Ja in pole position to host CAZOVA Champs

Jamaica will know by the end of the year whether it will be selected to host the 2016 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Volleyball Championship set for July 7-17.

President of CAZOVA, Mushtaque Mohammed, visited the island from December 27 to yesterday and toured the facilities which could be used to host 16 male and female teams from across the region if Jamaica is successful in its bid. A decision should be made by the end of the week.

The Jamaica Volleyball Association successfully hosted the CAZOVA Beach Volleyball Olympic qualifiers earlier this year and won rave reviews for organising the event.

JAVA President Rudolph Speid said he is optimistic that Jamaica will be selected to host the tournament. He revealed that CAZOVA will donate an indoor volleyball court, which, if it gets the tournament, JAVA will use as a practice court inside the National Arena.

During his short visit, Mohammed also met with Major Desmon Brown of Independence Park Limited (IPL), as well as Denzil Wilks of the Sports Development Foundation. If Jamaica is selected, the tournament would be staged at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) run by IPL.

The CAZOVA president looked at hotels in Kingston and also the courts at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, during his trip.

Mohammed, who is also a vice-president of the North, Central American and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation, was in attendance at the 2015 JAVA Senior Awards Ceremony held Monday evening at the offices of the Jamaica Olympic Association on Cunningham Avenue, where UWI and Vikings received their awards as the champion male and female teams for 2015.

Jamaica's male Under-19 team, the CAZOVA Under-19 champions, head coach Steve Davis, assistant coach Adrian Ramdeen, and manager Tracey Ann Findley were honoured during the ceremony. Also recognised for their significant achievements during the year was the country's female beach volleyball team of Kai Wright, Danielle Perry, Sasha Lee Wallen, and Alicia Malcolm, who won the first round of the Olympic Beach Volleyball qualifiers in May in Ocho Rios. The men's team of Rick Webb, Mark Lewis, Christopher Wallen, and Donovan Richards, who were second in their qualifiers in CuraÁao, were also honoured.