairs Jennifer Bily and Cristin Alexander.
Bily, who runs a company called Life Extensions Sport and Fitness, states she is ready to team up with Alexander once again.
“Competing at the national team level requires great time management, discipline and focus, on and off the court and sacrifices, “ Bily said. “But the privilege of representing your country makes you want to perform better every day.”
Both are coming off victories at the recent University of the West Indies International 2012 Beach Volleyball Invitational. The tandem went 4-1 in Jamaica and were second in group play before defeating the Barbados pairing of Sharon Bovell and Pauline Woodroffe in the final. Also representing Cayman were male duo Richard Campbell and Olney Thompson, who placed fourth. Campbell and Thompson were second in the group stages before losing to Shane Dwyer and Andre McLean of Jamaica (UWI A).
Bily states that performance has her inspired to storm Cuba’s beach.
“I am very encouraged. We are playing controlled and relaxed but with a lot of intensity. We have had some great “scramble” plays and are serving effectively too. Cristin is finally over that terrible flu and we don’t have any major injuries so we should have no obstacles as we move through the season. This really is the best we have ever played together and we are always working to make improvements, in fitness and in our game.
“Thanks to the Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation and Cayman Airways for their support in getting us to Jamaica. I am very happy with the outcome of the tournament, but I am especially excited about the progress Cristin and I continue to make as a team. There are many things in our game we must continue to work on, but I am happy that we persevered through some tough conditions.
“Our mental toughness and emotional discipline on the court has been steadily improving this year and it really contributed to our wins. We definitely had a breakthrough and have a fresh motivation to continue to train and compete, with hopes to bring home more victories for Cayman.”
The NORCECA tour has made stops in other Spanish-speaking countries like Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Puerto Rico has emerged as the dominant country with Roberto Rodriguez and Yarleen Santiago among the star players. After the Cuba event, the tour is slated to shift to Puerto Rico (22-27 August) and San Diego, USA (26 September to 1 October).
The Cuba stop comes after Cayman hosted the start of the 2012 tour for the fourth straight year in March. On Grand Cayman’s Public Beach, the home team did well as Shervin Rankin and Richard Campbell propelled Cayman to fifth place and a quarterfinal berth. Cayman was also represented by Philippe Deslandes, Andrew Gordon, Duncan Hamann and Olney Thompson along with Bily and Alexander.
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