First MAC 16u Tourni

The MAC 16u Boys volleyball team competed in the Provincial Cup on Saturday, November 28th at Bill Crothers Secondary School in Markham.
The boys began the day facing the #1 seed Ottawa Fusion Red. In their first match as a team, the boys were victorious 2-1 with LS Pawel Jedrzejewski (Cathedral High School) contributing a team high 12 kills.
Next, MAC faced Durham Attack, unfortunately for MAC, they were defeated 2-0 in a hard fought battle with LS Mark MacFarlane (Ancaster HS) picking up 6 kills.
In the final game of pool play, MAC faced Riverside Rage. With inconsistent passing and serving, MAC was defeated 2-1. RS Daniel Madarasz (ACMT) led the way with 6 kills.
MAC would finish 3rd in their pool and play the Ottawa Mavericks. Despite coming out firing and playing some of their best volleyball of the day, MAC was defeated 2-0 and would settle for the consolation side of the draw. 3 solo blocks from M Eric Bonnay (Cardinal Newman) would highlight the MAC defence.
In their final game of the day, MAC would face the Colts. After winning the first set easily, MAC was put under pressure with some consistent serving from the Colts and would lose the second set. In the final frame, MAC would rally from 14-11 to win the deciding set 16-14 at the hands of some pressure serving at the end of the match by S Zdravko Ivankovic (Abby Park High School).
MAC would finish the tournament 6th. Overall, the tournament should be looked upon as a success, the boys now have OVA experience and will look to build upon it in the coming months before their next tournament.

Jamaica Volleyball Association Development Plan 2009 – 2013

Vision
“To transform volleyball into a major sport in Jamaica, where it is actively played in schools, college/universities, communities, clubs and the workplace, and the national junior and senior teams consistently qualify for major global tournaments”

Mission statement
“To be a National Sporting Organization that contributes positively to the athletic pride of Jamaica through the sport of Volleyball locally, regionally and internationally”

Objectives
1. To establish a platform of unity and mutual understanding among all affiliates of the JaVA.
2. To establish formal and functional management structures at the club level.
3. To promote the game of volleyball at the primary school level in order to develop early interest in the sport before children commit to more popular sports.
4. To facilitate the qualification of a National Male Beach Volleyball team for the 2012 Olympic Games.
5. To widen the base of high schools involved in JaVA competitions by targeting more schools as well as to organize competitions based on age groups to target children in their early high school years.
6. To put in place infrastructure to facilitate the playing of volleyball within communities with a view to:
a. Target unattached youths, primarily those in Jamaica’s Inner-city.
b. Increase the popularity of the sport among adults in these communities, which will not only attract their children but also guarantee greater support from parents.
7. To procure the services of a qualified and competent Technical Director.
8. To lift the standard of play at all levels within JaVA through the development of coaches and referees.
9. To organize reliable gym access to train national teams. (If necessary, coordinate with other National Sports Team/Organization).
10. To acquire a dedicated home for the JaVA with suitable infrastructure for the training of National Teams.
11. To participate in all compulsory Regional meetings and events.

EXECUTION
Year 1
1. Activities that encourage all concerned to invest in the operations and administration of the JaVA will be undertaken. This will include the establishment of an atmosphere that encourages the expression of opinions in an orderly and respectful manner. This goal will be married to a requirement for all Affiliated Clubs of the JaVA to put in place functional management structures that mirror that of the JaVA. The JaVA also intends to liaise with the JOA to source training for these administrators.
2. The administrative requirements of the Constitution will be upheld and Executive and Section Members held accountable for delivering on their responsibilities. Amendments to the Constitution to further serve the interest of the Association will be initiated.
3. The tremendous accomplishments of the National Male Beach Volleyball Team commands a special effort on the part of the JaVA to seek financial support for them on the road to the 2012 Olympics in London.
4. Subject to budgetary constraint, significant focus will be placed on the development of a Primary/Preparatory Schools Programme. The roll-out programme is intended to target ten (10) schools within the Kingston Metropolitan Region. The programme initially assumes that no school at this level is full equipped with the equipment needed but already has a court that can be transformed for the playing of volleyball. It is intended in subsequent years to expand the programmes across the length and breadth of the country. This programme will also seek to contribute to the national effort to target the unattached youths, primarily those in the inner-city, and get them engaged in productive activities. As such, collaboration with national agents of social intervention is necessary.
5. Again subject to budgetary constraint, JaVA intends to broaden the base of High Schools currently involved in the High Schools Competition. This will be done in collaboration with ISSA. This programme, along with the Primary/Prep Schools programme, is inextricable from the National effort to identify, prepare and qualify a youth team for the 2010 Youth Olympics and beyond. Both school-level programmes will be supported by clinics for officials, coaches and players.
6. JaVA intends to capitalize on the recreational potential of and the low per capita cost associated with the sport of volleyball, relative to some other sports, to introduce community-based programmes. The overall goal will be to widen the net of talent available to the Association to compose National Teams. A sub-Committee will be formed to manage the execution of this programme. This initiative also shares the goal of contributing to the social development of our nation.
7. Central to all the development programmes above is the acquisition of a suitable Technical Director (TD). This person must have the mental diameter to homogenize all the efforts of the Association to ensure the overall vision is achieved. The investment in a sound TD will be bolstered with investment in the development of our coaches and officials at all levels.
8. Lifting the performance of the national teams is integrally tied to the quality of training they are afforded. The physical infrastructure available to them needs to be consistent with with the outcome we desire. To this end the JaVA will negotiate with the Ministry of Sports, other national agents thereof, sponsors and, where necessary, other national sports associations to get reliable and convenient gym access for the national teams.

Panthers cop provincial gold

Posted By PATRICK KENNEDY


Earlier this decade Regiopolis-Notre Dame underwent an unofficial shift in varsity athletics, a gradual alteration unnoticed at first but one that soon transformed the Panthers into perennial powers in one particular sport.

Make no mistake -- volleyball is king at Regi, and today the Catholic cats are kings of triple-A volleyball in the province.

Again.

On Saturday night, the top-seeded Panthers copped their second Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations three-A title, beating the Bulldogs of Winston Churchill 3-1 in the final of the 20-team tournament in Stratford.

Curiously, the cats, winners of 59 straight matches heading into the final, were forced to claw The former paced the Panthers attack with 18 kills while the latter added a dozen.

One Justinich kill shot stood out and simultaneously inflated the cats' spirit while deflating the Bulldoggies. McKenna equated it to a clean open-ice hit in hockey.

"John was a beast out there," he said. "He had a couple of huge blocks but that big kill really got us going."

Added Sheahan, one of nine Regi seniors making their high school volleyball swansong: "When John ripped it, our whole bench just went crazy and the other bench was completely demoralized."

Though they won on the road, the Panthers enjoyed a distinct home-court feel. Approximately 100 fans, friends, family and faculty members journeyed to Stratford.

back against the second-seeded Bulldogs. The St. Catharines high school stunned Regi in the opening set, 25-18.

However, there was an upside to that upset.

"Losing that first set was the turning point in the match," noted Regi coach Mark McKenna, the former Queen's player who in his four years with Regi volleyball has directed the senior pumas to a quartet of OFSAA medals: silver, two bronze and now gold.

"We knew we hadn't played our best, especially with errors in serving," McKenna added. "We had something like five service errors in that first set and to their credit Winston Churchill capitalized and took it to us.

"That was our wake-up call.

"Every time this team has been pushed this year, the players have responded in a positive manner."

The Panthers, who entered OFSAA with a 73-3-3 overall record, breezed through the round-robin and deep into the medal round without losing a set, including a convincing sweep of arch-rival Chatham-Kent in Saturday's semifinal.

During a timeout following that opening-set setback to Winston Churchill, Regi assistant coach Pat Farrell told colleague McKenna the team was simply following a course blazed by the 2002 OFSAA champs -- the first Kingston high school team to garner triple-A provincial gold.

"Pat reminded everyone that Regi lost the opening set in the 2002 final, too," said McKenna. "That calmed us down."

Indeed, the cats rebounded with a dominant 25-12 victory in the second set before locking up the crown with set wins of 25-22 and 25-16.

Regi's power hitters, right side John Justinich and left side Peter Sheahan, had a field day in the final.

"It felt like a home game," explained Sheahan.

"It was probably even better than the KASSAA final, maybe not as many (fans) but better because of what was at stake."

Five years ago Farrell kick-started Cats volleyball, offering clinics and camps and competition for young players at Regi feeder schools.

"For some guys, setter Cameron Santoni for instance, this is the culmination of a lot of practice," Farrell said of the setter, who started with Cats in Grade 6.

"He and the others reaped the rewards this weekend."

Farrell also heaped praise on McKenna, calling him "one of the best coaches, if not the best, in Ontario.

"When Mark came to Regi, it gave us committed coaches in both junior and senior. In terms of continuity, he turned this into a program."

A program that today is tops in the province.

Championship Game - Panthers take OFSAA Gold 11.28.09

A little shot out to my alma mater Regiopolis Notre Dame!

from rnd-panthers.com

http://www.alcdsb.on.ca/~regiath/images/1OFSAAGold.mov

In a four set match in front of an electric crowd the RND Panthers showed true grit in a come for behind victory in the OFSAA AAA Boys Volleyball Championship game.
The Panthers faced a tough squad from Sir Winston Churchill in St. Catherines, who featured to of the best hitters of the tournament. RND came out flying in the first set winning most of the rallies. However the adrenaline may have caused some serves to go long and some passes off line as RND errors were the cause of the Panthers dropping their only set of the tournament.
The experienced CATS immediately rebounded in the next set, reeling off the first 5 points and dominating the net with several monster blocks on the Bulldog hitters. The Panthers quickly drew even winning the second set 25-12.
The Panthers again burst out to a lead in the pivotal third set only to see the Churchill group climb back to even late in the set. Leading 20-19 and with serve RND played it's best volleyball of the match, where several long rallies had the crowd on it's confidently closing out the third set 25-22.
With the goal in sight the Panthers stretched out another early lead in the fourth and final set. This time it was spectacular defence that saw Panthers flying all over saving big hits from the opposition and then cashing them into back-breaking points for the Garnet and Gold.
As the final ball hit the floor the players, coaches and fans exploded onto the court. The St. Mike's gym is RND's home away from home as the Volleyball program has sealed two OFSAA gold on the hardwood.
Too many congratulations for this web site as the RND contingent enjoyed the victory and the players received their medals.

LAURIER UPSETS #1 McMASTER 3-1

November 21, 2009


Ryan Hudson had 42 assists in the match. (Photo by Larry Skelly)
WATERLOO, Ont. – The unranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (2-5) defeated the #1 McMaster Marauders (7-1) 3-1 on Saturday.

Laurier dropped the first set to the Marauders 25-22, but started to find some cohesion with the new bodies back in the line-up. Middle John Wilson (Charing Cross, Ont.) and right side Cameron Wheelan (Barrie, Ont.) both returned to the line-up after missing the beginning of the season due to injury.

In the second the Hawks went point for point with the number one team in the country and then built up a small lead at the second technical timeout, 16-11. The Hawks held on to win 25-22.

With the confidence earned from the second, Laurier continued to pressure the visitors and had a key 9-1 run midway through the third to help them secure a 25-19 finish. Fired up, the purple and gold used the momentum to their advantage and built up a 15-7 lead in the fourth. Laurier finished strong with a 25-18 win.

The Hawks were led by Samuel Schachter (Richmond Hill, Ont.) who had 22 points on the night with 18 kills and four service aces. Cameron Wheelan was second on the team in kills with 11. Erik Kroman (Etobicoke, Ont.) picked up 46 assists on the night.

For the Marauders, Jeremy Groenveld (Welland, Ont.) had 16 points while Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg, Man.) earned 14.5.

McMaster is next in action on Saturday, November 28 at 1:00 p.m. when they host the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Source: Mike Whitehouse, Laurier Athletics.

CIS Top Ten Tuesday (#11): McMaster moves up to No. 1 in men’s volleyball

Nov 10, 2009

OTTAWA (CIS) – The McMaster Marauders are the new team to beat in CIS men’s volleyball as they climbed to the top of the national rankings for the first time in program history.

The two-time defending OUA champion Marauders, ranked No. 2 in the first three coaches’ polls of the season, knock off the perennial No. 1 Alberta Golden Bears, who fall two spots in the new rankings following a two-game split against Winnipeg.

McMaster, which swept Queen’s and RMC in straight sets over the weekend to improve to 6-0 in conference play, reach No. 1 for the first time in history. The Marauders enjoy a break in their OUA schedule this week and get back on the court on Nov. 20 against Waterloo.

The Golden Bears, who went 18-0 in the regular season a year ago on their way to winning a second straight CIS title, are off to a 4-2 start this fall. Last weekend, they dropped a 3-2 decision to the No. 7 Wesmen (2-2) before prevailing 3-1 in the second end of the doubleheader.

Alberta had topped the last 36 national polls dating back to November of 2006.

The Calgary Dinos (3-1) also leapfrog the Bears in this week’s Top 10. The Dinos are up one position to No. 2 after they swept No. 6 Manitoba (3-3), 3-0 and 3-1.

Rounding out the fourth poll of the campaign are No. 4 Laval (2-0), No. 5 Dalhousie (2-0), No. 8 Trinity Western (2-0), No. 9 Brandon (3-1) and No. 10 UBC (1-3).

1. McMaster (6-0) / 253.5 points / (2)
2. Calgary (3-1) / 239 / (3)
3. Alberta (4-2) / 220.5 / (1)
4. Laval (2-0) / 210 / (4)
5. Dalhousie (2-0) / 137.5 / (6)
6. Manitoba (3-3) / 128 / (5)
7. Winnipeg (2-2) / 115.5 / (9)
8. Trinity Western (2-0) / 103.5 / (7)
9. Brandon (3-1) / 76.5 / (8)
10. UBC (1-3) / 32 / (10)

http://english.cis-sic.ca/top_10_releases/2009-10/20091110-top10-11

First National Rankings for Men's Volleyball

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / points / (previous rankings)

1. Alberta (0-0) / 228.5 points / (-)
2. McMaster (0-0) / 180.5 / (-)
3. Laval (0-0) / 160 / (-)
4. Calgary (0-0) / 139.5 / (-)
5. Manitoba (0-0) / 106.5 / (-)
6. UBC (0-0) / 98.5 / (-)
7. Dalhousie (0-0) / 94.5 / (-)
8. Brandon (0-0) / 65.5 / (-)
9. Winnipeg (0-0) / 50 / (-)
10. Trinity Western (0-0) / 49.33 / (-)

McMaster Men's Volleyball Schedule

http://www.athrec.mcmaster.ca/athletics/teams/volleyball/mvball_schedule.htm

Shared via AddThis

Head Coach for 16u M.A.C. Volleyball Team

I've decided that with a new job and assistant coaching the McMaster men's volleyball team that I'm just not busy enough! Therefore I've taken the Head Coaching Position for the 16u Boys M.A.C. Club team. Details are not final of when tryouts will be and when or where we will practice, but I am very excited to get started.

If you are interested in trying out, please check back soon

Guest Coaching Appearance

For the past two days I have been helping out a friend, Mike Hall, with selection for his Jr Boys Highschool volleyball team at St Jean de Brebeuf High School in Hamilton. For me it was a great experience to teach some basic skills and get back into the coaching environment having taken about a month off from coaching since the end of the provincial team. As with playing, it was good to get the rust off a little! My ability to communicate effectively was we'll say a little off!
All in all, I was happy to help out and will continue to try and pop in to help out the team. They have many great pieces and it will just be a matter of being able to elevate their game to a higher level that will determine how succesful they are.

Passing of Joe Bolarinho

Peacefully in his home, surrounded by his loving family,on Tuesday August 25th, 2009, at the age of 55 Joe Bolarinho passed away after a long fight with liver cancer. Joe was the caretaker at Regiopolis-Notre Dame High School in Kingston (my highschool) for the past 32 years and a friend to anyone who he came in contact with. Being an athlete and spending vast amounts of time after after school waiting for practice, I remember Mr. Bolarinho always being there, to help with whatever we needed with. He wasn't a teacher so he didn't treat the students like students! It was quite alright to joke around with Mr. Bolarinho and he treated everyone with respect.
R.I.P. Mr. Bolarinho
here is a short video:

Assistant Coach of the McMaster Mens Volleyball Team

Well it's now official. I have accepted an employment position as well as the assistant coaching role at McMaster University.

I am currently the Marketing Coordinator for Athletics and Recreation. What that means is I will trying to bring greater awareness to athletics from the student body and community. The MSU and Athletics and Recreation already have a lot of great ideas. It will be my responsibility to make these ideas a reality.

As for coaching, I will be learning from my long term coach and friend Dave Preston. This is shaping up to be a pretty fun year as aside from our regular season, we've got matches in Kingston, California and British Columbia.

Only two weeks away and much to do to keep me excited.

New Link for all Games of 2008/2009 Season

Just found a link that my coach Suichi Mizuno put up of all our games in the 2008-2009 season of my team in Middelfart.

http://www.veoh.com/group/middelfart-vk
enjoy

Marauder Television- Coming Soon...

This is the intro video for the Marauder Television that I hope to be launching in September. Let me know what you think...

Team Ontario Results

After five days in Kelowna BC, and 8 matches, the Team Ontario u18 boys team walked away with a Bronze Medal. In pool play, they finished with a 2-3 record which was good enough for 4th place. This put the Team O boys against Manitoba in the quarter finals- a team only two days ago that they had beaten in a five set match. It only took them four sets to dispose of the Toba boys which put the Team O boys against the tournament number 1 seed and only undefeated team in the tournament- Alberta. After falling behind 1-0, the Team O boys rallied back to even the score 1-1 with some aggressive serving. However, Alberta showed their age and poise and took the next two sets. The boys should be commended for being only 1 of 2 teams to take a set off of the Alberta team. After the loss, Team Ontario had a couple to regroup to play in the Bronze medal match against British Columbia 2. BC2 had beaten Team O in pool play in the thrilling 5 set match, however the Team Ontario boys showed what they had learned playing a veteran Alberta team and shut down both of BC2's big offensive stars to win the Bronze in 3 sets.
The playoff box scores are as follows:

Quarter Final 1 Ontario vs Manitoba 25-22, 14-25, 25-21, 25-16
Quarter Final 2 BC 2 vs Québec 27-25, 25-18, 25-20
Semi-Final 1 Alberta vs Ontario 25-16, 14-14, 25-22, 25-15
Semi-Final 2 BC 1 vs BC 2 25-15, 25-20, 25-22
5th Place Manitoba vs Québec 25-27, 25-14, 25-17, 16-25, 20-18
Bronze Medal Ontario vs BC 2 25-21, 25-18, 25-26
Gold Medal Alberta vs BC 1 25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 16-25

Individual stats for the entire tournament can be accessed here:

Team O Stats

If you have trouble accessing them please leave me a comment

Individual Awards
2009 NTCC Tournament All-Stars

Nicholas Hoag Québec
T.J. Sanders Ontario
David Klomps BC 2
Daniel JansenVanDoorn BC 1
Jarron Mueller Alberta
Nate Speijer BC 1

Tournament MVP

Kenny Rauwerda Alberta


I will write more about my Team Ontario coaching experience soon, but to all the players please continue to keep in touch, big things are out there for all of you

Some Team Ontario Pics

Team Ontario update

We have now been living in residence at the University of Toronto for a week training daily at Varsity Arena. It's a pretty interesting setup where we have 3 volleyball courts covered in sport court where the ice hockey rink usually is (I'll include pictures when I'm not updating from my blackberry!). The boys seem to be coming together quickly on the court as they've been working quite hard. Some highlights would include a 27 lap run around the track, strength and conditioning with Mike Sleen and a split squad scrimmage between the team. Off the court we had 2 days away from the volleyball court on Wednesday and Thursday. Aside from some plyos and classroom sessions the team headed to Ash Bridges Bay to play a little beach volleyball. I would like to say that I won the tourni but with a 1 and 4 record I doubt that that would be very accurate!
After that, we showered up and got ready for our next team bonding event- a trip to Medievil Times! Our team got to cheer for the Green Knight (the evil one!) Who ended up being a highly skilled knight. I won't ruin the show for anyone that's still planning on going. Anyways we all wore our green crowns on the bus and subway back to residence. Probably woulda looked stupid if it was just one or two of us- but with all of us- just show that there's strength in numbers when we act together as a team... That was todays lesson! For the boys reading the blog... Keep up the good work!

Jamaican National Team

Provincial Team Selected

Congratulations!!!,

The selection committee for the 2009 Provincial Team has identified the candidates for the program.


Meeting Place and Accommodation:

University of Toronto
St. George Downtown Campus
New College Residence
40 Willcocks st
Toronto ON
M5S-1C6

(We will meet in the street level lobby)

Meeting Time: Friday July 10th12:30pm (Lunch will not be provided and the first training session will begin at 1:30pm)

Campus Map: http://rrs.osm.utoronto.ca/map/f?p=110:1:17504663398240616684


Training Site

Varsity Arena, University of Toronto, 275 Bloor St. W, Toronto, ON M5S1V8

Enter from Bloor through the caged doors by the track. Walk south underneath the bleachers.

Schedule:

Training will run from July 10th to the 21st. Your training schedule will be provided upon arrival.

Travel:

The team will travel to Kelowna, BC on the morning of Wednesday July 22nd. The team will return the morning of Monday July 27th. Athletes will depart home from Toronto’s Pearson airport at that time.


Competition:

The NTCC Competition will begin Thursday July 23rd and finish on Sunday July 26th. Two, 3 out of 5 matches will be played each day.

I am very much looking forward to the training camp and watching all of you continue to develop the skills necessary to compete in high performance programs in future years.


This is the team list for the Provincial Team, 6 other individuals from the HPC will be joining the team periodically as training players.


Brett Walter
Andrew McWilliam
Callum Mireault
Alex Poldma
Justin Scapinello
Brendan Dennis
Jori Mantha
Derek Kuiack
Marc Wilson
Phil James
Jeremie Lortie
T.J. Sanders
Michael Denton

High Performance Camp

I'm currently in Toronto at Humber College as part of the u18 High Performance Camp coaching staff. This is in preparation and to make selection for the u18 provincial team which I will also be assistant coaching for all throughout July.
The head coaching staff on the boys side is comprised of Dave Preston (McMaster), Steve Leknois (RMC), Chris Lawson (Waterloo) and Kerry McLean (Ottawa Mavericks and my former regional team coach). This means I'm getting a lot of exposure with some of the best coaches in the province and really learning many different things. To make it an even better learning environment, there is also a Level 3 coaching clinic going on, so many skills are broken down even further and taught. I'm not with the level 3 clinic for their classroom sessions but I'm learning much from being around their on court sessions.
As for the athletes, they're definitely making it tough on us to choose a team! One major difference right now is that most of the coaches who are here have seen most of these players all season through club volleyball. This is my first look at all of them and whether it is good or bad I had not formed any opinions about players coming in. Every player in my eyes has to earn a spot. There are no freebies. I think and hope that the players understand that. The work ethic in every drill and really on every contact is nothing short of remarkable. So far we've had three and half training days with competition starting tomorrow. It should be interesting to see if there are any playings that step up even further when it's game time.

The graduating class of 2008 McMaster Mens Volleyball

Ladies and Gentlemen
Before the start of this evening’s match we would like to take a moment to recognize the seniors of the Men’s volleyball program.
These six players have each made their own mark on the program and will behind a legacy of excellence for the future Marauders.

#4 Nathan Groenveld
A 4th year political science student who has continuously improved throughout his time here at McMaster to become one of the premier players in the league. Nathan has racked up 483 kills and 143 service aces so far in his career at McMaster. Nathan’s skill and competitive nature have made him a key player in both the Marauders offence and defense.

#4 Nathan Groenveld

#11 Jon Krawec
A 4th year social science student has anchored the Marauders sere receive and defense in the libero position. Jon has made over 370 digs in his career- setting a new team match record with 22 against York this year. His passion and fire have been an inspiration to his teammates throughout his time as a Marauder. We wish Jon the best in all of his future pursuits as he moves on to his next stage as an Alumnus.

#11 Jon Krawec

#3 Adam Schulz
A 5th year computer science student, a native of St Catherine’s turns the page on his career as a Marauder having contributed in almost every way imaginable. While at McMaster Adam has been integral in solidifying the strength and conditioning standards with the team and has mentored and assisted almost every athlete currently in the program at one time or another. On the court, filling dual rolls on the Left side and Right side, Adam has accumulated 563 kills and an outstanding 103 blocks including 50 solo blocks for the Marauders. Best of luck to Adam as he leaves the program to pursue other avenues in volleyball and otherwise.

#3 Adam Schulz

#10 Duncan Gillespie
A 5th year philosophy student from Barrie has truly been one of the high flyers for the Marauders in his career. Duncan has consistently led the team in vertical touch and also in hitting efficiency. Duncan records 521 kills 82 solo blocks and 196 block assists. Dunc is also a certified pilot and will move on to bigger and brighter skies after his career as McMaster. A great athlete and an even better teammate and person- Duncan is truly at the top of the Class.

#10 Duncan Gillespie

#13 Sean Panchal
A 5th year political science student from Rick Hansen Secondary in Mississauga has been running the offence for the past five seasons. A starter since his first year, Sean has collected 561 digs, 87 aces and an incredible 3187 assists. His play on the court will be missed and his leadership and team mentality will be difficult to replace. Sean has been co-captain for 4 years here and his impact on the Marauder program is immeasurable.

#13 Sean Panchal

#9 Parrish Offer
This 5th year political science student from Kingston has also been co-captain for 4 years. Parrish’s contribution to the Marauder Volleyball program has been as an outside hitter and libero. Parrish has tallied 716 kills along with 522 digs making him one of the leaders on both sides of the ball for the Marauders. Parrish has been described as the engine of the program- he makes the team go. His skill and leadership is matched only by his enthusiasm and genuine love for the game and his teammates. Parrish is a role model for every captain to follow.

#9 Parrish Offer

The CLASS of 2008

Official Press Release

 On 19^th June 2009, The Minister of Health, Senator the Honourable Jerry Narace announced that he has recommended that the Caribbean Games 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago be postponed as the Ministry continues its efforts to mitigate the spread of the A H1N1 pandemic.  Following meetings and collaborations between the Minister of Health and the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Minister Gary Hunt, it was determined that it would be difficult to find another slot and as such postponement would mean cancellation.  This decision was based on several factors and the top 3 factors directly affects the Athletes and Officials from all 26 countries and the wider Trinidad and Tobago community as follows:-    

1. Participants, officials and guests attending the Games from other countries can be a source of additional infection for the population of Trinidad and Tobago.


2. The age groups of the Caribbean athletes corresponds to the age groups most affected by the current Pandemic


3. The housing of the athletes and officials creates the ideal environment for H1N1 transmission (communal living).

While the organizers, athletes, officials and volunteers, who have been preparing for these games for more than 3 years, find the news extremely disappointing they understand and respect the decision.

Below are statements by Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of Caribbean Games 2009 Ms. Dennise Demming, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) Mr. Larry Romany and Secretary of Caribbean Associations of National Olympic Committees (CANOC).  

Ms. Dennise Demming - Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of Caribbean Games 2009 

There’s one word to describe the actions of the government – responsible.   In postponing the Caribbean Games, the government of Trinidad and Tobago has acted in the interest of the athletes and people of the region.  As Chairman of the LOC, I understand that decision   … but it is a bitter sweet.

For 3 years now, the Board has served selflessly and ensured the refinement of the vision for the games.  For about 2 years now, the staff of the LOC has been serving diligently to put together a well oiled engine.  Twelve hundred athletes have been preparing tirelessly for this event … xxx hundred volunteers have been simulating CGO9 …  A lot of good work has gone into this activity. 

We looked forward to the opportunity to demonstrate that our people are competent and able to stage a world class event.  The legacy of the games is not simply physical facilities but the experience gained in ramping up and I trust that this experience will be put to use for some future event. 

For all of us, the real learning was in the journey and I remain committed to making “Sport the Weapon of Choice for our Youth” 

 

Mr. Larry Romany - President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) 

This is a difficult moment but the decision taken by the Government that T&T cannot host the inaugural Caribbean Games as scheduled (12- 19 July) due to the Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus is respected and supported by the TTOC. 

Since the virus was first identified and detected last April, the TTOC was mindful of the risk potential the H1N1 virus could pose to the 2009 Caribbean Games. These concerns were further heightened on 11 June when the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially declared flu pandemic. 

I believe that the priority is the well-being of the athletes, coaches, administrators, officials and volunteers. 

This is a blow for the Caribbean Olympic Movement. You are looking at nine years of planning and dreaming. Words cannot adequately describe the disappointment. However, we must remain resolute and indomitable. 

It has been a tremendous learning experience for all the Caribbean Games stakeholders.

The challenge is to create a lasting legacy of knowledge and relationships. It has been a deeply emotional experience For the T&T Olympic Movement .Our dedication and commitment to the Olympic movement, and the Olympic ideals and values has been put to the test. As host NOC for the inaugural games .It was an honour and a privilege .What the Caribbean Games meant to the movement, the athletes and the youth and Caribbean people inspired us[ T&T] to undertake our responsibilities and obligation with a sense of mission and purpose. There are still those around the world who believe that the Caribbean cannot unite, nor that we have the vision, capacity or capabilities to organise a multi-sport Games. 

I would like to apologise to all the athletes and coaches throughout the Caribbean for the disappointment and inconvenience caused. I know there is a profound sense of disappointment that everyone would be feeling, including, the hard working and dedicated Caribbean Games Organizing Committee Board of Directors, staff and volunteers who had so valiantly responded to the call. But the risks regarding the realities of H1N1 has to be accepted and addressed. 

I wish to thank the local, regional and international sponsors and partners who would have stepped forward to offer support either monetary or value-in-kind.  

I acknowledged that the decision as to possible new dates for the inaugural Caribbean Games is one that will have to be decided on by the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC).

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has communicated its position. It is now left to CANOC to decide on the future status of the 2009 Caribbean Games. 

 

Mr. Elton Prescott - Secretary of Caribbean Associations of National Olympic Committees (CANOC). 

As Secretary of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees, I have conferred with the Chairman and members of the Executive of the Association and informed them of the implications for our athletes, technical officials and guests of the information and recommendations of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago - Ministry of Health. 

These implications have led us as responsible organization, after discussions with the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, to agree that the Caribbean Games 2009 should be postponed.

CANOC continues to be truly appreciative of the efforts of the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago, especially Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, the volunteers, the National Federations and the Board and Staff of the LOC.   We are also sensitive to the disappointment we all share over this development. 

The Executive of CANOC will meet shortly to determine a further course of action having regard to the interests of our NOCs, athletes and the realization of the dreams of all of us to stage the Caribbean Games in the region. 

Pane Vino Opening in Lindsay

One of my oldest friends is opening a restaurant in Lindsay, Ontario that I'm pretty excited about. It is an Italian restaurant called Pane Vino, which translates to bread and wine. Keelan is working very hard to get this open and they've just released a video which is at the bottom of this post. If you're in the Lindsay area or want to just have a really great meal, be sure to check out Pane Vino
Pane Vino Lindsay
Click arrow below for a preview of Pane Vino - turn up the volume, be patient and feel the love

Carribean Games Postponed

Preliminary reports are coming in that the inaugural Caribbean Games in Trinidad and Tobago are going to have to be postponed due to S1N1 (Swine Flu). A meeting is taking place on Monday, June 22nd to try and find and alternative date. This article talks about the number of TT volleyball players that have come in contact with the virus.

TT’s Influenza A/H1N1 cases jump to 18
By LARA PICKFORD-GORDON Thursday, June 18 2009

After reporting that TT had seven confirmed Influenza A/H1N1 cases on Tuesday, the Health Ministry yesterday reported that the figure has jumped to 18.

This means that TT has the most cases for a Caribbean country while Cuba, Barbados, Bahamas, Dominica has recorded single-digit figures, and the Dominican Republic, one death.

The World Health Organisation reported that 76 countries had 35, 928 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection, including 163 deaths. The Ministry said this was an increase from June 12 when 29,669 cases were reported in 74 countries.

According to a release from the Health Ministry yesterday there are 11 confirmed H1N1 cases in Tobago and seven in TT. It stated, “the most recent cases have been discovered as part of the Ministry’s surveillance procedures and epidemiological controls.”

The Ministry said consistent with protocol the persons infected have been placed in isolation and were being treated. “All patients are doing well,” it said. Newsday learnt that investigations were being conducted into the cause of the increase in Tobago.

Meantime, the Health Ministry has been informed by the health authorities of the US Virgin Islands that no volleyball players from their national team who were in Trinidad and Tobago recently have tested positive for the H1N1 virus. This follows positive tests for one member of the TT volleyball team and 11 members of the Suriname team who participated in the international volleyball tournament held from May 31 to June 6.

The Ministry said it has “ramped up activities in relation to the H1N1 prevention, management and control and is committed to informing the public of all new developments”. Attempts to get additional information regarding the increase in cases in Tobago proved futile. County Medical Officer of Health, Dr Mentor Melville, has been directed to refrain from commenting in the media. Newsday was told that all enquiries are referred to the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health. When Dr Cumberbatch’s office was contacted, Newsday was asked to “direct all enquiries to the Communications Unit”.

“We are conducting surveillance and asking the public to continue using hygiene practices to prevent the spread of the influenza A/H1N1,” said Kevin Garcia Communications Consultant of the Health Ministry in response to a question about the jump in cases in Tobago.

Caribbean Games 2009

The 2009 Caribbean Games are fast approaching and I will be traveling to Trinidad & Tobago to compete with the team. The games run from July 13th to the 19th and have 28 countries competing in various sports. The Central American and Caribbean Games are the oldest continuing regional games. Only the Olympic Games have a longer continuous history. Mexico, Cuba and Guatemala were the three only countries present at the first games, which were then called the Central American Games.

This will be another good test for us as we will play powerhouses Cuba and Mexico in competition as well as get another chance at the Bahamas who knocked us out of World championships.

The games website is http://www.caribbeangames2009.com/ and will have live video during the games.

A New Era begins...

This is my formal announcement that I will not be returning to Denmark next year to play for Middelfart VK. I am currently in a transition phase in my life right now. Having played professional for a year, I understand a new style of game; a different type of practice; and a different way of life. Just recently upon traveling to Jamaica, I again was introduced to a new style, type of practice and way of life! At this point I need to explain something: this Jamaican team is very very skilled. We have pretty controlled passing, excellent attacking and at times we are an effective blocking team. The missing piece right now is our offensive sets. We get great passes but continue to run high outside sets. As an outside hitter, I can say with full confidence that the Jamaican team does not really need me to hit the ball. They have guys who can do that already. With that in mind, I have decided with the support of the Jamaican management and head coach, to transition into a setter. I really believe that this Jamaican team can be successful and I also believe that I can be an accurate and effective setter. I understand that I have hours and hours of work to do in the gym to get the repetitions that I need to set at the international level, but I am willing to dedicate myself to getting those reps and becoming a top level setter.
Some who are reading this may question my ability or reasons for doing this. Keep in mind that I am only 24 which may seem old to some and young to others, but the top age for volleyball is 28 because you're still in strong physical shape but you have a greater understanding for the game. And that is exactly what I want to increase by taking on this new roll; I want my understanding of that position and thus the entire game to increase. I've got some great coaches surrounding me to help me with my quest, but if there are any setters out there feel free to post me some suggestions or things that you have found particularly difficult in your struggle!
I will continue to update my blog regularly on my pursuit to be an effective setter. For those of you in Denmark and especially my girls teams that I was coaching, it has been a difficult decision for me to make, but I wish you all the best and hope that you will remain in contact with me!

Bahamas upsets Jamaica and joins Mexico in third round

2009-05-25 14:28:00
Kingston, Jamaica, May 23, 2009 - It is not the way you start but the way you finish. That was the story of Bahamas during the Norceca-D tournament and Saturday night was not different as they recovered from one set down to upset hosts Jamaica 3-1 and join Mexico as teams qualified here to the third round of the 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championship.

The Bahamians, who earlier in the event erupted from a two-set hole against St. Lucia, prevailed against the home team by score of 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-22 and claimed a spot in the next phase of the competition. On Sunday they will meet Mexico, winners over Haiti by score of 25-16, 25-16, 25-20.

The winners of Sunday’s match advance to the Norceca-G (July 6-11) in Puerto Rico while the losers will go to Norceca-H in Cuba (August 12-17).

“We are happy to go home with this victory,” said Raymond Wilson, the coach of Bahamas. “Tomorrow we go against Mexico to try our best. They are not more talented than us in the Caribbean but they are mentally tough and they only focus in volleyball.”

Jack David, the Jamaican coach said: “We still need to overcome those hurdles and win the big games. We play volleyball but we are not there yet. You have to give a lot of credit to Bahamas.”

Shedrick Forbes led three Bahamians with double figures in scoring with 15 points. Byron Ferguson and Renaldo Knowles added 12 and 11 respectively. For Jamaica, Danny Wilson had 19 and Dellan Brown scored 13 points.

Leonardo Manzo led Mexico with 13 points, Tomas Aguilera added 10, including four blocks, and Irving Bricio chipped in 8 points.

“We achieved our goal of qualifying and now we hope to finish first and advance to the tournament in Puerto Rico,” said Jorge Azair, the Mexican coach. “Today we started a little anxious but then we recovered and played pretty well.”

In the first match on Saturday, St. Lucia finally won a match as they beat Cayman Islands 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-14) in a lopsided contest for the fifth place.

St. Lucian Kaji Charles had an excellent overall performance with 11 points that included three blocks and four serving aces. Amobi Armstrong also had 11 tallies. For Cayman Islands Olney Thompson recorded 10 points.

JAVA TO ASSESS QUALIFICATION FAILURE

By Andre´ Lowe, Observer staff reporter lowea@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Jamaica Volleyball Association (JAVA) will commence an assessment of their ill-fated FIVB World Championship qualification campaign, which ended with a heart-breaking spike inside the National Indoor Sports Centre at the end of Jamaica's 1-3 loss to The Bahamas in Saturday's semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Jamaica's head coach David Jack has laid the blame on poor execution from his players and mental weakness after watching the 'Riddim Boys' surrender three consecutive sets (18-25, 22-25, 22-25) after earlier claiming the first, 25-19.
Said Jack: "I really don't know what went wrong, it's rough and we played hard. I think we were plagued by some poor passing and until we can move away from that we won't be able to win these. We have some very talented players on our squad, but for some reason when it comes to the big games we are not able to get over the hurdles.
"It (mental block) is something that has plagued us, but we just have to continue working on it. It's not easy, but we cannot give up." he continued.
JAVA boss Wayne Robertson was obviously disappointed with the outcome, but maintained that the national programme was still in a good position despite the setback.
"We now have to assess what went wrong, we cannot get discouraged because the programme is a long-term one. Though we are disappointed we have to look at everything and when that assessment is completed we make the necessary implementations.
I'm sure we will be able to see the growth."
Robertson opined that he believes the Jamaicans lost as a result of underestimating their opponents who they have beaten comfortably several times last year.
He added: "I can't over-emphasise the importance of not losing momentum because we won the first set and I think we then started to take it easy.I think we underestimated them as they are a team that we have defeated consistently, but that is now behind us and we must now move forward."
Jack agreed and added that it is important that the team plays more games together to continue the development of the team and the sport in Jamaica.
"We have to keep building, we are on our way, we just need to keep playing the game and keep fighting. If we give up then volleyball dies, so we have to keep playing, coaching and getting players who can get us through the next level,"
Jack said.
JAVA will now turn their attention to the female qualifiers in Florida, which is set for July 6-8 at the University of Central Florida Arena.
The Jamaicans defeated Haiti 3-1 for third place last night, while The Bahamas faced Mexico in the championship game with the last two already qualified to the next stage of qualification for the World Championships.

JA START VOLLEYBALL HUNT AGAINST HAITI

by André Lowe, Observer staff reporter lowea@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Jamaican senior men's volleyball team will begin their hunt for a place in next year's FIVB Men's World Championship in Italy later this evening when they face neighbours Haiti in their opening game in Group D of Round Two qualifying action at 7:30 at the National Indoor Sports Centre.
The group is completed by qualifier favourites Mexico, St Lucia, Bahamas and Cayman. However, they will only face Haiti and the Cayman Islands in the 'preliminary' round and will then play a knockout game with one of the other teams based on their position after these two games.
The top two teams at the end of the tournament will move on to the next phase of qualifying.
Head coach David Jack, who has experience coaching on the US collegiate circuit, is expecting the number 66-ranked Jamaicans to finish in one of those top two spots and is hoping his charges can take full advantage of playing at home.
Said Jack: "I think our chances are good, just seeing how the team was prepared, their commitment and passion for working really hard and we are playing at home.
"That should count for something; we must let home field advantage pay in our favour. We hope to see a raucous crowd cheering us on. (we are) looking towards that championship game and we hope to be a part of it."
The team which boasts the likes of experienced campaigners such as North American-based Parrish Offer, Andre McLean, Dany Wilson and NORCECA beach volleyball standout Mark Lewis, have been in training since September of last year, and Jack is banking on the expertise of his top players to pull his team through.
"We expect them based on their experience both on and off the court to lend a hand to some of these less experienced players and guide them along the way so that we can see that difference when they step on the court," shared Jack.
He did, however, concede that he knows very little about this evening's opponents as a collective unit, but has information on a few of their top players.
Jack added: "Our first opponent is Haiti; we don't know the entire team well enough but individuals from that team have played in the senior volleyball tournament that have been hosted at GC Foster several times. So in our preparation we have been working on a number of areas that we think are key (for the match-up)."
The Jamaicans will next in action on Friday at 5:00 pm against the Cayman Islands at the same venue.
Team: Robert Andrews, Dellan Brown, Ricardo Chong, Omar Frazer, Namarie Gordon, Collin Henry, Shavoy Irving, Mark Lewis, Andre McLean, Parrish Offer, Delford Morgan, Richard Reynolds, Donovan Richards, Delroy Salmon, Errol Smith, Conaradio Taylor, Dany Wilson.

Update #2

Quick update about first match
Jamaica vs Haiti 3-0

Team Ontario Coaches

Shane St-Louis - Boy’s Head Coach
Shane St-Louis, professor of the Fitness and Health Promotions program at collège Boréal in Sudbury is also the head coach of the men's Vipères intercollegiate team. Shane has had great success at the club level developing one of the first club programs in the northeast region and winning 4 consecutive Provincial Championship titles from 2005 to 2008 with his 18U Les Diables boys team.
This will be Shane's third season with the Ontario Provincial Team program. He had the honor in leading Team Ontario Women’s 1 team as head coach at the 2007 NTCC held in London, ON. He then took the role as an assistant coach with the Men’s Canada Games team during their 2008 training camp in Toronto, ON. Now as head coach of Team Ontario Men’s 19U, Shane is looking forward to preparing his squad for a great showing at the 2009 NTCC held in British Columbia, ON. Having worked along side some great coaches in the past 2 years with both the mens and women's programs, I am very focussed on building a great team that will progress not only during the sumer, but for long term success of the athletes as well as the provincial program. Shane is a certified level 3 coach, sport conditioning coach as well as a personal training specialist. He is currently enrolled at the United States Sports Academy in Alabama (US) to attain his Masters in Coaching and Sports Management.

Chris Galbraith - Boy's Assistant Coach
Chris Galbraith, an NCCP Level 3 volleyball coach, comes to the Provincial team having coached volleyball for over 20 years. After six years coaching at Queen's University (including 2 years as the Women’s varsity head coach) Chris returned to his coaching roots. This past season he has coached three different age groups, including elementary school clinics, U16 Boy's club, and Sr. Boy's high school volleyball. A firm believer in hard work and dedication, Chris says "I am really looking forward to working with this year's Provincial team. For
many of these athletes, these are the most important years in their development. The work that they put in over the summer will determine the future role that they will play with their post- secondary teams, and I am pleased to be able to
help them reach their goals."

Parrish Offer - Boy's Assistant Coach
Parrish is one of the newest members of the Team Ontario coaching staff. He recently finished his first professional season in the Danish Elite Division with Middelfart Volleyball Klub. While competing at a professional level, he also found time to coach two female teams. His success as the head coach of these two teams gained him notice, and several associations across the country invited him to be a guest coach and to run various youth clinics.
Prior to competing internationally. he spent five years with the McMaster Marauders, four of which he was captain and led them to an OUA championship in 2008 when he was also named a OUA First Team All-Star. Parrish's passion and drive for the sport is what makes him an effective coach. He has been given numerous awards for leadership and team play and hopes that he can use these skills to bring the team together in a very short time. Parrish is excited to be training some of the best athletes in the province in their quest for gold. "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice
makes perfect!"

Michael Wahbi - Boy's Assistant Coach
This is Michael's first year working with the Provincial Team. He is extremely excited to be working alongside some brilliant minds behind the sport. Michael currently serves as an Assistant Coach with the York University Men's Volleyball
Program where he continues to expand his tactical and technical knowledge. Michael has also had the opportunity to work with the Etobicoke WildCats 17U Team as an Assistant Coach. Michael is a secondary school Phys.Ed/Social Science teacher at Bishop Allen Academy (TCDSB). Within his first two years of coaching, his Jr. Boys Team captured the TDCAA title! A huge accomplishment as the Jr.Boys last achieved this in 2001.. Michael is eager to motivate our high performance athletes. Remember: "the game of volleyball can be won or lost in the mind - it's 95% mental."

Serving it up for Jamaica Former Mac star Offer pursued dual citizenship to play for national team

May 16, 2009
Larry Moko
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 16, 2009)

The volleyball career of McMaster University graduate Parrish Offer has taken him from Kingston, Ont., to Kingston, Jamaica.

The former Marauders captain was scheduled to leave this week for the Jamaican capital, where he'll play for that country's national team.

Offer was born in Kingston, Ontario, 24 years ago. And before beginning his outstanding career with the OUA champion Marauders, he played in Kingston for the provincial AAA high school champion Regiopolis-Notre Dame Panthers.

"My mom, Patricia, was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica," said Offer, earlier this week, in explaining his route to the national-team level.

Offer said that last year he took the advice of McMaster men's volleyball coach Dave Preston, who suggested he pursue dual citizenship. Offer then researched the matter and got in touch with Jamaica Volleyball Association boss, Wayne Robinson.

"I just found out three weeks ago that my citizenship has gone through and that I was eligible to play in the world championship qualifier."

The six countries competing in Group D from May 20-24 at the National Indoor Sports Centre are Jamaica, Mexico, St. Lucia, Haiti, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

A potential showdown with Canada could come in later rounds.

The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confed- eration (NORCECA) is one of five continental confederations with the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The next FIVB world championships take place in 2010 in Italy.

"I'm excited to be going," Offer said. "There's a whole side of my family like my grandmother, aunts and uncles, that still lives in Jamaica. They have only seen me play through video or pictures from my mom.

"Most of them live on the other side of the island, but they're going to try and make the trip. It will be special for them that I have a Jamaican flag on my jersey."

Jamaica is ranked No. 66 in the world.

Offer played professionally last season in Denmark. His Elite Division squad was comprised of Danes, three Canadians, a Brazilian and a Norwegian. Their coach was Japanese.

"That was a fantastic experience," he said. "The blocking is bigger and stronger and the serving is tougher, but I adjusted to it."

The former OUA first-team all-star will also serve as an assistant coach of Ontario's under-18 team this summer.

Offer has been joined for recent workouts at the Burridge Gym by Josh Lichty of the Marauders. The St. Catharines native - a former CIS all-rookie team selection - is scheduled to be in Winnipeg June 14 to participate in a three-day Canadian junior national team tryout camp.

The selected players will travel to Pune, India, July 31-Aug. 9, for the world championships.

"There are a few new faces, but I'm hoping they stick with the majority of the squad from last year," said Lichty, who played for the junior national squad, which finished second at the 2008 NORCECA qualifying tournament in El Salvador.

Offer and Lichty were McMaster teammates in 2007-08.

"Josh is a phenomenal athlete," said Offer. "I kind of look up to him, actually. He's the future of McMaster volleyball. And if that's the future, good things are going to happen."

McMaster middle blocker Nathan Groenveld - a former OUA player of the year - also attended the senior national team's recent tryout in Winnipeg. The world championship qualifying tournament will be Aug. 7-12 in Cuba.

Update #1

Hi all, I'm here in Jamaica now and have been here since Wednesday. We trained Thursday night for 2 hours and then on Saturday for 5 hours straight!!! We go again today (sunday) for another 5 hours!!! It's quite unusual for me as the longest I've ever trained straight is 2 hours, but down here it seems to be the norm. It's quite tough on the body for me and I cramped up yesterday right at the end of practice from the length of practice combined with the Jamaican heat! But hey, I guess we're training for World Championship Qualifiers and coach wants us in the best shape! at this point I'm used to tapering and trying to get our energy up, but again things are quite different down here.
Yesterday was a pretty successfuly day in terms of teamality as we seemed to unite and come together a bit more. Today, is the last practice before they make the final cuts to get us down to 14 guys for the tournament.
As for the volleyball, the players are quite good and passionate about the sport. We're a good sized team with middles around 6'7 and 6'8, setter and right side at 6'4 and 6'6 and then some 6'4 left sides mixed with some smaller guys that can jump outta the gym (crazy jamaican genes!)
Our offense is a bit slower than i'm used to and i'm just trying to adjust to that right now. That is the part of the game that i'm having the most difficulty with. My passing and defense seem solid and i'm hoping that my connection with setters will come in the next couple of days.
I've gotten interviewed by TV Jamaica a couple times and i'll try and post some links when i can find them
cheers

Jamaica Volleyball Ad

Jamaica - Team Composition


Team manager SUZETTE BAKER
Head coach DAVID JACK
Assistant coach GATASHEU BONNER
Doctor
Therapist / trainer CHRISTOPHER RICHARDSON
Journalist

Name Lastname Shirt Name Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block Club
Dany Wilson JAMAICA 10/12/1982 200 90 0 0 VIKINGS
MARK LEWIS JAMAICA 20/10/1980 198 86 0 0 Vikings
Donovan Richards JAMAICA 0 0 0 0
Parrish Offer JAMAICA 0 0 0 0
Errol Smith JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 VIKINGS
Namarie Gordon JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 Venus All Stars
Ricardo Chong JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 UWI
Andre McLean JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 UWI
Richard Reynolds JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 UWI
Delford Morgan JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 UWI Club
Dellan Brown JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 Vikings
Conaradio Taylor JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 Vikings
Shavoy Irving JAMAICA 14/03/1988 0 0 0 0 G. C. Foster College
Collin Henry JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 Creole
Robert Andrews JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 G.C. Foster College
Delroy Salmon JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 UWI Club
Omar Fraser JAMAICA 0 0 0 0 UWI Club
C=Captain L=Libero

Staying up to date!

A few people have asked me where they can follow along with my volleyball down in Jamaica. I've found this website that has alot of good information. I'll also be trying to keep my blog up to date barring I have internet all the time.
I leave tomorrow for Jamaica, and I'm getting quite excited!

http://www.norceca.org/TEAMS-%202009%20WCQT-MEN-Kingston,%20Jamaica.htm

Former Regi star takes his talents to Jamaican team

from the Kingston Whig Standard
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1558782

VOLLEYBALL: Parrish Offer, fresh off his first season as a pro player in Denmark, will play at world championship qualifier
Posted By MIKE KOREEN

For Parrish Offer, it was pretty much a no-brainer.

When the Regiopolis-Notre Dame graduate was told there was a chance he could represent Jamaica in international volleyball competition, the local lad might as well have said, 'Ya, mon' on the spot.

The well-spoken, Oshawaborn, Kingston-raised young fellow, who just returned from his first professional season in Denmark, recently received his Jamaican citizenship (his mother, Pat, was born in the Caribbean country).

Next week, Offer, 24, is off to the other Kingston -- in Jamaica -- to play for the country in a world championship qualifying tournament, where many family members will see the McMaster University product bumping, setting and spiking for the first time.

"The thing I'm happiest about is a whole side of family gets to see me play," Offer said yesterday during a quick trip back to his old stomping ground -- the Regi gym.

"They've only seen pictures and videos. Just the opportunity for them to see me play is really special. Having a Jamaican flag on my chest makes it all that much better (for them)."

While the proud Canadian would love to represent Canada one day, Offer admits he's not under serious consideration to play on this country's national team.

Canada is ranked 21st in the world, while Jamaica is 66th.

"I know my limitations," Offer said. "I'm not at that level (of the Canadian team), I know where I am. This is a good way for me to go get some good international experience. Plus, I get to go to Jamaica for free."

Just before he left for Denmark in September, Dave Preston, Offer's coach at McMaster University in Hamilton, told him about a former player of his who played internationally in the Caribbean because of family ties and suggested he look into the possibility.

So Offer contacted the Jamaican Volleyball Association, who didn't take long to warm up to the Canadian after examining his resume.

Offer completed his requirements for citizenship while in Denmark and finally got the green light to come down less than two weeks ago.

Offer is travelling with his girlfriend and will receive free airfare, accommodation and food.

"I'm going in completely not knowing (what to expect in terms of competition)," Offer said of a six-country competition that includes the Cayman Islands, Haiti and Mexico, St. Lucia and the Bahamas.

The top two teams advance to the next round of world championship qualifying in Cuba later this summer.

"I'm expecting to contribute very well," Offer said. "I was just want to give them a little bit of international experience, playing at a high level."

That experience came in the top league in Denmark this past season, playing for Middelfart. The team, which advanced to league semifinal play, featured two other Canadians, a Brazilian, a Norwegian and a Japanese coach.

"We had all the continents covered," Offer said with a smile. "We communicated in English, but there was a little bit of broken English here and there."

Offer, who also coached a couple of girls teams for the club while he was in Denmark, has a contract offer to return next season, though he's exploring the market before marking a final decision.

Offer enjoyed his time in Denmark -- crowds were usually in the hundreds -- and also travelled to the Netherlands and Spain.

"It was a really good learning experience," he said. "It took me a little while to adjust. The game is a little bigger and a little faster (than the university game in Canada).

"It was a great place to get started."

Summer has arrived

Hi all, we've finished our season and playoffs now. Although the playoffs didn't quite go the way we wanted (we finished 4th), it was still a pretty successful season which brought our team together. I'm going on vacation now to Amsterdam, Spain, and Morocco for a couple weeks before returning to Canada on April 28th.
See everyone soon in Canada!

Playoffs have arrived!

Quick playoff update. We won our first match against Marienlyst 3-1 at home and lost tonite 3-0 at their place. We play Sunday in the final match of the best two out of three in Odense. I'll write more on the series after that match

http://www.tv2fyn.dk/video/20735

tv video

Volleyball Recap!

First off let me apologize for the long time since my last post. Alot has developed so I'll begin where I left off. Way back on March 4th we played Gentofte, the only team to beat us since Christmas, who was also red hot and had won 7 in a row putting them in first place. We were looking for redemption of our previous two losses, the first a 5 set thriller in Middelfart and the second a 3-0 effort in Copenhagen. Alas, it was not the day to do it. We came out quite flat, actually getting aced on 2 of the first 4 serves. That immediately set the tone for the first set and we lost 25-13. We regrouped in the second sharpening up our passing, and using our middles to score and won 25-17. Gentofte then turned their serving pressure up for the next two sets and won 25-16, 25-22. The match was all about ball control, they served better than we could pass and they passed better than we served. It also helps when your best player goes 19 for 24 wit 2 errors! Their leftside was pretty unstoppable for us and something we'll have to work on if we meet them in the final.

Next, on March 15th we had a match again Ikast. This win would secure 3rd place going into the playoffs and proved to be a good test for us to stay on track. They have some good young players but we were hoping to exploit some weaknesses up the middle. The game was a less than outstanding match with both teams making lots of errors, making the flow of the match seem long and drawn out. Either way we walked away with a 3-1 victory (25-18,22-25,25-20, 25-20).

Finally, on March 21st we played out final regular season match at Holte. After already securing third place the results of this match did not affect anything, however it was a very good opportunity for us to sharpen up our offense and try different things. Most of the guys on the team trained hard right through the week with a few extra workouts to be able to taper for the semi finals. This meant we were a playing a little bit tired and sore. We came out firing right out of the opening serve. Both teams traded points until about 19-19 when we made a push to 23-. We sided out and won the set 25-20. The next set we came out a little flat and got down 4-0. Mizuno was forced to call a time out to get us back on track. We played from behind most of the set until about the 20 point mark where we made our push with aggressive blocking and defense. We took the second set 25-22. The third set was another great battle with both teams trading points in side out fashion. However our blocking forced Holte to commit a couple hitting errors late in the set and we won 25-22 completing the match and our regular season.

The second half of the season has been quite successful for us as a team. The season is broken down into three parts as you play each team 3 times. The first round we went 2-4, the second 5-1 and the third 5-1. We've been playing alot better which is to be expected when guys start to feel more and more comfortable paying with each other. Next up is game 1 of the semi finals vs Marienlyst on Saturday March 28th.

Discussion Board

COMING SOON!
One of the complaints I hear is that there is not enough discussion about volleyball in Denmark. In Canada, there is a discussion board at pvbcanada.com that spans across the country and debates many things about volleyball. Some are very good debates and some are just silly or fun. My hope is to create something like this through my blog. Discussion can be in English or Danish. It will take a little while to get this going but my hope is for open dialogue. Let me know by comment if you like this idea.

UPDATE
The 'beta' discussion board is up and running. You can get there from the new menu at the top of the page or by clicking here Let me know what you think and if you have any problems.
P

Taking Over 3rd Place

On Saturday February 21st, we travelled to Aalborg to play the HIK club. It is coming down to the end of the season and positioning for playoffs if very important. Only the top four teams make the playoffs and 1 plays 4, 2 plays 3 in a best two out of three series. Before the match we were in 4th place with an 8-5 record and Aalborg (9-5) was in 3rd place. The winner of this match would therefore take over third place.
The last two times we travelled to Aalborg we had quite disappointing losses. The first trip was back in October playing our first of three league matches against them. The thing I remember from that match was wow can these guys serve. They basically served us off the court recording over 10 aces in a three set match, and even the balls they didn't ace we didn't pass very well. This would routinely set up large three man blocks to hit around. They beat us 3-0.
The second trip to Aalborg was in the Pokal Semi finals. After a delayed bus ride we arrived late to the gym and put in a very poor showing. It was after a couple weeks of good training and some big wins, but in this match, it seemed like we just didn't come to play. They won again 3-0 and got to play Marienlyst in the Cup final.
The only other time we've played them was in Middelfart where we squeaked out a 5 set victory. Needless to say we had something to prove going all the way to Aalborg this time. We've been playing some very good volleyball since our return from Sweden. We're able to elevate our game to a high level and execute when we really need it. Our defence has also been quite strong picking up many more balls.
I believe this matches tone was set very early by Georg E. Within the first 5 points he had atleast 5 digs playing in position 6. It was an indication of how hard Aalborg would have to work to earn each point against us. The first set they struggled a bit with their serving and we continuously put them in trouble. I started with my spin serve, but decided a more tactical float serve would serve more beneficial while they struggled with their passing. We won the first set 25-16. We continued to serve aggressively while holding our errors to a minimum. Our blocking also started to take shape, Ulrik and Soren would combine for some timely blocks to ensure that Aalborg could not get into rhythm. What they couldn't stuff block, they would continuously slow down for the defence behind them. We won the second set 25-18.
The third set Aalborg came out with a little more fire. They begin serving as aggressively as in games past. and started to put our side out in trouble. We traded points but found ourselves behind 13-11 and in need of a time out. We stopped and regrouped and stepped up our defence. We would win 14 points while only surrendering 4 more to Aalborg to win 25-17. One play in particular is memerable for me. All week I've been coaching a Kidsvolley Camp in Odense and we were teaching defence. One lesson was to keep your back straight but your chest up incase you have to dig a ball with your chest. During the third set, their best outside hitter got a one on one from the left side, so i stepped into the seem. Without really seeing the ball, it bounced off my chest and up into the air so that we could set the ball. Who knows, maybe I do what I'm talking about when I'm coaching!
The win was another boost and step in the right direction. We continue to improve and demonstrate that when we play well, we are a very difficult team to beat. Next, we play Holte on Friday. A team that is in 5th place and trying to get into the playoffs. They won this weekend over Marienlyst so they are not a team to be taken lightly. Also, they beat us in a 5 set match the first time we played them in Holte. I think we have a new thing or two to show them!

Relegation duel and fight about the third place

from volleynet.dk
translated by gram trans

There are two very decisive fights on the programme in the men's league for picked teams on the weekend. Skovbakken and Ikast contend for avoiding relegation, and Aalborg HIK and Middelfart meet in a fight that can decide the third place.

The bottom-fight has right since the season's start stood between Skovbakken and Ikast/SKF. The two teams have each won one of the mutual fights, but haven't been in a position to defeat some of the row's rest five teams. Therefore it seems mostly probable that the winner of Saturday's third mutual showdown is in the clear at the relegation fight, while the loser must out. The fight is played on Skovbakken's home ground in Århus, but it was here just that Ikast secured the season's so far only victory.

There will also be a lot at stake in Aalborg on Saturday, where it's the row's third place that is playing about. Through the whole season the home team HIK has lain in front of Middelfart, but the Funen-inhabitants have moved for instance by virtue of two victories over Marienlyst close to the north Jutlanders and can actually overtake with victory in Saturday's fight. The third place can become very important, because one avoids a semifinal with it against the row's number 1, which probably becomes Marienlyst.

On the fourth place you can maybe also come into the situation that you must look yourself over the shoulder for Holte. The North Zealanders can still manage to create excitement about the semifinal spaces, even though it calls for quite a final spurt. It Holte could appropriate address a Saturday, when they have to go on visits on Saturday with Marienlyst.

The week's fights
Skovbækken Volley - Ikast/SKF YMCA
Saturday February 21th 13:00.00 in Vejlby Risskov Hallen

Aalborg HIK - Middelfart VK
Saturday February 21th 14:00.00 in Aalborg Stadionhal

Marienlyst - Holte IF
Saturday February 21th 15:00.15 in the Marienlyst-centre


Related link:
http://www.volleyball.dk/dt


Kasper Lindberg , VolleyNet (VolleyNet) - 19.02.09

KidsVolley Camp - Odense 2009

For the past 3 days, I have been waking up at 6am to take the 30 min train to Odense to take part in a KidsVolley Camp. For school age children on this island it is winter holiday and they have the week off school (kinda like march break in Canada). I was invited by Thomas Lüthi, a fellow coach in Denmark, whom I met back in October when I was a guest at his KidsVolley Camp. We met up again at the Pokal festival when I was coaching one of my girls teams and asked me if I would like to be a part of the camp. I jumped at the opportunity. Partly for any chance to coach, meet people and do something different, but primarily to learn from Thomas. He is quite young and already has been coaching volleyball for 12 years as well as has a vast knowledge in pretty much everything!!!


KidsVolley is apparently a Dutch inspiration that has 5 levels depending on the childs skill level. It begins by throwing and catch the ball over the net on a badminton court and progesses all the way to actual volleyball on a badminton court. This camp was split into two categories level 3 and level 4. Level three is played just like regular volleyball except 3 players on the court and the second contact is caught and thrown. The first and the third contacts must be volleyball contacts. Level 4 has all the same rules as real volleyball except it is played with 3 players.

Much of the time we were split into two groups, where I had the level 4's. Mostly because they were a bit older and could understand my english a little better. This was a very different kind of camp. Alot of these players play within the local clubs and spend much of the time working on the basics. Serving and passing (which are very very important) but we tried to expose them to something different. The focus of the camp was offence and defence. Day 1 we taught the 'smash', teaching the 3 step approach and proper technique. Day 2 our focus was on diving and sprawling. And Day 3 was tourniment day and BT from Marienlyst came in to talk to the players as well. Keep in mind these kids are learning these skills at the ae of 9-12. I didn't even start playing anything organized until I was 12!!!


I really enjoyed coaching these children. It re-enforces my idea that I want to be a coach as a profession. To see these kids progress in such a short time is very rewarding. At the end of the camp, we asked the players what they liked and disliked about the camp. Almost all the comments were positive because it was very different than what they have been used to. Parents seemed to be pleased as well! I hope I get more chances to coach while i'm in Denmark! It's always fun signing autographs!