An extra week to prepare student-athletes for the long sporting season was given to coaches by the newly-elected members of the executive board in the Government Secondary Schools Sporting Association (GSSSA).
The decision to push the first sport, volleyball, back another week was made on Monday evening after Alfred Forbes was returned to office, as president of the association. The GSSSA was hoping to get things started on Monday, September 26. The new date for play is October 3. A full schedule is expected to be released next week Wednesday.
"We only have two weeks before the start of the season, so hopefully, coaches will use this time to further prepare their teams for the long year," said Forbes. "We want them to look professional when they hit the court. We want to see a good showing from all the schools. I believe that the level of play was raised so you will see a lot of improvements and more competitive games.
"We started October 1 last year. This year we will be starting about two days later. There were some delays last year as well and minor hiccups, but we are hoping to have smooth sailing this time around. We want to complete volleyball as planned, so we can start basketball on time. If we get all of these sports starting on time, then the entire calendar of events will be ticking."
A double round robin format will be used in both volleyball and basketball. All-star games are also penciled in on the calendar of events. The GSSSA plans to host a volleyball clinic on September 30, and a basketball seminar on November 4. Forbes will like to encourage all coaches to take full advantage of the various upcoming tournaments, the ones hosted by the GSSSA and private organizations.
He added: "The Tom Grant tournament is coming up next week and if we start on Monday, and his tournament gets on the way on Thursday, that means we will only play two days anyway, in some cases. So if coaches take advantage of this tournament, that will give them an opportunity to see exactly what they are working with and need to improve upon for the season. They can use that tournament as a pre-season warm-up."
The basketball season is expected to tip-off on November 7. This will be followed by the soccer series, kicking off January 16. The Founders Luncheon is listed on the calendar for January 30, the cheerleaders championship will follow on February 11. The month of March will  be a busy one for the association with the annual track and field meet, held over three days, and the start of the softball league.
At the conclusion of the season, student-athletes will be treated to a special luncheon and awards presentation on June 6.

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