SPORTS

Kerry Rivard goes for the ball

Olney Thompson tries to get one over Andrew Gordon

Emily Davies helped her team to second position in the Women’s Doubles

Furius Whelan and Kingsley Chong claimed third place

Wanda Brenton and her partner Jody McFarland took the Women’s Doubles title

The new Beach Volleyball Committee of the CIVF are Jason Moir, Carl Brenton, Jon Pump, and Shaun Gale. Todd Hazelwood was not available at the time the picture was taken.

The beach was alive with the sound of cheering on Saturday 11 March as X 107.1 FM hosted the Spikeapalooza Beach Volleyball Tournament on Seven Mile Beach.

The event, which was sanctioned by the Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation (CIVF), was hailed as a great success by all involved.

The tournament ran all through the day, with competition taking place in the Mixed Fours, Men’s Doubles, and Women’s Doubles divisions. Around 60 players, forming 17 teams, entered the tournament on Public Beach, which was followed by an X 107.1 Happy Hour, sponsored by Cayman Distributors, at Calico Jacks.

The participants and supporters made full use of the beautiful weather conditions, and made liberal use of the ocean for a quick cool-down if the action on the beach got too hot.

In the mixed Fours division, Café del Sol walked away with first place after a tough battle. Joan of Arcs claimed second, with E-Cay rounding out the podium in third.

The Women’s Doubles saw the win go to Sea Babes, composed of Wanda Brenton and Jody McFarland, with Tammy Kelderman and Emily Davies claiming second, and Shazaam, composed of Kerry Rivard and Lisa Skilnick claiming third.

The Men’s Doubles saw familiar faces at the top of the podium, as Shervin Rakin and Olney (OT) Thompson, competing as Cayotics, demonstrated their sand supremacy to claim the win. Money Train, made up of Jon Pump and Andrew Gordon, claimed second, with Kingsley Chong and Furius Whelan of Asian Fury claiming third.

The finalists won a selection of prizes including Cayman Airways tickets to Florida to watch an AVP Pro Beach Volleyball tournament plus accommodation, and gift certificates. All players were given X 107.1 goodie bags, water and energy drinks.

Other sponsors of the event included Fiji-Water, B-52 Energy Drink, Michelob Ultra and Signs of Paradise.

Federation president Noel Williams commented that the CIVF was starting to focus much more on beach volleyball, as it was a sport that could do a lot to promote Cayman worldwide.

With perfect beaches and calm waters, Cayman could well grow into a major venue for beach volleyball competitions in the future. Mr Williams also hinted at plans to grow Cayman’s international beach volleyball profile, but declined to go into more detail on what exactly the future holds.

Carl Brenton, the chairman of the Cayman Islands Beach Volleyball Committee commented: “We had a fantastic turn out for the event and great spectator participation. All players expressed they had a great day. X 107.1 was a huge contributor to the success of our first beach volleyball tournament. I can’t say enough about their professionalism and support.”

Mr. Brenton added that the Spikeapalooza tournament is the start of many volleyball events to come. Future events will include a co-ed triples league, and those interested can e-mail cayman beachvolleyball@gmail.com for more information.