Thousands of girls showed up for the recruiting of new participants in the Women’s National Volleyball Team Project at the Volleyball Pavilion on Saturday, 6 April 2024.
El Nuevo Diario reported that 2,203 girls ages 11 to 14 years came from 31 provinces with their parents for a chance of being accepted in the women’s volleyball project that over the years has been so successful, Dominican senior team players are known as “Queens of the Caribbean.”
Project founder and director, Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, and former team member Milagros Cabral, who is the director general, delivered 500 scholarships. Students from the interior provinces are required to have a relative in Santo Domingo where they can stay. The scholarships cover the cost of the school tuition, school supplies, uniforms and shoes, transport, diet, backpacks and volleyball training.
Milagros Cabral is a former captain of the “Queens of the Caribbean,” the senior volleyball team. Now directing the national volleyball team project, she said that the activity had generated many expectations and thus the large turnout.
The pre-selected got to train with the coaches on the different facets of the game during the event in Santo Domingo.
This is the third year of recruitment. In the first year, 2022, 1,000 girls showed up.
The Reinas del Caribe project is a system that recruits girls early and then gradually sends them to compete abroad in many international competitions until they are admitted to the senior team and become “queens of the Caribbean,” as the Dominican team members are known for their beauty and sports talents.
The program secures lucrative jobs in volleyball abroad for those who make the cut, thus a volleyball career is an attractive and real possibility for many.
Read more in Spanish:
El Nuevo Diario
Hoy
9 April 2024