President of the Jamaica Volleyball Association, Rudolph Speid, has begun to make good his promise to work on the institutional strengthening of volleyball in Jamaica with the commissioning of the first of several new parish associations to be established across the country.

St James Volleyball Association (SJVA) was established during a meeting held at Corinaldi Avenue Primary School on Friday, January 16.

Interim board

The appointed interim board members are George Douglas - president, Donald Martin - vice-president, Ricardo Williams - general secretary, Latoya Calvin-Williams - treasurer, Roan McGrowder - beach volleyball manager, Adrian Clarke - competitions manager, and Andre Neil - coaches manager.

Speid informed the new board that his vision was to professionalise, popularise, and commercialise the sport in Jamaica. He outlined several imminent volleyball plans in which the parish associations will play vital roles, including the hosting of the Caribbean Youth Championship in July and the launch of a new Premier Club League in March.

The SJVA's first order of business will be to organise children underage clubs, as well as organise community competitions. The interim board will remain in place until July 2016.