Jamaica plan to go one better at CAZOVA Women’s Championship
Last year, only one team stood between Jamaica and the title at the CAZOVA Women’s Championship — Trinidad and Tobago.
The national women’s volleyball team is gearing up for another shot at the title and the main person directing their preparations, Ricardo Chong, has again affixed the bullseye squarely on their opponents from the twin-island republic in the run for top honours this time.
“The only team that would have more match practice than us is Trinidad and Tobago because they’ve qualified for a top-level tournament and they’re currently playing, so they would come to the tournament as the team to beat because they are playing back-to-back weeks before coming to the tournament,” said Chong.
Jamaica will host the tournament, which runs from July 26-31 at the National Indoor Sports Centre, with eight countries participating. Trinidad and Tobago, US Virgin Islands, Suriname, Curacao, Bahamas, Guadeloupe, Martinique and hosts Jamaica make up the contestants.
The locals have been training for two months and recently stepped up their preparation from twice weekly to four times, with additional sessions on Saturday and Sunday as they gained access to the gymnasium at UWI Bowl. Prior to that, the training days were Tuesdays and Thursdays only, with each session lasting three hours.
Chong noted that not having their own facility and the amateur status creates deficiencies, especially when compared to their main rivals.
“It’s a little bit of a setback because one, our coaches, like most other minor sports, have to work to earn, because most times it’s volunteerism as a coach at the national level for minor sports, so you don’t get to do that twice-a-day training during the week with players; and players themselves also work, so you’re limited to train during the evenings and weekends you’ve to try and do morning and evening in order to try and simulate,” he explained.
In terms of preparation, he said they’re not perfect, but making advance.
“I wouldn’t say satisfied, but we’re getting there,” Chong said. “We could’ve done a lot more and there’s still a lot more to do.”
When it gets to game time, he expects improvements.
“We should be ready. But you can only judge yourself by how you play in the tournament,” he noted.
