UWIVC's Passion
Accurate, aggressive, passionate and agile are just a few adjectives which can be used to describe the members of the University of the West Indies Mona Volleyball Club. The whistle sounds, the game is about to start, the stands are filled with anxious faces, below on the court six women crouch in anticipation their faces etched in concentration marred only by occasional nervous smiles and encouragement from teammates. The ball is served from the other end of the court and as if by instinct they move across the court volleying, defending and then that final kill, point; UWI Mona VC in true UWI Mona fashion. Amidst the excitement of team members converging, congratulating and encouraging each other one can see a real bond, a friendship, a connection between these players for whom Volleyball is a passion. They have truly become family, a family birthed out of their sojourn here at UWI Mona.
UWI Mona is replete with stories of lives that converged and have remained connected even after educational goals have been achieved. The graduate of the 1990s remain connected to the campus in different ways, volleyball is one such medium through which they continue the Mona connection. These volleyballers recall their days on campus as some of the best days of their lives, beating (studying), lyming, competitions, laughter and interhall rivalry ensured that the campus remained alive to its students. Years after they still recall the sheer pleasure they had taking a beat break on the volleyball court. Paula-Anne Porter Jones is a regular in Jamaican media; trained at CARIMAC her smooth, silky voice has become a sought after staple on Jamaican radio for almost two decades; but you would not have truly experienced Paula–Anne until you saw her on the Volleyball court, commanding her team jumping, spiking and diving. One would not have imagined that she would have fallen for the UWI/Volleyball story but she did. After first learning to play during a beat break on campus, she is now one of the backbones of the team which began its sojourn into club volleyball in 1995.
Over the last twelve years the UWI Mona Volleyball Club has dominated local volleyball winning repeatedly the local club competitions and has even stepped out into the Caribbean, taking on teams from as far as the Cayman Islands and Martinique demonstrating professional class and style unmatched anywhere in the region. The club has steadily fed and influenced the national programme, and in any given year approximately half the players on the national team, both male and female, are drawn from the UWI Mona Volleyball Club. Team member Cherine Richards laughs as she says I get all the advice I could possibly need from the team; not just sport related, but medical, legal, financial and marketing advice is given in between sets. The president of the club, Dr. Ricardo Chong is a Resident in the Emergency Room at the UWI Hospital. He is passionate about the team, this power hitter and national team libero lights up when you mention volleyball. Nothing ignites his passion more, except perhaps UWI he says, “UWI is where it all came together for me.”
The male team is as accomplished and respected as the female team. Andre McLean UWI Sportsman of the Year from 1999 to 2002 is now Senior Accountant for the Guardsman Group; he was at one point the Caribbean’s no. 1 middle blocker and is now the club and national setter. Dr. Richard Reynolds, national middle blocker says it is heartbreaking to miss a match; when rotations at the hospital threaten to take him away from a match he has to engage in skilful negotiations to ensure he is there for and with his team. On the odd occasion when he has to be on duty his mind and body might be at the hospital but his heart is on the court.
The club operates in collaboration with the Sports Department, and members are mentors for the UWI Intercollegiate volleyball team, which enters as a B team in the club league. Current UWI students who are passionate about the sport invariably graduate and move up to the senior club team. The club is proud of the fact that it represents more than just volleyball, being integrally involved in several outreach and volunteer activities within the University, in the neighbouring community and even further afield in other parishes.
Each year the UWI Mona VC Club hosts the UWI Pelicans Volleyball Invitational; attracting club teams from Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. Each year the tournament is held at the Mona Bowl on the third weekend in November. Teams will come from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, USA and Jamaica. The tournament has become a staple of the UWI Mona sports calendar and has drawn attention to the high quality of play.
It is truly representative of that UWI Mona Spirit; excellence, determination and vibes; the club members recognize that a lot is expected of them but they are not afraid of this challenge. As graduates of The UWI the spotlight is always on them and that they are held to a higher standard than any other club across the nation or the region. It is not a responsibility they shy away from; they embrace this mandate wholeheartedly, they are the leaders in the sport and as they take on each new challenge, as they answer the call to lead and to take the sport to new heights they do so with the knowledge that whether it was in the classroom or on the court, through their association with the Mona campus they have been well equipped to take on the challenges of life through their sport….their passion…volleyball.