Nigel simon
National women’s volleyballer, Sinead Jack will leave today for Germany where she will link up with her new team-mates of Denso Airybees for pre-season training ahead of the eight-team 2018/2019 Japan Volleyball Women’s Premier League which will run from October until May 2019.
Jack, 24, a national senior team player since 2011 and nicknamed 'The Grenade' for her explosive spikes from clever short range reverse sets joins the Asian club after two successful years with Turkish Sultanlar Ligi giants Galatasaray, with whom she earned a runners-up medal in 2016/2017 and was fourth in the just concluded 2017/2018 campaign.
Denso Airybees is also coming off a fourth-placed in the eight-team Japan Premier Volleyball League.
The club is based in the Nishio City, Aichi, Japan and was founded in 1972 with its lone title win coming in the 2013-2014 campaign.
At Denso Airybees, the San Fernando-born Jack will join Germany’s Christiane Furst as the two overseas internationals on the roster.
As a member of the national team, Jack has won numerous individual awards, namely the 2013 NORCECA Championship ‘Best Middle Blocker’ as well as the same award at the 2017 Pan American Cup and the recently concluded Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Colombia.
Prior to signing with the Japanese club, Jack who plays locally for the University of T&T enjoyed stints with Poland’s AZS Bialystok (2010-2013) before moving to Russain club, Uralochka NTMK (2013-2016) and then Galatasaray (2016-2018).
Speaking yesterday after her final training session with the national women’s team which is preparing for its debut at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Japan from September 29 to October 20, Jack said she was very excited about the move to Asia.
“Ever since I began playing the sport my dream was always to play in Japan because its the top league in the world and all the great players compete there.
“The clubs are limited to about two overseas players each, so for me getting a contract to play over there means a lot, it's an unbelievable feeling.”
She added, “I always told my agent that getting to play for a club in Japan was a goal of mine and also my mom, so when the opportunity came it was one that I could not refuse.
Asked how she intends to deal with the language barrier, Jack pointed out that each foreign player is assigned a translator to make thing easier.
“I will have the help of a translator most of the time, but my intentions are to learn some of the language, like how to say good morning and good afternoon, thank you and those other keywords to communicate with my team-mates on the court and during training.”
Following pre-season training, Jack will rejoin the national team in Japan at the Kobe Green Arena for the 24-team FIVB World Championship.