The top female beach volleyball players in the Cayman Islands are continuing their Olympic journey.
Jennifer Bily, Cristin Alexander, Taylor Burrowes and Stefania Gandolfi are competing in the semi-finals of the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation Continental Cup Olympic Qualifier. Sanctioned by the International Volleyball Federation, matches take place 7-13 February in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The ladies left Cayman on Wednesday, 8 February and are taking on teams from within Central America and the Caribbean. The overall Continental Cup winner will earn a spot in the 2012 London Olympics.
In preparation for this week’s games, the ladies took part in special training from top US players Megan Wallin and Chara Harris and male players Scott Harris and Matt Brockway at Public Beach. As Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation board member Carl Brown states, those sessions have allowed the girls to be ready.
“This is the highest achieving opportunity that Cayman has to date,” Brown said. “The association is very pleased to achieve this milestone. Considering we’re a small country, we have to go against tall opposition in our group. It’s like trying to get the best ballet dancer from a whole pile of Russian ballerinas. It’s a privilege to be part of the top 15 and we’re proud of this landmark.
“Are we confident? Yes. We’ve studied up on our opponents and got the pros down to help. We have no problem dreaming big and going after it. We’re not listening to anyone putting us down, which is consistent with the Cayman psyche that goes back to our marine heritage.”
Cayman was one of five teams to qualify for Costa Rica. The local ladies earned their spot in the quarterfinals of the competition last December here on Grand Cayman’s Public Beach. Joining them were event winners Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao and Jamaica. The top five teams from the Central American zone await the Caribbean nations this week.
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