Volleyball needs more support - JaVA president

Jacqueline Cowan, president of the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JaVA), has asked for support for her sport following an upset win at the recent Caribbean Championships in Suriname.

Coached by Raymond Chung, the women’s team ended the reign of Trinidad and Tobago as the region’s champions at the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) event. Cowan was overcome with emotion after Jamaica’s hard-fought 3-2 win.

“When I saw the team and how emotional they got, I couldn’t help but shed a tear at the table, because we had so many obstacles in our way to get to Suriname”, the JaVA president recalled.

“The girls were not able to train before June 1 because we had no venues. Up to two weeks prior to the tournament, we didn’t even know if it would take place. To get to Suriname is not easy. It’s expensive. We actually had to stay overnight in Curacao, so everything was just up in the air. Funding was an issue. And to know that we overcame all of that to become champions, it just makes you feel sometimes all you do is not always going to be in vain.”

Cowan hopes the victory will be a catalyst for an outpouring of financial support for volleyball.

“All week, we’ve been put in the same light as the Reggae Girlz and the Sunshine Girls, which is great. You know, we like the recognition, but I come back to football and the Girls. Our women participated in the first Concacaf (football) competition in 1989. They did not get to the World Cup until 2019. However, they were still able to get support and I would love to see that happen to our sport and other sports that people see as minor sports, that we really need to have some form of assistance to get us where we need to be,” said the former football administrator.

“We did what we did with practically no assistance until we tried to get our tickets and we were able to get sponsorship, and it’s difficult. It really is difficult, and we cannot succeed if we cannot get support,” she stated. “And I hope this will be a catalyst for persons to see what you can do, what other sports can do and get the assistance.”

The last time the women’s Championships were contested, Trinidad and Tobago swept Jamaica 3-0 in 2017.

The president added, “We’ve been knocking at the door for so long. We get to the finals so many times and are always defeated by Trinidad, and it was really just sweet to be able to take that monkey off our back.”

Jamaica prevented an eighth successive Trinidad and Tobago title win and, in fact, beat the holders at the round robin stage, 3-2. Jamaica beat Barbados in the semi-final, 3-0.

The final went down to the wire. Jamaica reached championship point at 14-10 in the fifth set, but Trinidad and Tobago saved it three times before the end came. The final scores were 25-21, 15-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-13.