Primary School Volleyball Festival boosts skills at Wildey Gym

Students from eight Primary Schools across the island had the opportunity to sharpen their volleyball skills on Monday, during the Primary School Volleyball Festival staged by the National Sports Council.

The floor at the Wildey Gymnasium was a hive of activity as the students immersed themselves in the basics of the game, under the watchful eyes of several coaches on a number of courts, while participating in a number of friendly drills and games.

NSC Volleyball coach Andrew Culpepper, said the objective of the event was to expose more players to the sport, at an earlier than normal age.

National Sports Council coach, Andrew Culpepper. (Photo Credit: Kurtis Hinds)

“We’re working on the basics, the underhand and serving skills and then we’re going into rally matches where the schools play against each other. It’s mainly a fun type initiative, so that we can really get volleyball into the primary schools and then on to the Secondary Schools,” he explained.

“So their ages are around nine,10 and 11 and so far they are doing very well for this age group. Normally we start a little later, like in Secondary School, but some of these are even better than some of my Secondary School children.”

He also explained the decision to introduce children to the sport at a younger age.

“We realised that we needed to start a little earlier because we started with basic things like bumping and serving at the age of 13 or 14, where we should be really moving on to skills like spiking and blocking, so we’re trying to start a little earlier, so we can advance the children further,” he said.

St George Primary was one of the schools participating in the event. Student Tariq Mayers said he enjoyed the activity, having already played the sport beforehand.

“Volleyball today was good and we practiced our serving, bumping and volleying and I really just enjoyed playing with my friends and having fun,” Mayers stated.

St George Primary coach Nicholas Brathwaite, hailed the festival as a good opportunity for players to become more acquainted with the game.

“It ‘s great for them to come out and not only learn the basics of the game but also have the experience of actually playing volleyball against some of their counterparts from other schools.

“It’s been very informative, not only for the children but for myself as well.

I’m learning some of the rules of volleyball, and it’s good for the students.”

(KH)