JAMAICA’S senior national women’s volleyball team received an $800,000 sponsorship contribution from the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) and its subsidiary, Petrojam Ethanol Limited (PEL), in support of their campaign to qualify for the 2014 World Championships, scheduled for September in Italy.

The PCJ handed over their contribution yesterday, just ahead of the team’s departure today for Toronto, Canada, where they will contest a World Championship Qualification Tournament, which will run from May 14-20. In presenting the donation, Information & Corporate Affairs Manager Camille Taylor said the PCJ was seeking to support sporting disciplines which might not always be in the limelight locally.

“Jamaica’s athletic prowess goes beyond the sports we are traditionally known for and if we are to broaden the scope of our international sporting dominance we will have to support some of the lesser-known sports,” she said.

“We’re happy to count the national women’s volleyball team among the sporting groups that we sponsor and we know they will do us proud at this week’s qualifier and then at the World Championships in September,” Taylor added.

In accepting the contribution, President of the Jamaica Volleyball Association (JAVA) Steve Brown encouraged other sponsors to remember the up-and-coming sports. “We are very grateful to the PCJ for having the vision to help us lay the foundation to make volleyball the next big sport in Jamaica and we encourage other organisations who believe in developing Jamaican sports to give us their support,” he said.

The play-off, which marks the team’s third round of qualification for the 2014 World Championships, will pit the Jamaicans against Canada, Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. A victory in Toronto will mean automatic qualification for the World Championships.

However, a second-place finish will mean an additional playoff in Trinidad and Tobago next month. Commenting on the team’s chances, the JAVA president said not even second place was an option. “We are going for a firstplace finish and nothing less,” he said.

“We have no intention of going to Trinidad next month so we plan to get the job done — once and for all — in Toronto.”