The Tribune

By JONATHAN BURROWS

Tribune Sports Reporter

jburrows@tribunemedia.net

New Providence Volleyball Association president Rhandi Elliott believes the continued growth of the NPVA Night League is creating more opportunities for young players to develop while raising the overall standard of volleyball in the country.

Elliott reflected on the previous season during an awards ceremony held between Sunday’s women’s and men’s games. The ceremony honoured key players and championship winners from both divisions before the league continued its 2026-27 campaign.

The previous season marked a significant step forward for the league, with participation more than doubling from the year before.

“We felt like last season went tremendously well,” Elliott said. “Last year we had 14 teams, which was a significant increase in the league. The prior year there were only six teams.”

The league featured six teams in the men’s division and seven in the women’s division last season, with junior players also competing at the senior level.

“We had a junior team in the men’s division and one in the women’s division, which I think signals a lot of development of the youth that are playing the sport,” he said. “That’s something we want to continue to encourage.”

That emphasis on youth development has carried into the new season, with more teams featuring players primarily from the high school ranks.

The opportunity to compete against more experienced players can help young athletes make the transition from school volleyball to a higher level of competition.

Another major factor in the standard of play last season was the Caribbean Volleyball Championship, which was hosted in Nassau.

Players who represented The Bahamas at the CAZOVA Senior Caribbean Volleyball Championship, along with those competing for places on the national teams, brought that experience back into the NPVA season.

“A lot of the players, not only those who made the national team, were playing in our league, but also a lot of players who were trying out with the national team,” Elliott said.

“Having the opportunity to try out at that level for a sustained period of time, we saw them increasing their level of play here during our regular season.”

With the new season underway, the association is looking at ways to further expand the competition, particularly for younger players.

Elliott acknowledged that while junior teams provide an important avenue for youth participation, young athletes can sometimes need time to reach the level of the established senior teams.

“One of the things that we really hope we can do this season is perhaps even have an entirely youth division,” he said.

The association has already begun early discussions about what such a division could look like, while teams will also be encouraged to establish youth branches.

“We’re going to encourage each of our teams to maybe have a youth branch for their team,” Elliott said. “Within the next few months, we hope that we can get our entire youth league up, and that’s going to go a long way.”

The proposed youth structure would give high school players another avenue to continue developing outside of their school competitions while allowing them to compete regularly against players at a similar stage of development.

The association’s plans come as the 2026-27 Night League features a mixture of established teams and younger players across both divisions.

Sunday’s schedule included Panthers against Lady Warhawks in the women’s division before Warhawks faced Avengers in the men’s division.

The results provided plenty of action after the ceremony.

Panthers swept Lady Warhawks 3-0 in the women’s match, winning the sets 25-14, 25-10 and 25-22.

In the men’s match, Avengers defeated Warhawks 3-1. Avengers won the opening two sets 25-17 and 25-22 before Warhawks took the third 25-23. Avengers closed out the match with a 25-11 victory in the fourth set.