January 17, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr
The Sierra Leone Volleyball Association (SLVA) secretariat has officially announced that the long awaited 2016/17 Inter Regional Volleyball and Beach Volleyball championship would run from 23rd-29th January, 2017 in Freetown.
The regional tournament, which was earlier scheduled for 6th-10th December, was later deferred due to ongoing construction of a new beach volleyball court at Bishop House in Freetown that will host the beach tournament.
Already, the four regions; South, North, East and Western Area are under interview preparation for the much talked about championship, and according to Sierra Leone’s only international beach volleyball referee, who is also a member of SLVA family, Mohamed Benson Bawoh, the double gender tournament would be the biggest Volleyball competition in the country organised by the Federation.
He said: “The competition is primarily aimed at maintaining competitiveness, where players are expected to emerge and possibly be drafted into the national teams for international competitions.”
Unlike the 2009 season when the Freetown Municipality hosted the event at the Victoria Park, this year’s tourney will be hosted at the Siaka Stevens Stadium outdoor court and the newly constructed beach court at Bishop House.
The Western Area men teams are traditional winners in the men’s challenge but their female counterpart had endured a topsy-turvy run, while the male squad grabbed the title during the 2015 season, the Eastern Region surprisingly lifted the women’s crown in Kono.