The National Under 20 Volleyball team was out of depth at the NORECA (North, Central America and Caribbean) Championships that was hosted in Canada and culminated on August 22.

The young volleyballers really struggled against power-houses USA and Mexico, losing in straight sets and fared no better against Martinique in their final group stage match, losing at 25-12, 25-8, 25-20.

There were three Tobagonians in the contingent, players Stephan James and Kersean Trim and Nolan Daniel, head coach of the Sports Division Sports Elite programme who was funded for the trip by the Sports Division.

Both Trim and James saw much playing time and gave creditable showing with James, an outside hitter scoring four aces from his powerful serves.

The national team eventually finished in ninth position defeating St Lucia in a battle of cellar placed teams.

Daniel said that attending the tournament was a good experience for him and it really hit home how far we are behind the top teams in the region because of our lack of facilities especially in Tobago and the lack of commitment by players to train on their own in addition to team training to try and raise the standard of their game to the next level.