Saint Lucia will field a four-member beach volleyball squad for the First Central American and Caribbean Sea and Beach Games of Santa Marta 2022, in Colombia, scheduled for 19th-26th November, 2022.
The male team comprises Rio Victor and Lorenzo Jn. Pierre, while the female team comprises Clio Phillip and Chenoa Evans. Team Coach is Terry Verdant.
The team leaves Saint Lucia for Santa Marta on Friday, 18th November, 2022.
According to Alfred Emmanuel, President of the St. Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) Inc., the team’s participation in the tournament is by virtue of qualification, and not via a wild card.
“That is what the St. Lucia Olympic Committee requires from our members,” Emmanuel said last Thursday (November 3) at a press briefing to introduce the team. “When you want to put demands on the SLOC, then you must put demands on yourselves as well and produce qualifiers, and don’t rely on universality slots.”
Chef de Mission, Shayne Felicien, said his first stint in the role has been a learning experience. Nevertheless, he said he was up for the challenge. He also said the tournament provides the opportunity for the growth and development of local volleyball.
“These are the cadre of young athletes whom, we hope, will be the future of Saint Lucian volleyball, not only in terms of beach volleyball, which is getting the substantial push by our international federations, but also for our indoor volleyball, for which we have maintained our standard throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and even before,” Felicien said.
Felicien added: “We’re hoping that those young men and women understand what is being entrusted to them. This is the first-ever Sea and Beach Games and we have given them this prized opportunity to represent Saint Lucia, to represent the sport of volleyball. And it’s incumbent on them to go out there and be true ambassadors for our sport and country.”
Meanwhile, Coach Verdant said the Santa Marta beach volleyball tournament will comprise 16 male teams and 16 female teams. Team preparation at home, he said, has been ongoing to be competitive.
“We have been working very hard over the past month and our goal here is to go out there and compete,” Verdant said. “As you know, with the pandemic, we couldn’t do anything with volleyball at the time. Our aim is to go out there and play well, play hard and represent ourselves and our country very well.”
The Beach Games fall under the umbrella of Centro Caribe Sports, formerly known as the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization, or CACSO.
SOURCE: St. Lucia Olympic Committee. Headline photo: Chef de Mission Shayne Felicien and Team Coach Terry Verdant with the 4-member beach volleyball squad.
