The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Scotiabank Defenders’ fourth annual beach volleyball tournament has a change in venue and hopefully there will be more teams coming out to participate.

The one-day tournament is scheduled for the Bahamas Football Association’s beach soccer pitch at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier bridge. It will start at 10am on Saturday and competition will be held in both the men and women divisions.

“I think this venue will lend to the support of the tournament,” said tournament director DeVince Smith about their partnership with the BFA. “There is no issue with the sand as was the case with the previous venues that we used. So we are hoping that with this facility, we will not only be able to attract more people, but we will get more people interested.”

With 2014 being an active year for beach volleyball, Smith said they are hoping that more of the players who play indoor volleyball will come out and hold their games on the beach.

“In July, we are hoping to host the Olympic qualifying beach volleyball tournament,” Smith said. “So I’m hoping that most of the players who play indoors will come out and try out their beach skills. With this being the first one for the year, it may not attract much people, but I think once they come out and see the facility and they feel safe, that will probably entice them to come out for the other ones.

“But we have a lot of players who have expressed an interest in playing in this tournament, both senior men and junior men. We don’t have much of the senior women expressing an interest in playing. But we hope that we can have a lot of support from the junior women players.”

Saturday’s tournament will provide an indication of what the Bahamas Volleyball Federation can expect at the soccer facility when they host the Olympic qualifier with four teams expected in town to compete in the first leg.

Also, the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour will begin at the end of the month and Smith said they are looking for the players to come out and get themselves ready.

The first leg of the tour will be held in the Cayman Islands and the BVF intends to finalise its team at the end of Saturday’s tournament.

“Hopefully a lot of people will come out and try out,” Smith said. “We will use this tournament to select our future beach volleyball teams.”