Republic Bank/One Guyana/B Division Volleyball Tournament to pike off tomorrow

With the overall aim of developing volleyball throughout Guyana, the Guyana Volleyball Federation launched the Republic Bank/One Guyana/B Division Volleyball Tournament on Thursday, October 10.
The Tournament, which is slated to pike off on October 12 at the National Gymnasium, will see the participation of 66 teams from the 10 administrative regions except Region Eight as they vie for supremacy over two weeks. The final is slated for November 10.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr spoke about accessibility and the playing of volleyball throughout Guyana to facilitate youths’ overall development.
Ramson Jr said, “First of all, it’s a sport that can span every single region in the country. It’s very easily accessible for infrastructure development as well as for boys and girls, and getting young people involved in organised sport is such an important part of their overall character development and their personal development. It also takes them into various opportunities in life.”
The Minister went on to reiterate the investments made towards the Associations’ hosting of tournaments yearly.
He said, “Similarly, what we’ve been trying to do with all of our tournaments no matter what they were, is – and we’ve been working with the various sports associations and federations to do that – is so that when we say we’re earmarking money in our budget so that they can have tournaments every year, because that’s what we did as part of the National Sports Academy is so that they can build year on year persons can know who are joining the Federations, joining the sport wanting to participate that they can have a clear understanding that they can compete every year, compete in that fair environment and safe environment and train for that, so they’re motivated by that objective and that focus or train in a focused way.”
Republic Bank Managing Director Stephen Grel, also speaking at the launch, expounded on the bank’s investment in sport to produce an avenue for development.
Grel said, “Sport development is an essential component of our Power to Make a Difference Corporate Social Responsibility Programme, which supports a range of sports. This is because we believe that sport is an avenue for unparalleled character development, grounding values of teamwork, resilience, fair play, and dedication. We foresee the Second Division volleyball tournament for men and women in 66 teams across eight regions of Guyana as an avenue for the development and progress of local talent for international representation. This is not just a sponsorship for Republic Bank, it is an investment, an investment that demonstrates our commitment to our communities, our nation, and development of core sports locally.”
The winner of the Tournament will cart off $300,000, with second place receiving $200,000 while third and fourth place will pocket $150,000 and $100,000 respectively.