Oxley calls it quits

Barbados’ longest serving volleyball captain, Elwyn Oxley, indicated that he was officially retiring from national duty minutes after returning from the 13th Caribbean Volleyball Championships (CVC) in Suriname, where the Bajans took the silver for the second successive time.Oxley, who has played in 12 successive CVCs and has won more individual and team honours than any other Caribbean player, had echoed a similar statement after Barbados lost the crown for the first time in 2008 to Martinique at the Wildey Gym.“I had told my team that that would have been my final match regardless of the outcome. Today, [yesterday] I celebrated my 39th birthday and I would have wanted to go out on a high note, but that was not to be.  “I still feel physically fit and I enjoyed a fantastic tournament, but I believe that this is the time to retire,” Oxley stated minutes after emerging from the arrival hall with his teammates at Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday morning.Oxley did enjoy a fantastic tournament, particularly in the finals which Barbados lost in straight sets to Trinidad and Tobago, with the never-say-die player scoring 25 kills and four blocks even when none of his teammates contributed five kills. “I am confident that I would have captured the MVP again if Barbados had won, and I wanted Barbados to win more so than to get the MVP,” Oxley added.While not wanting to bash his teammates, Oxley was obviously very disappointed at their performance in the finals when he could not get anyone else to fire to halt the Trinidad team.“The Trinidad team is much better than the Martinique side that beat us in 2008 and they certainly outplayed us, but that was the worst performance that I have ever seen put on by a Barbados team,” Oxley emphasised.Oxley, who made his debut in 1992 at the first CVC that Barbados attended, might find it easier to stay retired this time around, unlike 2008.On that occasion, Martinique, as a French department, could not represent the Caribbean at international tournaments as a separate nation, so Barbados as runners-up took the slots.  Placing second again will mean than unless Trinidad opt out from their international engagements, Barbados’ next tournament will be the 2012 CVC.Even so, Oxley has indicated that his birthday wish was for someone, Government or the private sector, to give some help to volleyball which has been fighting a good fight for years in spite of operating in the red.“Trinidad and Tobago have been successful because of the financial help which they have been getting to hire coaches, pay stipends and to send off their teams to train in other countries before tournaments,” Oxley said.