Eight teams are off to the United States for the Nike Boston Volleyball Festival.

Taking place at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre over the next two weekends, five teams will compete this weekend between Friday and Sunday with the remaining three teams flying out next Thursday.

Coach of the under-14 boys team, Andrew Soares, painted a picture of excitement in his camp.

“We have a competitive under-14 boys team excited and are ready to compete in the upcoming Nike Boston volleyball tournament,’’ Soares said.

“We are fortunate to have five returning players who played at the under-14 level last year, where they finished in the silver bracket.

“The boys have matured as players and are playing at a higher level this year. We hope their hard work over the last few months training and preparing pays off with more success this year.”

Kamryn Martins, the girls under-12 coach, is eager to see what her youngsters are capable of achieving.

“For this upcoming tournament, our under-12 girls will be the youngest volleyball group to travel,’’ Martins said.

“We are extremely excited to see what these girls are capable of as the majority of our girls have never travelled to an overseas tournament.

“We are looking forward to having fun and experiencing a level of volleyball for this age group outside of Bermuda.

“Although these girls have only been training for one or two years, we have seen a huge improvement from the start.

“Throughout these last two years but especially leading up to this tournament, these girls have improved their skills, consistency, teamwork, and technique.

“This will be an excellent experience and something the girls can look forward to for many years.”

Allison Settle, who is taking charge of the under-13 and under-14 girls, is relishing another opportunity for her teams to test themselves against international opposition.

“The under-13 and under-14 girls have worked hard to improve as a team this season,’’ she said.

“They have learnt how to use positions and strategise playing to everyone’s strengths. ”These girls experienced winning some games at this tournament last year, so I am looking forward to seeing what level they can reach this year.“

Mike Gazzard, the under-15 girls coach wants the team to build on their display in the US at the end of last year.

“The team will be looking to improve upon their top-five finish from the Florida Holiday Challenge, which took place in early December 2023.

“In preparation of the Nike Boston Festival tournament, we have ramped up the intensity of our training sessions and the team has done an excellent job of transferring this intensity to our weekly Winter League games where we have had consistent team success.

“Our team is excited about the opportunity to compete against some of the best under-15 teams in the US, and we look forward to the challenge of improving upon our ninth place finish at last year’s Nike Boston tournament.

Kevin Manuel is excited that the island has been able to have consistent representation at the Boston event over the last couple of years.

“The under-18 boys volleyball team will be the fourth consecutive year the boys programme has been able to send a team to the Boston Volleyball Festival,’’ Manuel said.

“This in itself is good sign for boys volleyball in Bermuda as over the past five years we have been able to sustain a strong developmental programme which is now feeding into the Bermuda men’s national team.

“This under-18 team has worked extremely hard all year and is looking forward to see what they are capable of against some very strong competition.

“There are at least two teams in their division that are ranked top ten in New England.”