Warrenton Dixon (left)
Hosts Jamaica, Barbados, Aruba and Cayman Islands will compete in the two-day event to define three teams who will advance to next year’s second phase.
Jamaica and Barbados are currently placed 12th and 13th in NORCECA rankings while Aruba and Cayman Islands share the 30th position.
Teams will play two daily matches under a round-robin format and then those placed first and second will decide the top position and the third and fourth placed side will dispute the last ticket to the second round of 2013.
The NORCECA Group E women’s event is the eighth and last tournament organized by the confederation this year under its development plan designed to give more competitive opportunities to national teams of the less developed countries.
“Our volleyball program at the senior level is not where we want it to be as yet, but I’m very happy about the direction in which we are going,” stated Major Warrenton Dixon, president of Jamaica Volleyball Association.
“Our local-based players have been in training since April 2012, and although there has been significant challenges getting them to train at a convenient venue (after work), we have done what we can and are excited for the future of volleyball”. There will be five of our foreign-based players on the team – Lecia Brown, Naima Stennett, Avaniki Campbell, Sashalee Wallen and Makini Thompson.
“Unfortunately, some of our other very potent foreign-based players, like Joylene Thompson who is accumulating accolades for herself in the US intercollegiate league, are not available to represent us at this time”.
“Our future is bright, and I hope Jamaica will also become infused with excitement for volleyball and we can together make fast progress to becoming world beaters,” Dixon said.
Funding for participation in the qualifier has been provided in the main by NORCECA Volleyball Confederation and the Sports Development Foundation.
The competition schedule is as follows:
November 29
9:00 BAR v ARU
11:00 JAM v CAY
18:00 BAR v CAY
20:00 JAM v ARU
November 30
9:00 ARU v CAY
11:00 JAM v BAR
18:00 Third v Fourth
20:00 First v Second
First round women’s tournaments:
Group H at Nicaragua (May 17-21)
1. Nicaragua, 2. Guatemala, 3. Honduras
Group C at US Virgin Islands (May 24-28)
1. US Virgin Islands, 2. Curacao, 3. Haiti, 4. Martinique
Group F at British Virgin Islands (June 8-11)
1. Dominica, 2. Antigua, 3. British Virgin Islands, 4. French St Martin
Group B at Grenada (June 21-24)
1. St Lucia, 2. St Vincent, 3. Grenada, 4. St Eustatius
Group D at St. Kitts and Nevis (July 26-30)
1. St Kitts & Nevis, 2. Anguilla, 3. Bermuda, 4. Dutch St. Marteen
Group G at Panama (August 17-21)
1. Panama, 2. El Salvador, 3. Belize, 4. Bonaire
Group A at Suriname (September 1-2)
1. Trinidad & Tobago, 2.Guadeloupe, 3. Suriname, 4. Bahamas
Group E at Kingston, Jamaica (November 29-30)
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