By Charmaine Austin, Staff ReporterWHAT STARTED out as a simple search for a suitable venue is shaping up to be a tug-o-war between the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) and the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JVA).
Trapped in the middle is the prized venue G.C. Foster College in Spanish Town where both are hoping to stage major international events on the same weekend, March 21-23.
Said JVA president Carole Beckford: "It's unfortunate that in the year of the World Netball Championship, the JNA has to be scurrying around to find a venue to host international friendly matches before the event. This can't be a competition between volleyball and the netball association," she said.
The JNA is now in a bind and may end up embarrassed when world netball champions Australia turn up to find they have no venue to play their six friendly international netball matches next week.
Australia are scheduled to engage fourth-ranked Jamaica and local club and business house teams in practice games ahead of the World Championships here in July but may end up twiddling their thumbs as attempts to find a suitable venue even up until yesterday proved unfruitful.
Laying the portable wooden floor atop the Leila Robinson Courts' synthetic surface on Wednesday was unsuccessful as no way could be found around the impeding light pylons in the centre of the play areas at both ends of the venue.
"I'm distraught right now. I really don't know what to say," JNA president Molly Rhone said. "Where are we going to find a venue at this time? We've exhausted all our options with the exception of G.C. Foster College but even there we are encountering problems," she said.
G.C. Foster College will have to be ruled out as the 14th Venus International club volleyball tournament will be held there from March 21-23.
Beckford says she empathises with the JNA but insists there is nothing that the sporting body can do to facilitate the hosting of the international friendlies.
The JVA has come under attack for being uncooperative but Beckford, who plays netball at the club league level, insists there is nothing her association can do to assist. She said she would have been more than happy to comply but doing so would create problems with their schedule.
"We can't give up this venue because then we would be left with nowhere to go. It's a JVA-sanctioned international calendar event that has been held from 1989 and besides a hurricane then the only other interruption we ever had was when Michael Manley died.
"Teams are coming from as early as March 17 and G.C. Foster College is the only internationally certified volleyball facility in the country outside of the National Arena which is currently being renovated," Beckford said.
The JVA president said she offered the JNA time slots on Friday afternoon and Sunday morning and that that was the best she could do.
Rhone confirmed the offer but says while the afternoon of March 21 could work, the times outside of that were impossible.
"There are so many changes that would have to be made and we don't have that kind of time. We would have to remove their markings on the court and put on ours then replace theirs when we are finished and that by itself is time consuming.
"I don't know what we are going to do because we can't have a team of Australia's calibre sitting and twiddling their thumbs when they are coming here expecting to play," Rhone said.
