National volleyball championship to spike off next week

Wed, Nov 20th 2013, 12:09 PM

The two top volleyball teams from four high school sporting associations in the country will take to the court, hoping to spike their way to a national title.
The inaugural National High Schools Volleyball Tournament of Champions is set for November 29-30 at the C.I. Gibson Gymnasium. The tournament has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and will be hosted by the New Providence Volleyball Association (NPVA), which falls under the umbrella of the Bahamas Volleyball Federation (BVF). The two-day event is being sponsored by J.S. Johnson & Company Ltd.
The four high school sporting associations that will take part in the tournament are the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS); Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA), Grand Bahama School Association (GBSA) and Bahamas Scholastic and Athletic Association (BSAA). The teams are C.V. Bethel, C.R. Walker, Government High School, St. Andrew's College, Bahamas Academy, St. Augustine's College, Nassau Christian Academy, Mount Carmel, Teleos, Bishop Michael Eldon and St. George's High.
"On behalf of the Bahamas Volleyball Federation and the New Providence Volleyball Association, we would really like to thank the Ministry of Education for seeing it fit to invite us to come on board for such a prestigious event," said DeVince Smith, president of the NPVA. "With volleyball
being one of the core sports in The Bahamas, we would like to really thank you because we believe in creating a student-athlete and we realize the importance of sports and education. We see this tournament as a great start for volleyball for our youth in The Bahamas.
"Not only does it create a positive outline, but it gives our students an opportunity to develop their skills where they can become collegiate or professional players. We are grateful to have this opportunity to step in and do our part to ensure that this tournament is a success. We cannot thank you enough. We hope that one day this tournament can become as big, or create as much fans as the Hugh Campbell tournament."
The tournament will have a round robin format with each team playing at least two or three games before advancing to the play-offs. According to tournament director, Kirkwood Greene, the set-up is designed to provide more play opportunities for the teams. If the top two schools from any of the sporting associations are unable to attend, invitations will be extended to third and fourth place squads. Greene, along with the Director of Sports in the ministry, Evon Wisdom, are hoping to receive final confirmation by the end of the week, or no later than Monday.
With this being a national championship, Wisdom apologized for not having representation from all the schools in the country. He revealed that the ministry is in discussions with the other school sporting associations, hoping to have all the sports played around the same time. This, according to Wisdom, will make it easier when wanting to host national events.
"This tournament will grow from strength to strength and as the tournament grows, we will be able to get more of the different organizations and leagues within the islands to participate in the tournament," Wisdom said. "Discussions are now happening, as we try to get all of the schools playing the same sport around the same time. The only sport I know all of the associations come together is track and field. We are trying to do the same thing in the other sports."
The volleyball season in the GSSSA recently concluded and the BAISS season will start in 2014.

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