By Neto Baptiste
Antigua and Barbuda will be represented in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the 2023 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (EVCA) Under-21 Beach Volleyball Championship slated for September 2-3 in St Kitts.
Jassania Joseph and Jaya Carr will compete in the women’s division while Khaliq Joseph and Miguel Pena Lugo will fly the country’s flag in the men’s division.
Coach and senior men’s player Olsen Joseph said the aim is always to finish ahead of the pack.
“If we finish first, then that’s acceptable because we’re looking forward to that, but if we could finish in the top three at least we would know where we are standing and need to work on going forward. I assume most coaches going forward in this competition will be looking forward to this first competition to see where we stand against each other so we could know what to do and push ourselves going forward,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda will face competition from Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Anguilla, St Vincent and the Grenadines, British Virgin Islands and St Lucia during the competition to be held at Marriott Beach.
Joseph said the competition is the first step in a three-year programme designed to groom players over the next three years.
“This competition is basically going to be a unique one … a three-year competition [programme]. It will be this age group or same set of players going forward competing against each other until 2025, so this year is just trial and error. I hope they do good because they are young and will be on the same level,” he said.
Team Antigua and Barbuda is set to leave for St Kitts on Friday.