NAOC Trainer conducts volleyball camp

For the past few months, Mr. Bridgewater has been visiting the island under the auspices of the NAOC to provide technical support in the development of volleyball.

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