Coaches ready for CAZOVA World Championship qualifiers

RIVIERE SALEE, Martinique, October 21, 2016 - Eddy Erialc of Martinique and Bahamian Covanc Mortimer, two of the three coaches at the helm of teams for the Men Group A of Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) /FIVB World Championship Qualifiers both stated they were confident and ready to play. 

Both countries will be joined by Aruba which was due to arrive late after being stranded in St Maarten for the first round of qualifiers which also serves as a qualification tournament to the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Championship 2017 to be hosted by two-time reigning champions Trinidad and Tobago next year.

On paper it is expected to be a battle between former CAZOVA champions, Martinique and Bahamas, being the two most experienced squads for the places up for grabs, however, the youthful Aruban squad is mostly unknown and willing to spring a surprise.

Speaking on the eve of the competition, Martinique coach, Eddy Erialc said his team was ready to use the energy of the home crowd to get past its opponents.

“For me the team to beat in this group is Bahamas and with the help of our home support and good volleyball it will help us to overcome them.”

“We have been preparing since June and while some of our best players are with their clubs and are not available we have a good group of locally-based players who have the experience.”

Erialc also hinted that he may change his tactics due to Bonaire opting out of the tournament.

“With only three teams involve and not four there is less room for slips up, so while we had hope to give everyone on the team some playing time, we may be forced to stick to our key players.”

For Bahamian coach, Covanc Mortimer this will be his first tournament in charge of his country’s national team since taking over after the untimely death in December 2015 of coach De Vince Smith.

A former coach at St Augustines University, Raleigh, North Carolina, from 2007 to 2011, Mortimer said his team’s preparations had been a little bit troubling.

“We had some issues with Hurricane Matthew which displaced us with regards to our training so we had to prepare as best as we could.

“We have a few key players also out through injury, which has forced us into some positional changes in the team as well, but we still have our core players and once we play to the best of our ability we should be able to get the job done," added Mortimer.

For the last FIVB World Championship to Poland 2014, Bahamas reached as far as the penultimate round of qualification after it finished third, behind Mexico and Puerto Rico in their four-team pool.

Meanwhile, Martinique was ousted at the first hurdle after a third placed finish behind Guatemala and Suriname while Aruba reached the Second Round of qualification.