Thirty-two teachers from 10 primary schools across Lethem were taught to play mini-volleyball as part of a partnership programme aimed at introducing the sport to their students, through the Physical Education Department-Unit of Allied Arts.
The sessions held on Friday, June 27 at the St Ignatius Benab, were followed by a mini-volleyball festival involving 40 students drawn from the participating primary schools at the same venue, a press release said. At the close of the festival, teachers from each of the participating schools were given a quantity of gear – two volleyballs and a net – to jump-start the programme in their respective schools.
The festival was held via a partnership between the Ministry of Education, the Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) and the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). In 2011, the FIVB approved a project proposal to allow the GVF and the ministry to execute 10 festivals per year and it provided 1,200 ‘Cool Valley’ balls to be donated to participating schools. The project is in keeping with the GVF’s plan to expand the popularity of the sport and hone more elite players.
Nicholas Fraser, General Secretary of the GVF and Head of the Physical Education Department at the ministry, along with Lindley Langhorne, Inga Henry and Allison Rawlins, officers from the Department, were on hand to execute the programme. Mini-volleyball is a part of the Primary School Physical Education Curriculum which along with the Primary Schools Volleyball manual is used to aid teachers planning physical education classes, while proposed activities are also useful in the schools’ recreational programme.
The festival consisted of girls and boys non-competitive and continuous volleyball matches where each team played a three-to-four minute match against each of the invited teams totalling nine matches. The matches lasted just under an hour.
At the close, Fraser, on behalf of GVF president John Flores thanked all the schools for their participation and urged them to initiate more festivals in their schools.
The participating schools are Arapaima Primary, Hiawa Primary, Kaicumbay Primary, Katoka Primary, Katoonarib Primary, Katu’ur Primary, Kumu Primary, Macushi Primary, Moco Moco Primary, Nappi Primary, Parikwarunau Primary, Parishara Primary, Potarinau Primary, Quarrie Primary, Quatata Primary, Sawariwau Primary, Simone Annex, St. Ignatius Primary and Yupukari Primary.
