The Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) will open its 2014-2015 sports calendar with volleyball next Monday, after a delay in action due to last minute maintenance procedures at the four public school gymnasiums around the island.
President of the GSSSA Kevin Johnson said during the summer that the association intends to use the A.F. Adderley, D.W. Davis, C.I. Gibson and Anatol Rodgers gymnasiums for the upcoming season, so that no games would be played outside. The increase in venues has also allowed the association to stage a double round-robin format this year, before moving into the playoffs and championships.
Johnson noted that although the delay might have thrown the season schedule off slightly, it might prove to be beneficial to some of the teams going forward.
"A lot of the gyms were not ready. We just recently finished off the C.I. Gibson Gymnasium and A.F. Adderley would be next to be fixed up and ready to go. We want to make sure that all of the new equipment that goes in the gyms are working and ready to go, because we don't want to fall short anywhere when we get started," said Johnson. "We are looking to start off with a bang when we get
going on the 29th, and the brief delay also gives the senior schools and junior schools an extra week to practice and get themselves prepared, so I think it's a win-win situation for everyone involved."
The C.V. Bethel Stingrays took both the senior boys' and girls' titles last season; the A.F. Adderley Tigers were crowned as champions in the junior boys' and girls' divisions.
After they are through with the volleyball season, the GSSSA will move on to basketball, soccer, track and field, and then softball and baseball for girls and boys, respectively.
The private schools have already begun their after-school sports programs, but unlike the GSSSA, they started with softball.
This is the second season that baseball will be a part of the GSSSA schedule. The S.C. McPherson Sharks and the C.R. Walker Knights emerged as junior and senior boys' champions, respectively, in the inaugural GSSSA baseball classic last year.

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