Since launching its Youth Volleyball Programme in the summer of 2017, the Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation (CIVF) has been making strides to introduce young athletes to the sport while building an infrastructure to make the programme sustainable. This January with the addition of Volunteer Coach, Rick Bevis from Canada, the CIVF took a major step towards building that infrastructure.

Coach Bevis will be in the Cayman Islands for six months, during which time he will assist with coaching both youth indoor and beach volleyball. More importantly, local Level 1 and Level 2 certified coaches and physical education teachers will understudy him so that they can sustain and continue to grow and develop the indoor and beach youth programmes.

Coach Bevis is on sabbatical from Vancouver Island University, where he is a Professor in the Faculty of Education.  He brings 30 years of experience in both indoor and beach volleyball to the Cayman Islands.  He has coached a variety of programmes from grassroots to high performance in Canada and has been nationally recognized multiple times during his collegiate coaching career.  His athletes have won national and international competitions on numerous occasions.  Bevis has previously coached programs in Australia, the US, and Belize, as well as events in the Netherlands, Belgium and Bulgaria.

Coach Bevis currently serves as a Mentor Coach to numerous programmes as a Volleyball Canada Coach Developer – Learning Facilitator and Coach Evaluator.

“Having Coach Bevis in Cayman is the springboard we need to be able to take our youth players to the next level”, CIVF President Kennedy McGowan said. “The first major competition that we are preparing for is the CAZOVA U18 (girls) and U19 (boys) indoor volleyball championships in Jamaica in July, 2019. Coach Bevis and local FIVB certified coaches, Mark Ray, Javid Ali, Kevin Solomon and Jessica Wolfenden, Marcus Patterson and Prakash Ramnani are currently working with high school players two days per week at the John Gray volleyball facility. Coach Bevis will also be traveling to Cayman Brac to meet with the schools and athletics officials there who are also keen to develop a thriving volleyball programme.

“I have been so impressed with the indoor and beach facilities here in Cayman, and more importantly the passion and commitment of the many CIVF coaches, administrators and volunteers that support Volleyball on the Island”, Coach Bevis said. “The enthusiasm of the athletes, from brand new to the sport to National Team athletes has been inspiring – I look forward to seeing them every day!”