This summer, Bermuda will be participating in the Qualifying Tournaments for the World Volleyball Championships to be held in 2014. The first event is the Women’s Group D World Championship Qualifier to be held on July 17 & 28 in Basseterre, St. Kitts. During that event Bermuda will be facing off against St Kitts, Anguilla and Dutch St. Marteen. The Men’s team will be travelling to French St. Martin at the end of August.
This marks the second time Bermuda has participated in the World Championship Qualifiers. In 2009 the Bermuda Women won the first round qualifier in French St Martin, moving on to the second round before falling to Trinidad, USVI and Surinam. The Bermuda Volleyball Association is hoping to use this event as a valuable learning experience for some younger players. “We are looking to expand our national team program by incorporating more of our junior national team players into the senior team squad for this event. The intention is to give these young Bermudian players valuable match & tournament experience that will aid them in our preparations for the 2013 Island Games in Bermuda next summer. “ Elisabeth Rae, Co-President, Bermuda Volleyball Association.
The Women’s Team Head Coach is Juanita Blee and she had the following to say about the team and their preparations: “There is a mixture of veterans and newcomers on the team which makes the dynamics of the team very interesting. The ladies will need to be focused and work together to get a good result but that’s true with any team sport. Key players are Lisa Leblanc, Stacey Dorush and Vikki Stevenson. These veteran players bring a wealth of knowledge and experience which will hopefully assist the younger players to stay calm and focused. Our key newcomers are Melissa Fiddick and Khianda Pearman-Watson who will be playing in their first international volleyball games at a senior level. Both however have international experience playing for Bermuda’s Junior National Team in the last year and in other sports. Most recent was Khianda participating in the Carifta Games.”
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