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.