In this regard, he has been assisting the UVC with the development of the younger athletes.

“Based on the feedback from the athletes, it was decided to invite Mr. Bridgewater to conduct the annual camp,” says Rhoda Arrindell, program coordinator.DSC04912 The 2009 camp was led by Mr. David Ross of the Yes I Can franchise in the US. “This year we figured we could get just as much, or even more, by using one of our own and someone the youngsters are already familiar with.”

The UVC 2010 camp will run from July 26 – 31, followed by a fundraising beach tournament Great Bay Beach on August 1. A total of 25 athletes are expected to participate in the camp.

During this latest visit, Bridgewater also met with the board of the St. Maarten Volleyball Association to assess SIMVA’s technical needs in its quest to revive the sport on-island.

Some of the priority areas that were identified in the meeting were the accreditation of coaches, involvement of younger players, and the start of the annual competition in September.DSC04910

The priority regarding this program is to build a Long-term Athletes Development Program.

This involves the young athletes going through a long term development process, and not just preparation for a tournament or annual competition.

Here the youth will learn the basic FUN-damentals and learn to love the game of volleyball.

Basically the outcome is to assist the accredited coaches in preparing and guiding the younger athletes into becoming role models for the other kids and eventually becoming future respectful members of the community.

The main purpose of a summer camp is to prepare these athletes in the following: team cohesion, team-building, communication skills, leadership, learning to learn, learning the basic movement in volleyball and rules, problem solving, self confidence, goal setting, technical / tactical skills just a few to mention.

Source: www.sxmislandtime.com, written by Rhoda Arrindell

ORLANDO, Florida, July 8, 2009.- Netherlands Antilles withstood a late Barbados charge to conclude the FIVB Women’s World Championship Qualification Tournament with a 25-22, 20-25, 27-25, 21-25, 16-14 victory Wednesday evening to finish with a 1-2 record during the four-team, three-day round-robin event being held at Orlando, Florida. Barbados concludes the tournament with a 0-3 record.

Netherlands Antilles’ Christine Anthony scored a match-high and tournament-leading single match total of 32 points, including 27 kills, four aces and a block. Sonela Philips added 16 points via 12 kills, three blocks and an ace.

Shari Matthews paced Barbados with 21 points, including four blocks and 16 kills. Teammate Thonya Joseph contributed 19 points and match-high five blocks in the loss.

It was a really hard fought match,” Netherlands Antilles Head Coach Patricio Bridgewater said. “In talking with the Barbados head coach before the match, we agreed from the start that this match would be a battle. Barbados’ effort made us fight harder and pushed us to the limit. It could have gone either way, but we had fewer errors in key moments.”

The Netherlands Antilles team needed to win at least two matches to continue to the next qualifying round. Unfortunately they didn’t succeed. NAOC facilitated the team with a mental coach and a fysiotherapist, who both travelled together with the team to Orlando.

These sport technical courses are of a high international level, and consist out of about 56 hours of education. There are 42 participating countries of the Pan American Region.

Mr. Raysel Gibbes has been selected to partake in the international Beachvolleyball course, which will take place in Mexico (5-11 July 2009).
It is the intention of NAOC to upgrade the respective sport with this. The costs of the course are being covered by Olympic Solidarity.

Picture: Raysel Gibbes (second from right) together with NAOC Executive Board

Three teams participated in the tournament. The National team won 3-1 on Friday night with what was categorized as a very good performance and very competitive. Fro some of the players it was the first time playing on an indoor court which was a new experience.

It was an opportunity to evaluate what was practiced for weeks on an outdoor court on an indoor court. This is part of the continued effort to improve the level of volleyball on the island and also increase the interest of the sport locally. On the second night the team played 2 games, won the first one 3-1 and lost the second one 3-1. The players enjoyed themselves and the hospitality was good.

Already an invitation has been extended that we return in December to play during the Saba Day weekend tournament. Financial constraints hamper us from participating in bigger tournaments because of the distance and cost involved such as high airfares.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, June 6, 2009.- Hosts Trinidad & Tobago defeated Netherlands Antilles claiming the final top position of the women’s Norceca-C second round tournament of the 2010 FIVB World Championship.

The home girls won by score of 25-16, 25-16, 25-11 advancing to the next round in Cuba for the Norceca-F event on June 21-23 against Guatemala, Nicaragua and the host side. By finishing second, Netherlands Antilles will go to play in Norceca-G round in Orlando, United States against Costa Rica, the home team and the winner of the Norceca-D next week in Barbados.

Christinne Anthony, the leading scorer of the competition, was limited to 10 points for Nethelands Antilles.

The men team finished 4th, after losing against the US Virgin Islands.