Beach volleyball players on tour

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Members of St Lucia’s male and female beach volleyball team during a meeting with officials.

St Lucia’s dynamic beach volleyball duo Julian Bissette and Joseph Clercent take to the sands once again at the 2012 Norceca Beach Volleyball Tour Circuit. This tour has taken them to Chula Vista, California where talent from Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and the Virgin Islands will compete. The male duo is joined by female counterparts Gift Dujon-Francios and Dania Hamilton, who will meet up with Mexico and Trinidad in their group. The men face Turks and Caicos, USA number three and Guatemala in their grouping. The competition began on Friday with the finals set to take place on Sunday. Participation in the Norceca tours affords St Lucia the opportunity to earn points towards qualification to high-level tournaments such as the Pan American Games and the CAC Games, as well as those within the FIVB and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. The exposure at that level of competition is extremely important and St Lucians will have a chance to see world-class beach volleyball when St Lucia hosts one of the Norceca Beach Tour Stages, October 26-28, 2012. Already interest has been shown by teams from Panama and Canada in taking part in the St Lucia event. This marks another milestone for St Lucia sports. It gives St Lucians the opportunity to host another major International sports tourism event, where they will witness the biggest and brightest athletes in action against competitors from the USA, Canada, Cuba and the Central American powerhouses of beach volleyball. The St Lucia pairs return home from competition October 1.