– Advertisement –
By Neto Baptiste
Internationally acclaimed volleyball coach and educator, Dr Trevor Theroulde, said natural talent exists in abundance throughout the Caribbean region but it is the ability to harness and develop the talent that often fails us.
Dr Theroulde, a FIVB/NORCECA Regional Instructor, is currently on island and will provide technical assistance, conduct training sessions, and work directly with athletes participating in the Chargers Volleyball Club Summer Camp.
“We have the individuals with the physical attributes to become elite athletes. The problem is that we do not have someone who will take them or the process in place to develop their technical abilities. So for example, we need to start at a younger age and sports teaches you a lot, not only about their skills level but about discipline, prioritizing, being able to balance your educational outcomes with the physical attributes of playing the sport itself so we need to start that at an earlier age. It’s a lifestyle so we could avoid a lot of stuff by involving our kids in sport,” he said.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sport Show, the instructor revealed that beach volleyball is probably the fastest route to an Olympic Games for countries like Antigua and Barbuda, adding that in the Cayman Islands, his programme is already reaping rewards.
“If you are looking to qualify for an Olympic Games, then beach volleyball is the way to go. We started in Cayman Islands, when I came as the FIVB instructor, we started in ground zero and in the last three years, we have qualified for two World Youth Championships with one in China and one in Thailand in the under-21 and in the under-19 and that’s players who only started to play two years and that is phenomenal for the sport. To be able to learn the skills of volleyball in two years. Of course, they were dedicated and stuff and they are putting in the time so we have qualified for two World Championships, actually three because we recently qualified for Qatar in the Youths Under-21 World Championships there in the Boys and we are looking to qualify for the youth Olympic Games,” Dr Theroulde said.
Franz deFreitas, Club Director of Chargers Volleyball, said the club moved to put on the beach volleyball camp given both the absence of a local programme and the fact that Antigua and Barbuda possesses all of the natural resources for that format of the game.
“The experience that we have at winning is just because of natural talent because we do not have an ongoing all-year-round programme. It is less than three weeks ago you would have seen a press release that our head coach, Rosemarie Simon and Chargers decided we are going to implement a full all year round programme. You know we have sun in Antigua 360 days a year and we have the best beaches in probably the world but yet still, we are not taking advantage of the opportunities for beach. Dr Theroulde is going to be here. We already started and we trained on Carnival Monday and Tuesday while people were jumping up,” he said.
Internationally, Dr Theroulde has played a vital role in the development of national volleyball programs throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Under the FIVB Empowerment Program, he spearheaded the resurgence of volleyball in the Cayman Islands, leading teams to historic achievements in both beach and indoor volleyball.
About The Author
– Advertisement –
