by Carlena Knight
National volleyballer Adrian Constant has created history as the first Antiguan Barbudan to become a brand ambassador for Vollis.
Vollis Beach Volleyball is a professional training academy in the US dedicated to developing sand and indoor volleyball athletes of all levels ranging from beginners to professionals.
Constant explained during an exclusive interview with Observer over the weekend that it was during his collegiate days that the connection was first made with Vollis. He attended the Midway University in Midway, Kentucky, on an athletic scholarship.
“After college, I was in the States for another 12 months and the brand was a brand that was very active. They had a lot of representatives from Lexington which is where I was staying. We made the connection and we decided that now is the right time,” Constant explained.
Constant will be signed for a year to the Tennessee brand and will be hoping to bring a number of projects to the country.
“We probably could have gotten the deal done sooner but the tough thing was, the question we had to ask was, what can Vollis do for my community? Yes Vollis can give me gear, yes Vollis can pay things, but what can Vollis do for my community? And we tried to develop a plan.
“We are in a midst of completing a plan, in terms of maybe camps, maybe tournaments, what we can do for the community seeing as Antigua is not in the USA, so it’s not very easy for Vollis members to be down here,” he said.
Constant expressed his happiness over the deal and more so for the opportunity he has been given.
He believes that it will not only boost his status but the country’s as well.
“It really means a lot because this is another outside avenue that we have for exposure for our beach volleyball. Our volleyball in general, in Antigua, is very good so with me being one of our top tier players and getting a deal like this opens doors for other persons across the country to get deals, other persons across the region to get deals.
“Who knows, we may get a Vollis Caribbean where we don’t have to focus on getting to Tennessee or Kentucky or Florida.
“Any time you make connections overseas with brands it is always good because it can help with tourism, it can help with sports, we may even get a coach out of this or our local coaches may even qualify with the talent they do have to go overseas and coach within the Vollis programme. I think it means a lot. It’s very important and a very good connection,” Constant added.
This deal comes on the heels of Constant wrapping up one of his best seasons to date.
He led his club team Stoneville to back to back titles in the local volleyball league and was also the captain of the historic senior men’s volleyball team who won the country’s first ever ECVA title.
Constant is presently in St Lucia representing the country at the ECVA Senior Men’s Zonal Beach Volleyball Championship with his teammate and national player, Jamarie James.
The duo won their opening match versus St Vincent and the Grenadines in straight sets, 21-18 21-14 on Friday.
A female duo is also flying the country’s flag at the event.
The duo of Zellene Edwards and Josanne Lewis have played two matches thus far, winning their first over Dominica, 2-1 in sets (21-18, 13-21, 15-10), and losing the second in straight sets to St Lucia 2.