By Clifton Ross

PRESIDENT of Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) Levi Nedd said he’s not overly optimistic about players returning to the courts any time in the near future.
The local volleyball community has been hit heavily by the COVID-19 outbreak, as plans geared towards breaking new ground this year were haphazardly curtailed when the lockdown came into effect since the beginning of March.
Apart from February’s trip to French Guiana where the senior men’s team had a good showing in the 2020 Inter-Guiana Games (IGG), not much was done thereafter.
The squad returned to local soil prior to the pandemic fully being unleashed and players remained indoors as a result.
The national coach told Chronicle Sport recently, that he doubts that any action will spike off anytime soon as the virus continues to spread while Guyana slowly phases back into normalcy as the months go by.

Among those plans that GVF were forced to halt due to lockdown was the highly anticipated National Under-16 tournament, which would have been used to form the next generation of junior national players.
A national school’s volleyball tourney as well as a nationwide coaching programme was also on the cards for the first quarter of 2020.
Female volleyball players were set for the limelight in 2020 with Nedd confirming since last year that more emphasis will be placed on the ladies’ game.

While the GVF has seen a surge in the participation and representation of women both locally and overseas in the sport, plans to form both junior and senior national teams by virtue of competitions were sadly put on hold as well.
Those events were indefinitely pushed back months ago but the GVF head was still doubtful that any type of action will happen soon.
Due to the cases continuing to rise worldwide and locally in particular, Nedd believed it was wise to still hold off and quarantine while continuing to adhere to the respective guidelines.

With things in the Ancient County stagnant, volleyball, like cricket which is the biggest sport, has been suffering both financially and competition-wise.
Volleyball players in Berbice continue to practise their isolated means of training and stay in ideal playing shape for when the time arrives for action.
Meanwhile, Nedd still remains hopeful that the current state of things will soon be reversed and players can return to representing their country with pride as they did just a few months ago.
He also encouraged players to maintain their discipline and dedication towards the development of their game, during this forced hiatus.