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By Neto Baptiste
A 14-member men’s national volleyball team is currently flying the country’s flag in the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Final 4 Tournament at the sport’s indoor facility at the YMCA Sport Complex.
The tournament, which runs from September 19-21, will see the Dadli Spikers face stiff opposition from Dominica, St. Lucia and Grenda.
Veteran player, Adrian Constant leads the selections. He is joined by other seasoned players like Raenor Sharpe, Erwin Mathurin and Cairon Davis.
Coach and former national player, Carl Williams, said they have faced some challenges in preparing for the championships, mailing have to do with the availability of players.
“The preparation for this tournament has been really challenging, mainly time off issues, players not being given time off, injuries and just having to be trying different things. So that aspect of it I can speak of in terms of the team preparation, the team readiness. I think the time offs were asked about the same time [Mexico tournament] because we knew about the tournament and I would have seen the letters and some players were given the time off and even for Mexico, there are like three players, the time off was denied for three players for Mexico and for this tournament, we still have the issue,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda opened their campaign against Grenada on Friday night and will face Dominica on Saturday morning (today) at 11am. They return on Saturday night to play St. Lucia before the final and third place matches on Sunday starting at 6pm.
However, Williams, who reminded that the tournament acts as a qualifier for the next Pan American Games, expressed confidence in the team’s ability to perform well.
“I think the team is better prepared than in previous years, but it’s just that, you know, with injuries and stuff, where we have players who were really dominant last year, and then they’re not with us, they’re injured, and some didn’t get the time off. But the preparation leading up even to Mexico was very good, so I think as long as we go out there and just leave it on the court, we’ll be good,” he said.
Full Squad: George Freeland, Raenor Sharpe, Dwight Bonnie, Collin Thomas, Yashid Auguiste, Adrian Constant, Cairon Davis, Barrymore Daley, Paul Richards, Erwin Mathurin, Asafa Donavan, Daquaia Marshall, Jervon Carbon, Kemarni Joseph.
Team Staff: Carl Williams (coach), Fitzroy Benjamin (team manager), Augusto Sabbatini (assistant coach), Anayra Ruiz Lee (physiotherapist).
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