DART to sponsor Cayman Islands Beach Tournament
GRAND CAYMAN, April 10, 2019 - The Cayman Islands Volleyball
Federation (CIVF) has announced the teams that will compete for
Cayman in the upcoming NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tournament which
takes place from 26 to 28 April at Seven Mile Public Beach. In
addition, the event itself has also received a significant boost
in the form of support from Dart who has come on as the title
sponsor.
The Cayman men’s teams are Richard Campbell/Nathan Dack and
Casey Santamaria/Jesse Parham and the female contenders are
Marissa Harrison/Ileann Powery and Jessica Wolfenden/Stefania
Gandolfi.
“This tournament cannot happen without the support of the
community and both the public and private sectors. We are
grateful to companies like Dart who recognise the tourism and
economic impact of an event such as this and choose to partner
with us to execute a first-class competition,” said Kennedy
McGowan, CIVF President.
“Congratulations also to the four Cayman teams that will be
competing. These eight athletes are very strong players and we
expect some fierce court action from them.”
“Sponsoring the Cayman leg of the 2019 North, Central America
and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) Beach
Volleyball Tour is consistent with Dart’s commitment to tourism
and promoting the Cayman Islands internationally,” said Pilar
Bush, Executive Vice President Marketing at Dart. “Hosting world
class competitive events like NORCECA, gives Cayman the
opportunity to showcase our islands’ natural beauty and
welcoming people and at the same time promote sports as an
important component of community development.”
This will be Jessica Wolfenden’s 11th NORCECA tournament
appearance. She finished fourth place in the 2016 Cayman
NORCECA tournament; was the 2015 gold medallist at the NatWest
Island Games in Jersey; the 2015 silver medallist at CAZOVA
Olympic Qualifier in Jamaica and the 2013 silver medallist at
the NatWest Island Games in Bermuda. She has also been selected
for the Cayman Islands beach volleyball team that will travel to
the 2019 Island Games in Gibraltar in July.
“The Cayman NORCECA stop is always a special one on the tour and
I am thrilled to have the opportunity to represent Cayman
again,” said Wolfenden. “I am excited to be back on the court
with Stefania and look forward to battling it out on the sand
together.”
Ileann Powery will be competing in her 7th NORCECA tournament
this month. Powery, 21, has been playing volleyball since her
days at George Hicks High School and was at one time the
youngest member of the Cayman Islands Women’s Volleyball
National Team. She transitioned to beach volleyball in 2013 and
has represented Cayman at the World Championship Qualifiers,
NatWest Island Games, Nanjing Youth Olympic Qualifiers, Pan
American Games and Central American and Caribbean Games. She
won her first NORCECA game in April 2017 against Trinidad &
Tobago.
“It is always an honour to represent the Cayman Islands and it
is my absolute favourite thing to do. I am very thankful to have
been selected once again to represent these Islands in front of
my home crowd,” said Powery. “As I always say, I will put my
all in while playing, and I will take everything in this
tournament as a learning experience.”
Cayman will be one of the first stops on the 2019 NORCECA tour
as teams try to accumulate points in order to qualify for the
2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Countries confirmed to
participate are the Bahamas, Canada, Cayman Islands, Cuba,
Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico,
Nicaragua, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago, USA and US
Virgin Islands. |