Official Bulletin No. 36 February 2009 World Volley Edition in English F É D É R AT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L E DE News FIVB & Continental Confederations come together

A time for consolidation to discuss Volleyball development ■ The FIVB met with the Continental not organize every course and Volleyball Confederations in early February to dis- activity. The Confederations should take cuss Volleyball development and open part of the responsibility and this should a new platform for direct and construc- lead to better results and a better use of tive dialogue with each Confederation resources,” said President Wei. with the aim of improving development The Confederation Development Officers work around the world. present were AVC Chairman Development

Mr. Jizhong Wei, FIVB President he FIVB – much like any organisa- tion – has to contend with the cur- Trent global financial crisis. We must be realistic in how we develop our sport and find that fine balance – looking after what we have to avoid going backwards while taking tentative steps forwards. This pragmatism demands a different form of governance and is reflected in the changes I have implemented at an executive level. The Executive Commit- FIVB Development Commission President Vicente Araujo (centre) and participants tee, with its increased responsibility, of the development meeting in February needs to work hard as a group to develop sensible ideas and solutions – bearing in FIVB’s development policy and the organi- and Marketing Committee Ramón Suzara, mind the current climate – that can be sation’s approach to development in rela- CAVB Technical Director Howyda Mondy, put before the World Congress. tion to the Confederations were discussed CEV Senior Vice-President Philip Berben, It is not a time for grand gestures and in the wide-ranging meeting. Develop- CSV Executive Manager Laura Calello and largesse but there are certain things we ment initiatives such as Mass Volley and NORCECA National Federation Coordina- need to maintain in order to ensure the Volley All festivals were also on the agenda, tor Arateide Cáceres Hernández. quality expected from an FIVB event is with discussions centering on the need undiminished. There will be no reduc- for Category 1 and 2 National Federations tion in prize money in the US$20 million to introduce more activity in their coun- In this Issue FIVB World League in 2009. This year’s tries and to consider Mass Volley events FIVB SWATCH FIVB World Tour, meanwhile, because of the interest they generate in • Editorial will have US$7.7 million prize money – terms of media and to potential sponsors similar to 2008 – including US$1 million • FIVB-Confederation development as a promotional tool. meeting for the SWATCH FIVB World Champion- FIVB President Jizhong Wei, FIVB Devel- ships in Norway. opment Commission President Vicente • FIVB hosts AIPS meeting The FIVB will increase assistance, within Araujo, FIVB Technical and Development Volleyball its means, to National Federations in Director Helgi Thorsteinsson and the re- • World Championship preliminary need. A new Beach Volleyball develop- sponsible Development Officer from each tournaments continue ment project for developing countries Confederation attended the meeting. The Beach Volleyball is already on our agenda. We will cut FIVB invited each Confederation to discuss unnecessary expenditure in our annual its needs and priorities in the field of devel- • Norwegian legend Maaseide looks budget in order to increase the budget opment. ahead to SWATCH FIVB World Championships for development projects. The FIVB President gave strong signals to The FIVB’s unhindered expansion for the Confederations that they should re- • Walsh & May-Treanor may miss many years puts it in an extremely main hands-on in their approach to work- SWATCH season strong position to cope with the crisis. ing with National Federations. The main Technical & Development For now, though, the order of the day is principle President Wei underlined was • Mass Volley: Grass-roots consolidation of our enviable achieve- the National Federations acting first to programme creating stars of ments. It is, for everybody, a sign of the show their commitment in order for the tomorrow times we are in. FIVB to assist them. Quick Sets “It is important for the Continental Confed- Mr. Jizhong Wei, FIVB President • News from Planet Earth erations to be proactive as the FIVB should www.fivb.org Volleyball World Volley News MEN’S & women’S World Championship preliminary tournaments continue The 2010 FIVB Men’s and Women’s World Championship preliminary rounds con- tinued in January with first-round tour- naments in , Estonia, Azerbaijan and Pakistan.

Montenegro qualified for the second round of the Men’s World Championship from the European first-round Pool D tournament staged in Guba, Azerbaijan, through January 9-11. On the final com- petition day Montenegro easily defeated hosts Azerbaijan and closed out the event with no sets lost after also beating Moldova and Albania.

Montenegro will play against hosts Czech Republic, Finland, and in the second round Pool H tournament May 27-31 in Liberec.

Hungary and hosts Slovenia clinched the two tickets available in Women’s World Championship second preliminary round Montenegro and Moldova do battle at the European Pool A first-round tour- nament in Lendava through January 9-11. in Split through May 15-17 in Pool E. with an easy 3-0 win against Bosnia & The Hungarians opened their World Herzegovina before finishing the job , as the first-ranked team, will Championship campaign by defeating against Slovenia with another convinc- face Belgium, Slovakia and Croatia Austria 3-1, then continued their run ing 3-1 win. 2010 FIVB World Championship tournaments in March - June

Women’s competition calendar Confederation Round Dates Country City AVC 1 20 - 24 April New Zealand Wellington AVC 2 12 - 14 June Thailand Nakhonpathom CAVB 2 20 - 24 May Mozambique Maputo CEV 2 13 - 17 May Gabrova CEV 2 15 - 17 May Azerbaijan Guba CEV 2 15 - 17 May Croatia Split CEV 2 13 - 17 May Marseille CSV 2 31 May - 4 June Argentina Buenos Aires NORCECA 1 27 - 29 March Saint Lucia Gros Islet NORCECA 1 15 - 19 April Saint-Martin Marigot NORCECA 2 26 - 30 May Barbados TBD NORCECA 2 2 - 6 June Trinidad and Tobago TBD NORCECA 3 12 - 14 June Dominican Republic TBD NORCECA 3 21 - 23 June Cuba TBD

Men’s competition calendar Confederation Round Dates Country City AVC 1 20 - 24 April New Zealand Wellington AVC 2 22 - 24 May Kazakhstan TBD AVC 2 26 - 28 May Iran Tehran AVC 2 9 - 11 June Thailand Nakhonpathom CAVB 2 1 - 3 May Mozambique Maputo CAVB 2 26 - 28 May Algeria Echlef CEV 2 27 - 31 May Czech Republic Liberec CEV 2 29 - 31 May Slovakia Propad CEV 2 30 May - 1 June Rotterdam CEV 2 27 - 31 May TBD NORCECA 1 1 - 5 April Antigua and Barbuda St. John’s NORCECA 1 15 - 19 April Saint Lucia Gros Islet NORCECA 2 19 - 23 May Jamaica TBD NORCECA 2 2 - 6 June Trinidad and Tobago TBD Moldova attacks against Estonia

2 FIVB World Volley News No. 36 February 2009 Volleyball As runners-up, Slovenia advanced to Pool G and in the second round will face hosts France, , and Finland (venue

Slovenian libero Katja Medved receives against Hungary and competition dates to be confirmed). The Moldova Women advanced from the European Pool C first-round tourna- ment held in Tallinn January 9-11 ahead of hosts Estonia, Georgia and Denmark, dropping just two sets. Pakistan’s Farooq Khan spikes against Macau

Moldova will face hosts Bulgaria, Czech B tournament in Islamabad through Jan- the pending Asian Pool C tournament. Republic, and Albania in the uary 28-30, not dropping a set against Bangladesh qualified as the second- second round (venue and competition Bangladesh, Macau or the Maldives. They place team in Pool B and now move on dates to be confirmed). now advance to a second-round tourna- to the second-round event in Nakhon- ment in Tehran in May against hosts Iran, pathom against hosts Thailand, Indone- Hosts Pakistan won the men’s Asian Pool India and the second-place team from sia and the first-place team from Pool C.

FIVB hosts AIPS meeting

The FIVB opened its doors to the world’s AIPS President Gianni Merlo said, “We federation in terms of the attention sporting press in early January when want to thank Mr. Wei and the FIVB that they pay to our work, providing not the International Sports Press Associa- for welcoming us in this magnificent only an information feed but also free tion (AIPS) Board of Administration met place, confirming the strong commit- services such as internet connections at FIVB’s “Château Les Tourelles” head- ment that Volleyball has always shown and catering for the press during their quarters. towards journalists. The FIVB is a model top events.”

AIPS members used the state-of-the-art FIVB boardroom for their meeting and were also able to enjoy the el- egance of the château and its grounds during the daylong session.

FIVB President Jizhong Wei said, “It is first time we have hosted anoth- er organisation on our premises and we’re re- ally glad to be the first international sports federation who has wel- comed the AIPS Board. The work of the media is the daily engine of all our initiatives and I’m sure that the long-time relation between the FIVB and AIPS will be increasingly developed thanks to this meeting.” The AIPS convenes in the FIVB boardroom at “Château Les Tourelles”

FIVB World Volley News No. 36 February 2009 3 Beach Volleyball World Volley News INTERVIEW Norwegian legend Maaseide looks ahead to SWATCH FIVB World Championships present- ed by ConocoPhillips With the 2009 SWATCH FIVB Men’s and in 2001, Rio in 2003. As a promoter, what Women’s World Championships pre- have you learned from these events? sented by ConocoPhillips less than six That we have a big challenge in ticket months away, the FIVB caught up with sales. We have 160,000 tickets that are tournament promoter and Norwegian going to be sold. In Gstaad there was one legend Bjorn Maaseide to find out how session, so there were fewer people in the host city Stavanger is gearing up for the morning than in the evening. You can’t biggest Beach Volleyball event of the sit in a stadium for 10 hours in a day. For year. these World Championships, we’ll have one morning session and one afternoon/ evening session and the tickets are split. We’ll play from noon to 4 p.m. and then 5 to 9 p.m.

What other attractions will there be at the tournament? There will be special side events in the centre of Stavanger. The tournament will be held in Vaagen Harbour in the middle of the amazing nightlife area of Stavanger. So Stavanger will be “on fire” for the fans from 10 in the morning until 4 or 5 o’clock the next morning. All around the harbour where we will be playing there are tons of places and they are all co-sponsoring the World Championships. Stavanger is Bjorn Maaseide on court always amazing at night and during the Maaseide in business mode World Championships it will be even bet- There was speculation games would be ter. played on the top of Pulpit Rock (a huge FIVB: How are preparations for the event cliff in Forsand, Norway) … going at this stage? Will people be able to watch the World We might have a promotion match up Bjorn Maaseide: It’s going pretty well. Of Championships on television? there but there are several people for and course we have to contend with the fi- Absolutely. We’re going live with between against the idea, considering the environ- nancial crisis like everybody else but the 80 and 100 hours of action. It will be the ment and bringing sand up there … but Stavanger Beach Volleyball event has been biggest broadcast in the history of the we’d like to have an event up at Pulpit around for 10 years and is a very strong Stavanger event. It’s on the state commer- Rock but it depends on how official the brand. It is challenging – we have maybe cial free channel NRK. match would be. 75 percent of our sponsors in place right now. It’s an US$8 million event and we are at US$6 million right now. We have eight people working fulltime on the event right now, focusing on marketing, the stadium.

Stavanger has been a very successful SWATCH FIVB Grand Slam and Open event but in what ways is it going to be different this year? Well, mainly, it is the size of the event. We are going from a stadium holding 4,000 spectators to 8,000 spectators with a second- ary court that will hold 1,000 to 1,500 fans.

You played at the fantas- tic SWATCH FIVB World Championships in Gstaad in 2007 and also in Los An- geles in 1997, Klagenfurt Beach Volleyball at the spectacular Vaagen Harbour in Stavanger, Norway

4 FIVB World Volley News No. 36 February 2009 Beach Volleyball Why has Beach Volleyball caught on in Norway ahead of other sports? For the last 20 years we’ve had athletes competing at the top international level … and of course the team of Jan Kvalheim/ Bjorn Maaseide did a lot of damage in the 1990s and we had a big impact on the success of Beach Volleyball here. Us actu- ally winning the World Championships in 1995 … well, when we did well interna- tionally the country felt proud and that has generated the interest of the media. You also have the money part. We made pretty good money in those days so there was a lot of celebrity press and we got a lot of exposure. It was said that when we won the World Championships it was like a guy from Africa winning on the Hol- menkol (a ski jump in Norway). It was un- thinkable ... it was a sport dominated in those days by Brazilians and Americans.

And 14 years later, are we going to see you competing again at the World Fans in Stavanger are expected to flock to the SWATCH FIVB World Championships Championships? Just tell my competitors to watch out, I’m Further information training hard … and I hope to be ready to The 2009 SWATCH FIVB Men’s and play. My fitness is getting better. I have a Women’s World Championships are knee problem so I have a coach from Ser- set to take place over 10 days on two bia who works with me every morning courts from June 26 to July 5 with US$1 before I go to work and then I play in the million prize money and bonus pool up evening … so I guarantee you I’ll be the fit- for grabs. test promoter ever playing in the Beach Volleyball World Championships! Walsh & May-Treanor may miss SWATCH season Reigning Olympic champion pair Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh may miss the whole of the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour season.

Walsh is pregnant with her first child while May-Treanor is recovering after Boats and Beach Volleyball rupturing her left Achilles tendon while competing in American TV channel ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” programme.

The potential absence of Walsh and May- Treanor means there would be new world champions crowned at the SWATCH FIVB World Championships in Stavanger, Nor- way, in July.

The U.S. pair has won the last three wom- en’s world titles in Rio de Janeiro in 2003, Berlin in 2005 and Gstaad, Switzerland, in 2007. “Casey and Matt will be playing again, Walsh has not written off the entire year, so I hope to be at some SWATCH events telling FIVB in a recent interview that she again this season, especially the World is “pretty antsy right now. I can’t imagine Championships in Norway,” said Walsh. taking the entire season off,” although “this could all change once our baby May-Treanor, who was believed to be comes.” among the favourites to win “Dancing with the Stars”, ruptured her Achilles dur- Walsh’s husband, Casey Jennings, will be ing training for the show in early October competing on the SWATCH FIVB World and the injury is expected to sideline her Tour with Matt Fuerbringer. for the 2009 season. Vasso Karadassiou spikes at Stavanger

FIVB World Volley News No. 36 February 2009 5 Technical & Development World Volley News DEVELOPMENT Mass Volley: The grass-roots programme creating the stars of tomorrow

The FIVB has opened a section on its official website dedicated to Mass Volley, the grass-roots initiative that encourages children to attend fun Volleyball-related events.

In opening the Mass Volley section at FIVB.org, the FIVB Development Commission, under the guidance of FIVB Executive Vice President Vicente Araujo, has taken another step for- ward in the worldwide promotion of Volleyball.

Mass Volley programmes are part of a strategy to develop the interest of youngsters and to promote the sport at a national level through events where thousands of children can join together to enjoy fun Volleyball- related activities.

The models of Mass Volley pro- grammes in Portugal, France, Swe- den and Canada are now available to download from the FIVB website for use by other National Federations. Mass Volley proves popular in Portugal

FIVB Technical and Development Direc- further material and continue to mo- National Federations are welcome to tor Helgi Thorsteinsson said, “We will tivate the National Federations to par- make their material available to the continue to update our website with ticipate actively in these types of events. FIVB.

“There are also many opportunities to utilize these Mass Volley events further and from the ‘mass,’ we will create fu- ture stars,” said Thorsteinsson.

FIVB invites National Federations to reg- ister their Mass Volley events and also to participate in the upcoming 2009 Volleyball Festival, for which informa- tion will shortly be released.

Further information: http://www.fivb.org/EN/Programmes/ MassVolley/ World Volley News Official Bulletin of theFI VB German children come together for Volleyball fun FIVB founded in 1947 President: Mr. Jizhong Wei FIVB Technical Courses & Seminars Calendar - February - March 09 Château Les Tourelles Dates Country Type Days Chemin Edouard-Sandoz 2-4 From To CH-1006 Lausanne Tunisia IRCC Refereeing 15-Mar 24-Mar 10 Uganda Beach get involved Seminar 23-Mar 27-Mar 5 Tel: + 41 21 345 35 35 Barbados Middle Player Seminar 30-Mar 3-Apr 5 Fax: + 41 21 345 35 45 Dominican Republic IRCC Beach Refereeing 31-Mar 6-Apr 7 Web Site: www.fivb.org FIVB Volleyball Cooperation Programme Calendar - February - March 09 E-mail: [email protected] Dates Editor: Communication Department Country Type Days From To Printed in Switzerland Niger VCP Coaches 21-Feb 28-Feb 8 Congo VCP Teachers 30-Mar 3-Apr 5 No.36 • February 2009

6 FIVB World Volley News No. 36 February 2009 News & Calendar

2009 Global Calendar - Competitions and Events - Volleyball & Beach Volleyball QuickSets DATES EVENT COUNTRY ORG. M/W New coaches Feb. 6-8 South American Beach Volleyball Tour Los Andes, Chile CSV W The Polish Vol- Feb. 10-12 CEV Indesit Champions League Men - 1/8 Finals - Various CEV M leyball Federa- Home Matches tion has chosen Feb. 10-12 CEV Cup Men - Challenge Round - Home Matches Various CEV M/W and Jerzy Mat- Feb. 10-12 GM Capital Challenge Cup - 1/4 Finals - Home Matches Various CEV M/W lak as the new Feb. 10-12 CEV Indesit Champions League Women - Playoffs 12 - Various CEV W head coaches Home Matches of the men’s and women’s Feb. 13-15 South American Beach Volleyball Tour Viña del Mar , Chile CSV M/W national teams. Feb. 17-19 CEV Indesit Champions League Men - 1/8 Finals - Various CEV M Daniel Castellani The 47-year-old Away Matches Argentine Castellani takes over as Feb. 17-19 CEV Cup Men - Challenge Round - Away Matches Various CEV M men’s head coach, with Polish coach Matlak, 63, returning for his second Feb. 17-19 GM Capital Challenge Cup - 1/4 Finals - Away Matches Various CEV M/W spell in charge of the women’s team. Feb. 17-19 CEV Indesit Champions League Women - Playoffs 12 - Various CEV W While Castellani Away Matches has been coach- Feb. 21-22 South American Beach Volleyball Tour Montevideo, Uruguay CSV M/W ing Poland’s PGE Skra Belhatow, Feb. 27/Mar.1 South American Beach Volleyball Tour Lima, Peru CSV M/W Matlak is cur- Mar. 3-5 CEV Indesit Champions League Men - 1/4 Finals - Various CEV M rently coaching Home Matches Farmutil Pila and Mar. 3-5 CEV Indesit Champions League Women - Playoffs 6 - Various CEV W will lead the team Home Matches until the end of the season before Mar. 10-12 CEV Indesit Champions League Men - 1/4 Finals - Various CEV M Away Matches Mass Volley proves popular in Portugal Jerzy Matlak concentrating on his new duties. Matlak first coached Mar. 10-12 CEV Indesit Champions League Women - Playoffs 6 - Various CEV W the Polish womens’ team in 1984-85. Away Matches Mar. 14-15 CEV Cup Women - Final Four TBD CEV W Canada choose Ludwig Volleyball Canada Mar. 14-15 GM Capital Challenge Cup Women - Final Four TBD CEV W has named Arnd Mar. 21-22 CEV Cup Men - Final Four TBD CEV M “Lupo” Ludwig as Mar. 21-22 GM Capital Challenge Cup Men - Final Four TBD CEV M new head coach of the women’s Mar. 25-30 Norceca Beach Volleyball Circuit Cayman Islands NORCECA M/W national team. Mar. 27-29 Norceca World Championship Tournament Saint Lucia NORCECA W Ludwig, who cur- Mar. 28-29 CEV Indesit Champions League Women - Final Four Perugia, CEV W rently resides in Dresden, Ger- Mar. 27/Apr. 4 2009 Women’s African Clubs Champions Championship Nairobi, Kenya CAVB W many, and is in his 10th season as a professional women’s head coach in ’s top club divi- sion, agreed to a four-year contract. Ludwig said, “I am very proud and hon- oured that Volleyball Canada has cho- sen me as the next head coach of the women’s national team. I am looking forward to working with Team Canada and the challenge to reach London 2012.”

New FIVB website The FIVB’s newly designed website, built on a user-friendly concept, is constantly improving. The first step in a complete overhaul was a styl- ish new homepage and dedicated pages for the Olympics. The upcom- ing launch stages will see the web- site carry all the latest Volleyball and Beach Volleyball news, photos, video, live scores and statistics as the ac- tion happens at the top FIVB events. See for yourself at www.fivb.org

FIVB World Volley News No. 36 February 2009 7 Equipment World Volley News FIVB Homologated sports material & equipment 2009 FIVB EXCLUSIVE SHOES AND UNIFORMS APPROVED VOLLEYBALL BALLS ADIDAS Shoes & uniforms MIKASA MVA 200 / MVP 200 (colour, synthetic leather) ASICS Shoes & uniforms Exclusive game ball for all FIVB Competitions incl. OG 2008 CHAMPION Uniforms FIVB APPROVED VOLLEYBALL BALLS DACAPO Uniforms MIKASA MVA 300 / MVP 200NC (colour, synthetic leather) DESCENTE Shoes & uniforms

MOLTEN MIKASA Uniforms IV5XC (MTV5SLIT) (colour, synthetic leather) International Referees supplier for Volleyball GALA BV 5091S (colour, synthetic leather) MIZUNO Shoes & uniforms

CAMBUCI “Penalty” NIKE Shoes & uniforms Volley Pro 6.0 (colour, synthetic leather) OLYMPIKUS Shoes & uniforms QUINGDAO-SYNSHEEN “Star” VB 205-34 (colour, synthetic leather) TOPPER Uniforms NATIONMAN 9900 PROFIT (colour, synthetic leather) FIVB APPROVED SYNTHETIC SPORTS FLOORS MONDO MONDO 5MF-Pro (colour, synthetic leather) TARAFLEX FIVB OFFICIAL INSPECTED VOLLEYBALL BALLS Exclusive for all FIVB Competitions incl. OG 2008 MIKASA SV-2 School MIKASA VP500 Park Volley TARAFLEX Taraflex Sport M Plus (7 mm thickness colour Teal 6431 and Coral 6146) over wood sub floors BEACH VOLLEYBALL BALLS or synthetic sub floors MIKASA Taraflex Sport Performance Plus VLS 200 (colour) Beach (9 mm thickness same colours as above) Exclusive game ball for all FIVB Competitions over concrete sub floors incl. OG 2008

MOLTEN MONDO BV5000 (colour) Beach MONDOFLEX Blue Laguna H23 + Rose Flamingo H41

HOMOLOGATED POSTS, PADS, FIVB RECOMMENDED ANTENNAE, NETS, REFEREE CHAIR SYNTHETIC SPORTS FLOORS

SENOH MONDO Posts, pads, nets with antennae & referees’ chairs are MONDOSPORT HP-E PVC indoor floor exclusive for all FIVB Competitions incl. OG 2008 Blue Laguna H23 + Rose Flamingo H41 National Federations are requested to select material from the list of the FIVB approved sports material

8 FIVB World Volley News No. 36 February 2009