Barbados unlikely to defend volleyball crowns

The possibility of double crown champions Barbados being able to defend their Under-21 Boys and Under-20 Girls titles at the 2020 North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) Championship in Canada this year seems unlikely.    

President of the Barbados Volleyball Association (BVA) Kenmore Bynoe confirmed that the roster for both the junior and senior national team’s has been disrupted as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID 19) that forced the postponement of some volleyball tournaments.

Last year Barbados captured their third consecutive Under-21 Boys title and maiden Under-20 Girls crown and appeared set to defend their championship trophies come June. But now it seems they will have to wait a while longer.

The Under-23s were also expected to compete at the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) tournament in the Dominican Republic.

Additionally, there is uncertainty surrounding the senior Caribbean Volleyball Championship as the women’s slated for July in Guadeloupe was postponed and the men’s planned for October in the Bahamas looks very remote.

Off the court, volleyball is also being impacted as the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) World Congress planned for Thailand in October has now been pushed back to January 27th to 29th. Also, Bynoe said that there has been no indication as to whether the (NORCECA) congress in June this year has been postponed.

“The fourteen Caribbean presidents are having a Zoom meeting on Wednesday. So, I guess we will find out (whether NORCECA Congress will take place). They were probably waiting for FIVB to postpone their congress because the law is that NORCECA must hold its congress at least three months before the FIVB congress. And the FIVB congress was scheduled for November and theirs were scheduled for June. So, they didn’t want to risk pushing back theirs until the FIVB had done something with theirs,” Bynoe explained.

In terms of the national teams, Bynoe said that the national coaches have been submitting online programmes for the players to train and maintain their levels of fitness.

“At the end of the day, you need teamwork. But this is a different situation, so they would be working out at home individually. And whether it is good or bad, most of our young volleyballers or most of our national volleyballers have brothers, sisters, mothers or fathers who played on the national team. So, even though they are at home working out on their own they could still get in some ball work with a mother, father or uncle who played volleyball,” he said.

The BVA made an early decision to postpone its lower-division season which would have been playing presently had it not been for COVID 19.

“We had taken a decision early to postpone the lower division. The lower division would have been playing at this time and in previous years we used to play both divisions together, the lower divisions as well as the senior divisions. But I guess that is to make things easier in terms of the limited officials, the limited resources we had in terms of coaches and so forth. Because you would find that a person who is coaching a first division team may be playing in a lower division or coaching a lower division,” he said.

Bynoe added: “So we had separated them to give the lower division their own time in the limelight. And if push comes to shove and the crisis is cleared up we will just continue the lower division, the same time that we will be starting the first division. It is something that we would have done in the past, so it is just a matter of putting in the effort to make it a success.”

The BVA president also explained that even though it might be ideal to play the volleyball season earlier in the year and get it over with, the clash with examinations and attempts to secure usage of facilities like the Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium often pose a challenge.

“Our problem is that years ago we had taken a decision to only play division one indoors and it presents a challenge for us in terms of getting the facilities. At one stage we were using the gym up St. Phillip but obviously that belongs to a religious group and they would want their facility.

“In terms of the Gymnasium, we have to try to get in and get out before exams start, before the various NIFCA activities and so forth. The time that we use later in the year is usually the ideal time. If we start earlier up in the year we will run into the situation with exams,” he explained.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb