Sanchez, Stewart want more CAZOVA teams involved

Sanchez, Stewart want more CAZOVA teams involved

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, April 24, 2015 - The Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) needs to put more emphasis on getting teams to compete in as many events as possible on the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit, if they want to improve overall.

This was the view of Puerto Rican, Arnaldo Sanchez, President  of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Commission and Daymian Stewart, President of the T&T Volleyball Federation and also the of CAZOVA Beach Commission.

Both men made their views be known on the eve of the staging of the opening leg of the 2015 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit Town at Seven Miles Beach Cayman Islands from Friday until Sunday.

It will be the seventh straight yea, the tour will be serving off in Cayman Islands.

Sanchez, the Cayman Islands’ Tournament Director noted that the first stop on the tour is a jammed packed one, as is the case most times.

“We have 16 men and 17 women teams, and as we say at the federation, the more teams compete, the better the event as it shows that a lot more countries and teams want to get involved in the sport at the highest level in the Confederation,” stated Sanchez.

However, with regards to the number of teams from the CAZOVA being represented, Sanchez, the most popular man on the circuit with players and spectators alike said he was not at all happy with their participation level.

Looking ahead to the season, Sanchez said, “We know already two of the stops on this year’s tour being cancelled due to Canada hosting the Pan American Games to be held in Canada in July.

“Prior to that we also have the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship to be staged in China in June, in addition to the World Tour Grand Slam which started earlier this week as well in China (Fuzhou), hence the reason you don’t have the tops teams from Canada, USA and Mexicans who have all opted to go to China.

“But as you can see, only T&T, Barbados and Cayman Islands are from CAZOVA in the men’s while T&T, Cayman Islands and Jamaica compete in the women’s which is not enough”.

Daymian Stewart, the NORCECA Supervisor and president of the T&T Volleyball Federation also echoed the views of Sanchez, saying he does not think that CAZOVA countries are taking full advantage of opportunities being provided by NORCECA.

For instance, the countries that are participating here in Cayman Islands and then have the first round of the Rio 2016 Olympic qualifiers this will provide a good chance for them to gauge  where they are in terms of their readiness as well as compare their level of play against their expected opponents.

“I cannot be happy with what’s taking place in CAZOVA because there are a lot of opportunities being giving to them at the NORCECA level because this is where they need be competing, especially with their respective first round Continental Olympic qualifiers for Brazil just around the corner.

Asked what may have been the reason for their absence, Stewart, the CAZOVA coordinator at NORCECA noted that finance could not have been a major issue.

He said, “Tickets were available for the top ranked teams in each men and women to attend, and not all were taken up.

According to Stewart the slow growth of the sporting in some countries can be seen just by looking at the registration of teams which compete on the circuit.

He explained, “When you look at the players representing some of the CAZOVA countries you see the same names that you saw over five years ago, and it make you wonder what are we as a confederation and individual bodies are doing to develop the sport.

“We must do better collectively and individually if we want to see an improvement, ended Stewart.

Commenting on the issue, Kennedy McGowan, who was recently elected head of the Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation, said all the countries need to step up their game.

He added, “As a member of CAZOVA from the inception we all have to build what we have as an association. It belongs to us and by making it stronger it helps for a stronger NORCECA body as well.

“There is also a need as associations for us to promote what we are doing a lot more than we do, by actually showing that we are able to host big tournaments like these,” stated Mc Gowan.