Teams exude confidence and caution ahead of ECVA senior Women's Championship

Oranjestad, St. Eustatius,  July 10 2014-Respect all, fear none, seems to be the common thread among the coaches on the eve of the 2014 East Caribbean Volleyball Association  (ECVA) Senior Women Championship.

Defending champs St. Lucia is quite aware of the treatment that defending champs around the world have been given. Coach Florian Combie said that he has been using that as a reference point with his charges. "I told them that just because we are the defending champs does not give us any special rights to the title. We have to play with discipline and  tenacity. Although we have been winning we have not been extremely dominant so we came here expecting a fight and we are prepared for it" he said.

Coach of Dominica - Albert Loblack came to the tournament with positive plans. "We have had two titles in the past and we came here expecting  to make it three. We went away evaluated our weaknesses  and worked on them so one can expect a more energized and  more hungry Dominica unit" he stated.

Esron Gittens of Antigua  reminded us that his team place second in last tournament in 2012 and this year they plan to do just one better. "We have an experienced squad that has been exposed to the international format of the game and as such we will bring more intensity and aggression to the table" he insisted.

Cleophas Arrindell of  St. Maarten was a bit more modest. "We came here to expose our  young girls in a rebuilding phase but that doesn't say we are going to roll over and die, we simple do not know what that is so everyone can expect a fight to the end"  he intimated.

Assistant coach of the home team  Esmond Hook suggested  that they would be putting their best effort forward on and off the court. "Although it is our first time I think we have the resources to get to the finals. It is up to the girls to produce"  he said.

Guillaume Bryan of St Maarten said that his girls have worked hard over the last two months and as such are full of confidence. "We came here with a mindset this  could very well be our first title at this level. Our girls are well experienced and well prepared to observe and make the required adjustments  to produce the victory" he stated.

Coach of St. Kitts/Nevis - Steadroy Collins was to the point. "We came here to win and I believe that we can pull it off as the girls are more focused than ever before. It is our most experienced girls who know the opponents very well. We know what they are capable of but more importantly we know what we are capable of"  he hinted.

Team BVI indicated that they will bring a lot competitiveness to the tournament. Coach Roy Barry gave his own assessment. "In these competitions there is not wide disparity  between the teams. It usually comes down the teams' willingness to win and coaches strategy and I would like to think that we have both" he admitted.

The games begin at  2 pm at the  Earl Merkman Sport Hall with St. Martin versus British Virgin Islands (BVI).