Volleyball: Inter-region School League |23 June 2023
Action from the Belonie v English River boys’ match (Photo: Neil Sirame)
U-15 inter-school league officially re-launched after four-year absence
After a four-year absence due to health restrictions in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Education, in partnership with the National Sports Council, has officially re-launched the inter-region school volleyball league.
The league was officially re-launched by director general for allied education services, Cyril Pillay, during a small ceremony on Wednesday at the La Promenade court, in the presence of chief executive of the National Sports Council (NSC) Marc Arissol and executive committee member of the Seychelles Volleyball Federation (SVF) Elsia Vidot.
Mr Pillay said the main goal behind the initiative is to re-ignite volleyball in schools, adding that the Ministry of Education attaches great importance to physical education and sport.
“We are grateful for the support we are receiving from the NSC and the Seychelles Volleyball Federation to materialise this competition for the kids,” said Mr Pillay, who added that there are too many children loitering after school and leaning towards a negative path, therefore, the volleyball competition will keep them busy, steer them on the right track and help sports technicians to identify new talent also.
Addressing the players and students, Mr Arissol said the NSC is honoured to see such initiative back on its feet so quickly, since discussions started only last month.
He said he personally wanted to revive the activities, in which he was actively involved as a student.
The NSC is sponsoring the league with equipment such as balls and scoreboard, and Mr Arissol said the league will motivate the students to engage more in sports activities.
He said the NSC is grateful for the partnership which got the league going.
On behalf of the SVF, Miss Vidot said they are proud to be associated with the league which she said will boost the knowledge of the young officials who are still on the federation’s training programme, as the matches will serve as extra training opportunities for them.
Speaking to Sports NATION, education officer for extra-curricular activities and sports Fernand Gamatis said the league will be contested between four regions, or zones, with zone one comprising Anse Boileau, Anse Royale, Pointe Larue and Plaisance secondary, while zone two features Belonie, English River, Mont Fleuri secondary and International School Seychelles. Zone three is made up of Ile Persévérance, Beau Vallon secondary and Independent School and lastly, zone four includes Praslin, La Digue secondary and Vijay International School.
The winners of each zone will play in a cross knockout, with the elimination stage taking place end of July.
Mr Gamatis said he is very happy to see the kids getting involved in volleyball even though the level of play is not at a high level, adding that with more training, the players will improve their performance.
Results of the opening matches
Boys U-15
Belonie beat English River 2-0 (25-20, 25-19)
Pointe Larue beat Anse Royale 2-0 (25-11, 25-16)
Beau Vallon beat Ile Persévérance 2-0 (25-18, 25-15)
Girls U15
Belonie beat English River 2-0 (25-20, 25-15)
Pointe Larue beat Anse Royale 2-0 (25-9, 25-7)
Beau Vallon beat Ile Persévérance (walk over)
Neil Sirame