By Bianca Silva
For the past few weeks, the Women Sports Association of Port-Au-Prince, also known as the AS Tigresses-Tigers have been training endlessly in preparation of their upcoming regional volleyball tournament in Trinidad.
Marckens Armony, the coordinator of the Tigresses-Tigers association, explains that the team who have been reigning champions in Haiti for the past six years, have been training at a higher level than before and are looking forward to compete.
“It feels very special for them because this is group is very young even though the association was founded in 1972,” he says. “This group is very young so it’s very exciting for them to participate in this tournament and this group is very, very strong in Haiti.”
The women’s tournament will occur over the span of three days in Port-of-Spain and will also feature teams from the Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica. The competition is the third edition of the “Ace It!” tournament which also features men’s competitions.
Marckens mentions that while the women’s team has dominated in local and national matches, Trinidad will be the first step in determining whether they can compete in future international volleyball tournaments.
“It would be a challenge for them so they can see if they can compete with the best in the caribbean region,” he says. “It would be very, very challenging for them and they are very excited to be participating in this tournament.”
Still, Marckens is optimistic that Trinidad is an opportunity for the team to get the exposure they need to become better.
“It’s going to be good for them if they’re going to be good or if they need to train more and take it to another level,” he says. “It’s going to be a good test for them and for the association.”