GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman (NORCECA) — The double-gender Cayman Islands Beach Volleyball Tournament is the next stop on the NORCECA Beach Volleyball World Tour when it takes place at Seven Mile Beach from April 22 to 24 with teams hailing from 15 countries.

After hosting the opening event of the NORCECA season in the past seven years, Grand Cayman will be welcoming the participants for the fifth leg of the competition, following stops in Guatemala, Guaymas and La Paz, Mexico and Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Big crowds, as it has been the case in the past, are expected at the temporally beach volleyball courts set on the pearly white sand of Seven Mile Beach located on the western shore of Grand Cayman.

The men’s competition features the top three finishers in Guanacaste in what is expected to be a tough battle for the medals.

After succeeding in Costa Rica last weekend, Canada’s Cameron Wheelan/Michael Plantinga will be looking to repeat their victory when they subdued Trinidad & Tobago’s Daneil Williams/Fabien Whitfield for the gold medals. For the Trinidadians it was their best finish ever in NORCECA after three bronze medals in previous years dating back to 2012.

Guatemala’s Andy Leonardo, who took the bronze medal in Guanacaste playing together with Luis Garcia, will be teaming-up with Erick Garrido. The duo Leonardo/Garrido has two bronzes in their NORCECA resume.

Added to the mix will be the strong USA team of brothers Trevor and Taylor Crabb, winners of the season opener in Guatemala and bronze medalists in Guaymas and La Paz, the three events in which they have participated this year.

On the women’s segment, Canada’s Julie Gordon and Brandie Wilkerson, winners of the silver medals in the first two events of 2016 followed by the gold medals in La Paz, are strong candidates to get back to the podium in Grand Cayman after being eliminated in the quarterfinals in Guanacaste.

Betsi Flint and Kelley Larson of United States enjoyed an auspicious debut in NORCECA with a third place on the podium last week, so they have to be considered serious contenders in their second appearance.

Costa Rica’s Karen Cope and Nathalia Alfaro, silver medalists last year in St Lucia, have finished fourth in the last two tournaments and Grand Cayman seems like a good scenario for improvement.

Teams will compete in pool play for the eight spots in the quarterfinals with the rest of the teams playing for the 9-to-16 positions.

Previous winners in 2016:

Guatemala City

USA Trevor Crabb/Taylor Crabb (M)

USA Kelly Reeves/Allison Daley-McColloch (W)

Guaymas, Mexico

CUB Nivaldo Díaz/Sergio González (M)

USA Kimberly Dicello/Kendra Vanzwieten (W)

La Paz, Mexico

CUB Nivaldo Díaz/Sergio González (M)

CAN Julie Gordon/Brandie Wilkerson (W)

Guanacaste, Costa Rica

CAN Cameron Wheelan/Michael Plantinga (M)

USA Kelly Reeves/Allison Daley-McColloch (W)

Women’s Teams

Belize (Shantell Arnold/Kelsey Balderamos), Canada-A (Julie Gordon/Brandie Wilkerson), Canada-B (Marie Lapoint/Megan Nagy), Cayman Islands-A (Jessica Wolfenden/Stefanie Gandolfi), Cayman Islands-B (Chante Smith/Ileann Powery), Costa Rica (Karen Cope/Nathalia Alfaro), El Salvador (Maria Ávalos/Laura Molina), Honduras (Christianne Etches/Jarisa Hynds), Jamaica (Danielle Perry/Kai Wright), Mexico (Claudia Ríos/Gloria Santoyo), Nicaragua (Elia Torres/Lolette Rodríguez), St Kitts & Nevis (Brenda Allen/Genele Howell), Trinidad & Tobago (Malika Davidson/Ayana Dyette), United States-A (Betsi  Flint/Kelley Larsen), United States-B (Greena Urango/Angela Bensend), U.S. Virgin Islands (Manika Charles/Lisa Jedlicka).

Men’s Teams

Canada-A (Michael Plantinga/Cameron Wheelan), Canada-B (Aron Nusbaum/Ryan Vandeburg), Cayman Islands (Olney Thompson/Phillippe Deslandes), Costa Rica (Bryan Monge/Richard Smith), Curacao (Jeandro Tokay/Henrich Daal), El Salvador (David Vargas/Carlos Escobar), Guadeloupe (Sebastian Darchicourt/Guillame Coudeuylle), Guatemala (Andy Leonardo/Erick Garrido), Honduras (Jesus Oliva/Manuel Serrano), Jamaica (Triston Hitchaman/Christopher Walters), St Kitts & Nevis (St Clair Hodge/Kemoroy Percival), Trinidad & Tobago (Daneil Williams/Fabien Whitfield), United States-A (Taylor Crabb/Trevor Crabb), United States-B (Ed Ratledge/Ty Loomis), U.S. Virgin Islands (Brian Kwasny/Marc Lomeli).