THE curtains came down on the St Ann Volleyball Association/Brown’s Town Community College Under 13 competition at the Brown’s Town Primary School last month with Gibraltar All Age and Infant being crowned champions.

Gibraltar All Age and Infant defeated Bamboo Primary and Junior High 33-22 in a tense and at times competitive final.

The victors had earlier dispatched Brown’s Town Primary 35-23 in their semi-final, while Bamboo Primary and Junior High had demolished Muir House Primary and Junior High 44-16 in the second semi-final.

In the third-place play-off, Muir House Primary and Junior High defeated Brown’s Town Primary 40-23.

Coach of Gibraltar All Age, Tennecha Riley was elated at taking the title and having Duyte Barnett being selected as the most valuable player of the finals. “We worked hard for this and the boys came out and played well, especially Duyte Barnett who was fittingly rewarded with the most valuable player award.”

The competition has been ongoing for the past seven years with the St Ann Volleyball Association in charge for four years.

Twenty schools took part in last year’s competition with the top-four schools qualifying for the National Under-13 Competition which will be held this month.

“From this competition, the St Ann Association has observed that more schools have incorporated volleyball as a part of their physical education programme. One of the major objectives of the association is to grow the sport of volleyball across the parish of St Ann and steady progress has been made over the last couple years. Since 2014, more than 500 children have participated in the competition and we hope to involve many more in the years to come,” said Richard Johnson, vice-president of the St Ann Volleyball Association.

Vincent Cover, sports coordinator Brown’s Town Community College, told the Jamaica Observer, “This is the third year that the Brown’s Town Community College has sponsored the competition. We are proud to be contributing to the development of the youth across the parish through this competition. The college sees it as a way of giving back to the community. Our motto is ‘Committed to Service’ and as such we try to serve the wider community not just in terms of providing academic opportunities, but in the holistic development of the youth. Sports such as volleyball help young people to develop certain character traits such as discipline, concentration and team spirit.”

— EVERARD OWEN