“BUILDING on the efforts of the past two terms will be the beacon of the future of the Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) 2012 objective, as we look to strengthen the structure of the Federation and Associations.” Those were the aspirations of president of the GVF Lenny Shuffler who in an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, wherein he was asked to reflect on the past year, indicated that his executives will be working extensively on development in all areas.
Highlighting that over the past years what brought success will continue and the failures will be looked at and re-implemented with correctional measures if necessary, Shuffler said volleyball will be high on the agenda of the sports calendar this year.
He noted that volleyball will see a ‘win win’ process with the introduction of the national four year school programme which will see students from ages 8-15 years being introduced to and trained in all aspects of the sport.
“There will sure be an improvement in youth volleyball from that young age, while a large pool of players will be vying for places in the national Under-16 squads, the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) squads and later the senior national squad,” said Shuffler.
According to the GVF head, a tri-angular inter club tournament and more development courses especially in the areas of refereeing and coaching are in the pipeline of his Federation to take care of this year.
At present, the development of women’s volleyball and coaching with assistance from the Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation will aid the outline area feeder to the national grid in identifying talent for national selection.
The 2012 season will be opened with the President’s Volleyball Festival, which is in aid of the Shuffler who will be celebrating his 73rd birth anniversary and also 60 years of service to volleyball, commencing on February 5 at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue.
The event is expected to see clubs from all three associations, school teams and the veterans of Guyana’s volleyball on show, and is scheduled to serve off from 10:00 hrs.
Making mention of associations, Berbice had elected Gregory Rambarran to lead the activities, Dwayne Scott was chosen by Demerara, while, Shuffler said, Essequibo will hold their elections following the GVF AGM which is set for this month end, after which the national programme will commence.
Emphasizing on the implementation of structure in operation and development, training and regional coordination, Shuffler said the Federation will see major improvements with the preparation of the IGG squads and the national schools’ programme in place.
The GVF who has been working extensively with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport as a triangle to the development of the sport and the improvement of the National Gymnasium, will definitely contribute towards improvements in the sport.