Fort Belvoir's Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation hosted several military installations for a post-level intramural volleyball tournament, Sunday at Specker Field house.
The event, organized by Ron Valentine, recreational volleyball league manager, and Richard Tatem, DFMWR fitness coordinator, attracted some 50 players representing Fort Belvoir, Joint Base Andrews, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health, and Fort Detrick who competed in multiple three-game matches following a round robin format.
"This tournament started out at Walter Reed in Bethesda a few years ago and this is the first time we've been able to have it here at Belvoir," Tatem said. "This is the first round of matches between the area installations. There will be a main tournament sometime in May, and we'll host it here."
"James Ling, (our official here today), is the one who runs the program at Walter Reed and he called around to see if he could have these tournaments at different installations this year," Valentine added.
Tatem said the tournament fit well with his and Belvoir DFMWR's hopes of increasing awareness of intramural sports and fitness programs on post and encouraging greater participation in the future.
"My goal is to develop the intramural sports program here and try to add some more teams to what we have already," he said.
Teams competed in matches throughout the day, moving through either the winners or losers bracket.
According to Valentine, the success of the event was due in large part to the efforts of Belvoir's DFMWR staff.
"Thanks to MWR the post-level co-ed volleyball meet was a huge success and was very efficiently conducted," he said. "Everyone that I talked to during this special event had nothing but positive comments and compliments about the fine facility and the camaraderie was very upbeat. (MWR's) attention to detail on this matter was very much appreciated, by myself and all of the individuals that participated. Fun was truly had by all."
For more information regarding Fort Belvoir's volleyball programs, contact Geneva Martin, intramural league coordinator, at (703) 805-2559.
Social Sharing