Newly-elected President of the Berbice Volleyball Association (BVA) Gregory Rambarran says a number of programmes will be launched this year to revitalise the sport in the ‘Ancient County.’
Rambarran, who was elected to the helm of the BVA last December, told Stabroek Sport via telephone Thursday that the association executive will meet tomorrow to finalise the draft of plans for the year and the dates for the launching of the scheduled programmes. Also on the agenda is the formation of various committees to handle particular aspects of volleyball in Berbice. The BVA’s schedule for the year begins with a tournament on January 16, which will involve the top clubs from New Amsterdam and the Corentyne, among others. The tournament, to be hosted at the GTM court at Kent Street, New Amsterdam, is exclusively for teams from Berbice. According to Rambarran, eight clubs will contest the tournament, which will officially launch the volleyball season. Rambarran, who has been involved in volleyball administration since the late 1980s, previously served a six-year tenure as president of the BVA from 1998 to 2004. He said that he returned to the post on the advice of some of the clubs in New Amsterdam and that he is back to “get things going again.” He noted, “Since I left, there was hardly anything being done.”
The BVA also plans to run off a second competition—a beach volleyball tournament at the Number 63 Beach, Corentyne, Berbice.
Rambarran also disclosed that the tournaments are all a part of the association’s plans to have monthly club and school competitions. He stated that the school competitions, which will be contested between February and May, will be for both male and females. “Now that the schools are open, we are getting them prepared for the tournament,” he added.
According to Rambarran, some of the other programmes that will be implemented by the BVA will be after school volleyball clinics for students interested in learning and playing the game and a two-week volleyball programme slated for students during the August holidays.
