GREAT BAY--St. Maarten's national Under-20 men's and women's beach volleyball teams are travelling to St. Kitts to represent the country at the 2026 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association U-20 Men's and Women's Beach Volleyball Championship, scheduled for July 10 to 12 on the sands of Frigate Bay.
The men's team will be represented by Zeo Doncher-Arrindell and Rio Stomp, while Lindi Beldman and Melissa Patrick will compete for St. Maarten in the women's division. The delegation is being guided by coaches Rajheem Meulens and Keishan Huggins.
The ECVA championship will bring together leading Under-20 beach volleyball pairs from across the Eastern Caribbean and is intended to provide young athletes with regional competition and further development opportunities. Matches will be played under current FIVB beach volleyball rules.
Eleven ECVA member territories are expected to participate: Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, St. Maarten, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda.
The championship is being hosted by the St. Kitts Amateur Volleyball Association in collaboration with ECVA and the NORCECA Volleyball Confederation. The event is also supported by the Association of National Olympic Committees of the Eastern Caribbean States, the International Volleyball Federation and the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Committee.
For St. Maarten's young athletes, the tournament provides an opportunity to compete against some of the region's developing beach volleyball talent and gain experience in a regional championship environment.
ECVA has described the championship as an important development platform for young players and a step in the pathway from grassroots volleyball to higher levels of competition. The regional association said events of this nature expose athletes and coaches to stronger competition standards while contributing to the future development of volleyball across the Eastern Caribbean.
St. Maarten's participation in both the men's and women's competitions ensures the country will be represented across the two U-20 beach championship divisions, which ECVA officially lists from July 10 to 12 in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Supporters are being encouraged to rally behind Doncher-Arrindell, Stomp, Beldman and Patrick as they take to the sand in national colours.
The St. Maarten delegation will now turn its attention to the championship and the opportunity to represent the country against regional competition in Frigate Bay.
