JAMAICA has ben chosen to host the 2016 Caribbean Volleyball Senior Men’s and Women’s Championships which the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JaVA) is hoping will be played inside the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) from July 7-17.

According to Rudolph Speid, president of JaVA, hosting this volleyball championships is a great achievement. “The president of the Caribbean Zonal of Volleyball Associations (CAZOVA) was very pleased in what he saw when he visited Jamaica last month (December) in our bid to host the championships. He took a look at all the various facilities which are required to be chosen as the host.

“This is also another milestone as this will be the fourth tournament JaVA will be hosting in Jamaica. We hosted the Boys’ Under-17 Caribbean Championships won by Jamaica, then we are going to be hosting the second round of the Beach Volleyball Olympics Qualifiers scheduled in Ocho Rios from January 29-31, to be followed by the Caribbean Senior Championships,” Speid said.

“Incidentally, Jamaica won the first round of the Caribbean Beach Olympics Volleyball Qualifiers last year in Ocho Rios, and Jamaica will be hosting the second round in Ocho Rios again this month. It was a fantastic job being done by the JaVA. We were very fortunate of being the host (of) over several Caribbean countries because of our great hospitality and preparedness and the president was very pleased durng his visit to Jamaica.”

He said as a result of JaVA successful hosting of previous events, plus hospitality, training venues and hotel accommodations, Jamaica was able to be selected as the country to host the Caribbean Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Championships.

“JaVA was really happy when we were advised by Mushtaque Mohammed, president of CAZOVA, who visited Jamaica last month to conduct site visits of our proposed tournament training venues, as well as hotels for the athletes and officials,” said Speid.

Speid added that in Mohammed’s letter to him, it stated, “from my inspection visit, it was evident that you and your team have the enthusiasm and drive necessary to provide the best conditions for the hosting of our major tournaments”.

Speid also said that hosting the second round of the Women’s Beach Olympic Qualifiers in Ocho Rios at the end of January, will be the second major international volleyball competition that will be held in Jamaica this year.

He expects to have eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams from the Caribbean participating in the championships.

However, he noted that apart from hosts Jamaica, defending men’s and women’s champions Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados are the Caribbean countries he knows to have already given their commitment to participate.

“At present, I have not received any appplications from any other Caribbean countriies, but I am, however, very optimistic that we will have the full number of teams participating whenever the invitations are sent out,” he said.

Speid, who is also the current technical director of Cavalier Football Club, said he would like Jamaicans to know the value of volleyball where it can be played professionally and players can earn a living by receiving contracts, scholarships to schools overseas and many other advantages in the sport.

“We would also like Jamaicans to see and understand how exciting and thrilling volleyball matches are played on the international circuit and the numerous exposures players can achieve,” he added.

For the July 7-17 dates, National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC), National Arena, University of the West Indies (UWI) and University of Technology (UTech) venues are tentative until all arrangements for hosting the championships have been fully organised.