National volleyball head on long-term athlete development plan

President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Volleyball Association Eardley Martin is expected to conclude the “Long-term Athlete Development Plan” project and present it in Switzerland in May 2013.{{more}}

This is his mandate, following his completion of five weeks of training in the USA, under the International Certification Enrichment Course Programme (ICECP).

Martin told SEARCHLIGHT that part of his project is working out with the junior female volleyballers, producing a manual for volleyball and a re-certification of coaches.

Martin described his time in the USA as “fruitful and will aid in taking the sport to the next level”.

During the five weeks, Martin was involved in specialized training in volleyball and all its composite parts.

The training took place the Delaware University for two weeks, along with a weekend in Washington DC, as well as an apprenticeship period of one week at Princeton University in New Jersey.

Additionally, Martin spent two weeks in Colorado Springs at the USA Olympic training facility.

He was among 31 international coaches, from 11 Olympic sporting disciplines, who were exposed to lectures on topics including nutrition, strength and condition, hydration and dehydration, periodization and marketing.

At the end of the training the coaches were assigned international tutors from various parts of the world and were required to make 15-minute presentations on their intended project.

Martin is the fourth Vincentian to attend the ICECP.

Before him were technical director of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Table Tennis Association Khalique Bailey; technical director of Team Athletics SVG, Rosmund Griffith; and track and field coach Rawlson Morgan.

Griffith was the first Vincentian attendee.

Martin, who returned to the state recently, also attended the FIVB 33rd congress in Anaheim California, prior to his five-week stint in the ICECP.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was among the 198 national federations which attended the FIVB congress. (RT)