The Bermuda national boys volleyball team won the silver medal in the Men’s Open Tournament at Warwick Academy on Sunday as part of their preparations for a high-performance tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida next month.

The tournament is a chance for the players to gain exposure and to better their chances of medalling in the East Caribbean Volleyball Association Invitationals in July next year.

“We went away in 2011 and I was coaching,” said junior national team coach Mark Hamilton. “We took silver and we haven’t won a medal since.”

Hamilton, who is a former member of the Bermuda men’s national team, has been coaching the boys national team since 2008. One of his sons plays on the junior national team and the other two play for the men’s national team. Hamilton has been a part of the volleyball association on the island since 1985. He helped to plan the event, announce each game, and coach his two teams.

“For me, it’s a family affair,” he said.

The Open Men’s Volleyball tournament consisted of six local teams: Agila, Mulawin, junior national team (blue), junior national team (white), the Bermuda men’s national team and a mixed team of former and current national team players who called themselves Old Guys.

The junior national team train for six hours a week and have been training for about six months.

Ten players of the blue team will be representing the island in Bermuda next month.

In their first game, the blue team lost 21-11 to Agila 21-11.

The tournament was double elimination, meaning that if a team lost two games they were out.

“They’re young and there’s still a lot to learn but we have plenty of time to work on [their performances],” Hamilton said.

Knowing that they had to win the second game to continue in the tournament, the blue team had spectators on their feet and cheering them on to a tight 21-19 win against Mulawin.

They then played against the Bermuda men and, in a heated match that saw them tied 18-18, the juniors were able to take the lead and the 24-22 win, in which the winners had to be ahead by two points.

“That was exciting,” Hamilton said.

After the junior team defeated Agila in their rematch in the semi-finals, they were heading to the finals to play against Old Guys in a best of three sets contest.

The Old Guys powered through to take the first set 21-7.

Having adjusted their technique to better defend their court, the junior national team were tied with their opponents 14-14 in the second set, but the more experienced players later won 21-17 in that round and claimed first place in the tournament.

“Considering this is our first tournament that we played in as a team, they’ve done really well. We’re really proud,” said first-year assistant coach, Denise Somerville who is a former player on Bermuda women’s national team. She also has sons playing on the junior team.

“This is my passion, this is my sport,” she added.

Hamilton was pleased with the performance of the team. He was grinning as referees and other players told him that the team performed well.

“Thrilled. I was really happy,” Hamilton said. “We definitely have things to work on but they stepped up when faced with difficult teams.”

At the end of a day with continuous volleyball, Hamilton has high hopes the team will perform well in Florida.

The selected players are: Tristan Mullan (setter), Brady Cordeiro (setter), Kaleb Hamilton (power), Dylan Somerville (power), Jack Brown (middle), Tyler Hurdle (middle), Riley Rego (libero), and Conor Sinclair (right side).