THE fourth and final in a series of coaching clinics for the inaugural prep and primary schools programme ended last weekend as the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JaVA) beefs up efforts to develop the game islandwide.

Physical education teachers in the parishes of St Thomas, Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine, Westmoreland, St Elizabeth and Manchester participated in the clinics held in Kingston, St Catherine, Westmoreland and Manchester.

Forty-seven candidates representing 20 prep and primary schools obtained training for the competition JaVA hopes to launch next month.

The programme aims to identify children under 13 years with the aptitude, attitude and body profile suited to volleyball through parish, zonal and national competitions.

After the talents have been picked, JaVA will conduct national training camps to hone the skill sets craved at the national level.

JaVA president Major Warrenton Dixon noted that “mini-volleyball is the new direction of the volleyball world. Children are being introduced to the sport as young as five years old. The idea is to allow children to grow while developing the muscle strength and muscle memory required for volleyball”.

Despite not attracting sponsorship, Major Dixon says he will press on with the prep and primary school programme.

“The programme is too important to allow it to be derailed by sponsorship challenges. In fact we took the decision to launch the programme knowing that we would likely have challenges, given our recent history,” he added.

While JaVA has attracted donations of new and used balls from friends in Canada, Italy and the USA, Major Dixon noted that the local association was “trying to get more donations of balls and hopefully nets because we still do not have enough to make a practical allocation to each school”.

Though over 40 schools in seven parishes have expressed in the prep and primary schools programme, not all have been able to send representatives to the clinics. In this regard, JaVA will try to facilitate schools still interested in participating in the competition.

Coaches Steve Davis, Oneil Ebanks and Oral Channer conducted the clinics.