The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Defend Ya Spike Volleyball Tournament is back for the fifth consecutive year and a number of international and professional players are expected to participate in the three-day event at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium this weekend.

Byron Ferguson, back home from his first year sting in Indonesia on his fourth year on the professional circuit, along with Jamaican pro DJ Nelson and his national team member Ryck Webb, are already in town to help get the Scotiabank Defenders ready as they prepare to defend their men’s title.

The Defenders, winners of the past three consecutive years, will be matched against five other teams in the men’s division that includes the Defenders B, International Jammers, Caribbean All-Stars, the University of the West Indies and the Saints, a junior team, in the round robin tournament that starts on Friday and wraps up on Sunday.

The International Jammers, based out of North Carolina, are expected back to defend their ladies’ title. They are expected to be hard pressed against a combined team of players from the Scottsdale Vixens and the Johnson Lady Truckers, who are playing together in honour of the late Tenaz Thompson, a former team-mate.

They will be joined by the Panthers, a locally based team consisting mainly of collegiate players who will be coached by Jason Saunders. The University of the West Indies is also expected to field a team. The Bahamas national team, which is expected to participate in the Junior Caribbean Volleyball Championships this summer, is expected to play as they gain some exposure and experience before they travel.

Tournament director DeVince Smith said they are looking forward to a very competitive tournament this year, which will be sponsored by Scotiabank, the Caribbean Bottling Company Limited, BTC, Bahamasair and JS Johnson. He said Scotiabank Defenders, through Scotiabank, want to expose volleyball in the country to a much higher level.

“This year so far, we have seven female teams and six men’s teams registered so far,” Smith said. “We have players from New Providence, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, the United States and Canada. Some of these players are also exposed on the professional an interntional level.”

The action will start at 1pm Friday, 11am Saturday and 11am Sunday when the two champions will be crowned.

Leah Davis, senior manager of marketing and public relations at Scotiabank, said they are delighted to once again throw their support behind the Scotiabank Defenders volleyball club as they watch the tournament grow each year with more and more international players coming in to participate.

“We want to salute the Defenders volleyball club for what they have been doing and for their success and their commitment to the sport of volleyball and its development,” she said as she encouraged them to look at the possibility of adding a youth programme so that they can get their Bright Future programme involved.

“We want to applaud you for continuing to recruit international players and expose the local players to a higher level of competition. We want to wish you all the best and luck on the weekend. We want to encourage the general public to go out and support our team, the Scotiabank Defenders, as well as the other teams that will be competing.”

Cara Dougles, representing the Caribbean Bottling Company Limited, said they are extremely proud to be supporting any type of local event that will encourage youth and youth development and a tournament that is bringing the international players to participate.

Now on a break from playing in the pro league in Poland, Nelson said he’s excited to be in the Bahamas teaming up with his friends like Smith, Ferguson and Tony Simon, whom he all met playing for their respective countries on the international scene.

“We came here to try to help the Defenders win this championship,” Nelson said. “I’ve been excited for a while. That’s why we came here early to practice. We’re looking for the victory.”

Webb, a collegiate player at Emmanuel College, said they are looking forward to adding a player from Barbados and another from the United States, who will be coming in town today, to help make up the Defenders team.

“We have a few professional players on our team and we’re very excited as the three-time defending champions,” said Ferguson, who played this past season with the Pertamina Energy in the Indonesian Pro League after spending two in Finland and one in Denmark and will move on to play in Portugal in September.

“A lof of teams are bringing other international talent to blend with the local talent, so it’s going to be more competitive as it has been from year to year.”

Still recuperating from an injury, Simon will not be participating in the tournament this year, but he’s looking forward to assisting his club in pulling off the tournament. Simon was more interested in the ladies’ division, noting that with the talent coming in, they will be more competitive than the men.

“We have some of the top players in the Caribbean coming. To add to that, we have players coming from the US and Canada,” he said. “So I believe the competition is going to be more competitive with the ladies than the men. The games will be very competitive on both sides of the court.”

By using a round robin format, Smith said it will give all of the teams an opportunity to battle it out for a shot at getting into the final day of competition on Sunday when the semi-final and final matches will be contested. The teams will be playing for trophies, medals and cash prizes.