Simpson pursuing one final goal

After serving Barbados with distinction at the highest level in both volleyball and squash, Shawn Simpson has only one other mission to accomplish and that’s to finish his career with one last championship title for both sports.

The senior national men’s volleyball captain and reigning number one with a record 11th squash titles to his name, Simpson is undeniably a king of the court in his own right competing in both disciplines.

The 36-year-old told Barbados TODAY he came into 2020 hoping that this would be swan song year in both sports but might need to wait a little while longer until the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic passes.

“Balancing both sports is getting harder for me to play at the highest level for both of them. I’ve been picking up a lot more ankle injuries as a result of trying to balance both sports. I’m just trying to think about my own health and ability to carry on.

“I think I’ve had a pretty successful volleyball career and one of the things I would like to do as one of the leaders of the team is to win a title as a senior player. As opposed to when I was on the team in the earlier years and coming off the bench and playing a little bit. So, if we don’t have volleyball or squash this year at least I would have another year. I don’t want to see myself playing for more than another year. But for me, I would just like to sign off on a good note with that one final title and end on top,” he said.

The six-foot-six attacker is expected to lead the Barbados senior men’s team at the 2020 Caribbean Volleyball Association Championship in the Bahamas come October. No stranger to the men’s volleyball team, Simpson was part of the 2004, 2006 champion sides led by former captain Elwyn Oxley.

The son of Orson Simpson, a highly respected Level A Caribbean squash referee and Barbados Olympic Association treasurer, the younger Simpson recalled the year 2012 when he became the first person to score a hundred points at the Caribbean Volleyball Championship.

Two years later he won the best spiker in 2014 at the World Championship qualifiers in the Cayman Islands. That year he also made the all-star team as best opposite at the Caribbean Championship in Trinidad.

At club and school level – Simpson led Cawmere to their first Barbados Volleyball Association First Division Premier League title in 2017. While a student at Combermere School in the fourth form, Simpson led them to championship glory every year in both the league and knockout up until he left as a sixth former.

Sharing his plans for this year, Simpson said: “From a volleyball point of view we had the Caribbean championship scheduled for the Bahamas and I really want us to go out there and win it this year. I have been part of the team since 2004, so when we were on top and we were winning right up to 2008, I was part of that team in a different capacity where I was coming off the bench. But now as captain, I really would like to lead the team and get a title as one of those senior players on the team this time.

“At the end of the day, people still look up to Barbados as being the dominant force even though we have not been winning and I would really like that opportunity. Or I would have liked that opportunity because I don’t know if it has been called off yet,” Simpson said.

A Pan American Games silver medallist in mixed doubles with former 15-time national women’s champion Karen Meakins, Simpson explained he came into this new year with plans to extend his senior squash reign for the 12th time.

On his to-do-list was finishing a lot higher at the Caribbean Area Squash Championship slated for Jamaica in August.

“For squash, I wanted to try to win nationals number 12 and that would have been my main goal. On top of that, I wanted to perform at the Caribbean Area Squash Championships. I had a hard draw last year especially after a little mix up with the seedings and ended up meeting the number one seed in the round of 16. So, I didn’t get an opportunity to really get deep into the draw. Our number two player Khamal Cumberbatch was able to make the quarterfinals and finished a little higher than I did even though I had beaten him last year. So, he got a higher ranking at the end of the tournament than I did.

“One of the things I want to do as a result of what happened last year is come back hard, work hard and get deep in the Caribbean Championship. Depending on what the squash association was going to do in terms of sending us to the senior Pan American Championship which tends to be the year after the PanAm championship, a lot of countries don’t send their strongest teams. As a result, you tend to have a better chance of doing better,” he explained.

During this time where COVID-19 has brought the sport to a halt, Simpson said he was working hard at home to ensure he remains mentally and physically in shape.

“I have been watching a lot of volleyball highlights, keeping my mind sharp in terms of trying to think of things I want to do. So, from a mental point of view, I have been able to do that for volleyball. I haven’t been doing too much physical stuff with respect to volleyball as I don’t have a ball to bump. But I do have those (balls) for squash. So, as I said, I could go into the schoolyard down by me and do ghosting. Just doing enough to keep physically ready for when we are allowed to get back on either court,” Simpson said.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb