Spiking volleyball action in the Aracari Beach Volleyball Classic which served off on June 5 at the Aracari Resort, West Bank Demerara, has been put on pause, according to the tournament organizers.
Stabroek Sport ascertained yesterday while speaking to coordinator of the event, Ian Wills, via telephone that the pause button was pushed on the tournament some two weeks ago on June 26, when Aracari Resort staged their anniversary celebrations at the entity’s location on the West Bank of Demerara.
The celebrations were held on the playing surface and surrounding areas forcing the postponement of the day’s scheduled fourth week Group Four matches, which were the final set of preliminary round games to determine the fourth and final semi-finalists for the semi-finals, which were slated for the following week.
Since that initial hindrance to the inaugural tournament, efforts to restart the competition have been futile as the heavy downpours arrived, causing the man- made sand court to become waterlogged and to date the tournament is yet to recommence.
Apart from the weather, Wills pinpointed sponsorship issues as another primary reason holding up the restarting of the tournament.
He mentioned, however, that representatives of the Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) and the Aracari Resort will be in discussions this week to finalize details pertaining to restarting the tournament.
The tournament, which was launched by the GVF and the Aracari Resort in an effort to rekindle the flame of local volleyball, is the brainchild of Sarse Shewnarain, the CEO of Aracari Resort and was scheduled to run for five weekends from June 5 to July 3.
The tournament so far has spanned three weekends with Young Achievers B, Young Achievers C and Guysuco Training Centre coming out on top of the competition and advancing to the semi-final round which will be contested along with the finals on the fifth and final weekend.