By Neto Baptiste
The Antigua and Barbuda Volleyball Association (ABVA), on Tuesday, released a 13-member squad as they finalise preparations for the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Senior Women’s Championships from October 13-16 in St Maarten.
Veteran players Rosemarie Simon, Mali Nyota Peters, Vanessa Burke, Sharon Payne and Joella Thomas lead the selections. Yuderka Martinez, Tyke Hawkins, Rayana Regis, Nashea Browne, Harmony Edwards, Jassania Joseph, Zellene Edwards and Kwansia Carr complete the squad.
Coach Fitzroy Benjamin said the selection of the team proved difficult as the coaching staff sought to bring together the best possible blend of senior and junior players for the high-level tournament.
“We have just about six senior players and all the rest were young players of the 24. All the young ones, they were looking promising and we had to be looking at the building process of the national team so we don’t really want to have the young people excluded from their chances now and then they [quit] the sport so we have to try to keep them in the sport because they are showing interest and that was the hardest part of it,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda will face teams from St Eustatius, British Virgin Islands and St Lucia in the group stage, while host Dutch St Maarten, French St Martin, and Anguilla will battle in the other group over a four-day period before the start of the quarterfinal round on October 15.
Benjamin anticipates tough challenges given the recent success in the men’s equivalent held here in July.
“All the teams will be coming out for Antigua because they don’t want Antigua to win the double. Mr Wilbur Harrigan [president] went to Holland the other day for the FIVB congress and this was said to him in that meeting, too, by the other countries. The good thing about it are those two days that we have when we get over there, so the focus would be on what we have to do,” the coach said.
The other members of the management staff are Olsen Joseph (assistant coach), Giselle Azar (manager) and Rawle Lee (referee).
Team Antigua and Barbuda departs on Monday and are scheduled to open their campaign on Wednesday, against St Eustatius, before facing the British Virgin Islands one day later. Antigua and Barbuda will round off their group campaign against St Lucia on Friday.
