The Board of Administration and Members of the Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation ("CIVF") celebrated the conclusion of their inaugural Sports Aid Program ("SAP") Coaches Course for Teachers on Saturday, November 30th with their Youth Volleyball Festival at the Community College Hall, for which the games and activities were officiated by the SAP course participants. Facilitated by Dr. Rostislav VORÁLEK, an experienced coach and Federation Internationale de Volleyball ("FIVB") instructor with a Doctorate degree in physical education, the SAP course has an objective of increasing the awareness of the sport of volleyball, taking into consideration the available resources of each country. The program is a developmental tool for member countries interested in enhancing fundamental elements of the sport, as well as teaching and administrative methods and is partial funded by the FIVB. The emphasis of the course is to teach the basics of volleyball to children and young people, by targeting school teachers, young volleyball players, and future coaches.

"The CIVF is extremely honoured to be selected by the FIVB for this course," stated CIVF President, Noel Williams, "which can only reflect the CIVF's intent of focusing on our youth development programs. It is recognised that the future of any sport lies with the youth of any nation, and as such, we have taken a head start by initiating the development of coaches, who can properly teach the sport. It is sad to note that we had such a small number of participants despite our active campaign to drum up interest, though we recognise that success will ultimately come through baby steps." With the completion of this course, participants are now eligible to peruse their FIVB Coaches Level I volleyball certification. Mr. Williams also stressed that the next plan of action for the CIVF, was to enable the course participants to utilise the knowledge and skills gained from the course by assisting with the CIVF's Youth Development Programs.

The thirteen (13) participants who were certified during the SAP course were Pauline Green; Shaun Brooker; Noel Williams; Anita Lansdell; Sophia Foster; Ian Hemming; Dina Douglas; Damion Bush; Michael McLaughin; Tracy Ebanks; Drew Dhanraj; Olney Thompson; Shervin Rankin; Course Observers were Keith Higgins, Eleanor Berry, Rose Wright.