It might not be the results they had envisioned, or hoped for, but the beach volleyball experience for The Bahamas at the 6th Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) here in Nassau, The Bahamas, ended on a positive note yesterday morning as the progress in the sport became evident.
The two boys teams battled each other with the 'A' squad of Nathan Wert and Kyle Wilson coming out on top over the 'B' squad of Aaron Springer and James Cleare; and in girls play, not only did The Bahamas actually win a set, but they scored an impressive victory over Trinidad & Tobago.
Up until yesterday morning, The Bahamas had come up empty in 20 sets against international opponents. It looked like much of the same would continue as the Trini pair of Tsyan Selvon and Ebony Williams jumped out to an early lead against Mechelle Moss and LaTavia Braynen in the seventh and eighth place game for the girls. They took the opening set, but Moss and Braynen never gave up. They battled back to take the final two sets, and salvage a victory to bring their beach volleyball experience to a close at the CYG Bahamas 2017. In the end, they prevailed, 15-21, 21-18 and 15-10.
The Bahamas scored six straight points on Moss' serve to pull away from Trinidad & Tobago in the final set.
"We just stayed focussed and upbeat, and we were able to come out on top," said Moss. "It feels great to finally come out with a victory. We improved in a lot of areas, and that's a good thing. We fought hard and we kept believing in ourselves. The first set was kind of close so we knew that we had the ability to play with them - we just stayed focussed and kept battling."
The six straight on Moss' serve in the third set broke an 8-8 deadlock, and gave The Bahamas six match points. Trinidad & Tobago quickly erased two of them, prompting Team Bahamas Coach Glen Rolle to call a timeout. That served to settle the team down, as they put the match away on the next point. An attempted kill by Trinidad & Tobago sailed long, and Team Bahamas celebrated a hard fought victory.
"We only needed one more point to win the match, and we got it," said Moss. "I love this sport, and would love to continue playing it. I could see myself playing again for The Bahamas in the future. We just have to continue to work hard and we'll get better."
Rolle concurs.
"These girls worked hard for this, and it shows that hard work pays off," said Rolle. "Whenever you could get a win, it's a good day, and I'm just happy that we were able to do it today. The girls started to get comfortable, and once they got comfortable, they started playing much better. They executed and came out on top. I'm very happy for them."
Rolle said that beach volleyball program is on the right track, and it's just up to them as coaches to continue to develop the young players.
"We're trying to get this program to the highest level possible," he said. "We want to be able to qualify for the junior worlds, and then the Olympics after that. We have the resources. We have the beaches, we have the sand. We just need to come together now, and make things better for one another. We have all the tools to be successful," he added.
Moss is getting ready to go off to college in the fall, but said that the sporting discipline of beach volleyball is definitely something that she could see herself progressing in, in the future.
Braynen was also upbeat about the victory, and is looking forward to better results in beach volleyball in the future.
"It feels really good to get this win. Beach volleyball is a lot of fun, but you have to play hard to accomplish what you want to in the sport. We got more comfortable as we moved through the tournament, and we played better," she said.
In the boys game, Wert and Wilson defeated Springer and Cleare in straight sets, 21-15 and 21-8. It was their only victory of the competition. Wert and Wilson finished 11th in the competition, while Springer and Cleare were 12th.
"Even though we had a lot of losses, it was a great experience," said Wert. "This was our first tournament together, and we got some invaluable experience. We did our best and it was a lot of fun. I could definitely see myself going further in the sport," he added.
The gold and bronze medal matches, in both genders, will be held this morning at the Malcolm Park Beach Soccer Facility at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge.
The CYG Bahamas 2017 continues today with six of the nine sports on the docket. Over 1,000 athletes from 64 countries are competing in the CYG Bahamas 2017.

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