Grand Opening for the 2007 Beach Volleyball Season

Official Bulletin No. 15 May 2007 Edition in English FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE VOLLEYBALL Grand opening for the 2007 Beach Volleyball season Celebrated in all five continents, with the SWATCH FIVB World Tour including a record 37 events in addition to Junior and Youth World Championships, and played over a period of just six months, Beach Volleyball promises a unique display of action and passion for its 2007 season.

The 2007 season comprises the SWATCH FIVB World Tour with a total of 35 events and 2 World Championships, which is 8 more events compared to last year while spread out over the same period of time, and a record 8.75 million USD prize money.

The season will start with the double gen- Gold-medal winners Emanuel and Ricardo in action in Gstaad last year der Shanghai Open on May 1, followed by the Bahrain men’s event (May 8-12) and the Singapore women’s event (May 23-27). ishes on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, Liechtenstein, The Bahrain Open is the first ever stop in SWATCH FIVB World Championships and Switzerland, Cyprus, and China (Olym- a Middle Eastern country, thus achieving CEV Championships finals, from the start pic Test Event) are for the first time the plans evoked last year by the FIVB of the 2007 season in Shanghai, China incorporated in the world ranking. This to make the Tour a genuine world event, (May 1-6) through July 20, 2008. represents an opportunity for the teams whereas Asia’s strong interest for Beach to increase their entry points for all FIVB Volleyball will be testified by the presence One of the highlights of this year’s inter- Beach Volleyball events, including the of new FIVB sanctioned events in Singa- national schedule is the SWATCH FIVB World Tour events. pore, Korea and Indonesia. World Championships, held this July (24- 29) in Gstaad. The beautiful setting of the Brazilians have been atop the women’s Swiss mountains will host fierce competi- In this Issue standings since 2002, with a pair of Chi- tion as 48 of the world’s best teams for Volleyball nese teams finishing second and third each gender will battle it out for a share • 2007 World League: team behind Juliana Felisberta and Larissa of the USD 1 million prize money and a preparations Franca in 2006. China’s emergence on the chance to improve their standings, these • Increasing TV development international stage was one of last season’s World Championships offering the high- for the World League highlights and will be the ones to watch. est points for an event during the Olympic As for the men, the Brazilian pairs Marcio qualification. • FIVB President named “Sport Araujo/Fabio and Emanuel/Ricardo have icon” been dominating the SWATCH FIVB World A young breed of Beach Volleyball play- Beach Volleyball Tour the past two seasons. ers will be brought to the fore with • World Championships press both Youth World Championships (July conference All eyes will therefore be set on the 2007 11-15 in Myslowice, Poland) and Junior • World Tour calendar edition to find out whether the green and World Championships (September 5-9 in National Federations gold flag will still be flying over the podi- Modena, Italy), which will contribute in ums this year. building a new generation of athletes. The • New appointments for British winners will also be offered a Wild Card in Volleyball The start of the season will also mark the the World Tour, enjoying priceless interna- • Egypt’s women are African fourth Olympic qualifying process, which tional experience. Champions will make every competition special for • The future of Volleyball in the world’s elite Beach Volleyball play- Finally, this season’s Satellite and Chal- Iran ers. With China guaranteed a spot in the lenger events, which offer players addi- Development Beijing competition as the host country, tional opportunities to develop interna- • Golden medallists bring the remaining 23 berths will be deter- tional skills and are played all around Volleyball to Nepal mined by a team’s best eight point fin- the world, including Hong Kong-China, www.fivb.org Volleyball

volleyball men This is the first international competition Serbian Men’s National Team’s preparations that this team will play under the name of Serbia – previously Serbia and Mon- for the 2007 World League tenegro – which applies since January 1, 2007, and the first match to be played by In the beginning of enced players but they are eager to face the Serbian National Men’s Team will be May, Igor Kolako- new challenges and start working. I hope in Moscow on May 26. vic, Head Coach of that this will not influence the rhythm of the Senior Men Na- the training sessions.” tional Team of Ser- bia, gathered his Kolakovic also revealed that Ivan Miljko- team at the Hotel vic and Andrija Geric, the team captain, «M» in Belgrade in will be joining their teammates later, af- order to discuss the start an intensive ter taking some vacation following a long programme of preparations for the and stressful season. Ivan Ilic will also be upcoming World League. missing the start of the training due to ob- ligations in the Austrian Play-offs. Head Coach Igor Kolakovic said: “We prepared a detailed plan and pro- The presence of Marko Podrascanin, gramme of the preparations in coopera- Marko Samardzic, Bojan Janic and Nikola tion with Mr. Zeljko Bulatovic, assistant Kovacevic is still to be confirmed. As for coach, and Mr. Miljan Grbovic, physical Starovic and Podrascanin, they will be trainer. Our main concern is that some training with the team until the Junior players will not be able to be with us from Men’s squad starts with their own prepa- the beginning, but this is not the first time rations for the Junior World Champion- we will face this kind of situation. The ship Qualifier. They will join the Junior team roster has significantly changed, team and return to their senior team- Head coach Igor Kolakovic there are many young and less experi- mates later on.

volleyball men & women British Volleyball complete appointments in the run up confidence that they will motivate players and produce programmes that will ensure to the 2012 Olympic Games success.”

Coaches for both the Men’s and successful time with the programme” Both appointments will be building on the and Women’s British Volley- he added. fantastic work already done over the past ball programmes have been year by Interim Coaches Thomas Dowens unveiled today by the Brit- Sawula’s experience in developing Nation- and Jefferson Williams. In just a year on ish Volleyball Federation. Harry Bro- al programmes and coaching national and from the programme beginning, much kking, former Dutch National Team domestic teams around the world makes has already taken place including the coach, has been unveiled as the man him an ideal candidate for the women’s implementation of an intensive training to take the British Volleyball Men’s programme in Britain. Involved in many squad forward and Dr. Lorne Sawula, European, World League and Olympic former Swiss, Australian and Canadi- Qualifying events, Sawula looks forward an National Team Coach, will be lead- to leading the British Women’s squad to- ing the British Women in the run up to wards the 2012 Games. the London 2012 Olympic Games. “Working with different countries who Brokking has worked with the Dutch have varying ability and structure within National Team, where he was Assistant the sport has equipped me to obtain re- coach when the squad came 5th at the sults from teams I work with” Sawula said. Seoul Olympics in ‘88. He has also had “Britain has a fantastic opportunity to fur- two spells as Head Coach from 1989–1992 ther develop their World Class programme Dr. Lorne Sawula will lead the women’s squad and 2005–2006. and I am fully confident I can achieve success working with With experience ranging from the programme schedule and development of the players coaching domestic teams in Ger- and players in- involved. many, Belgium, France and more volved.” recently Poland, Brokking’s record Brokking will take his first look at the of achievement from European Richard Callicott, players he will work with at the forthcom- and World League Championships President of the ing men’s camp in France where they will is exemplary. British Volley- play a number of fixtures against club ball Federation and national teams and is due to start his “I’m delighted to be working with said “We’re de- role this June. Lorne will join up with the the British Programme and tak- lighted that Harry Women’s squad at their camp in Sheffield ing the players forward in the run and Lorne are on from the 19th May to the 3rd June. up to London 2012” Brokking said, board, both their “This is an exciting time for British experience and Both the Men’s and Women’s Programmes Volleyball and I’m glad to be part of Harry Brokking will understanding of will be based at the English Institute of be the men’s coach it and look forward to a rewarding the roles gives us Sport Sheffield.

FIVB World Volley News No.15 May 2007 News

volleyball men live domestically by 5 regional sports New TV opportunities for this edition of the World League broadcasters as well as the biggest TV station worldwide, the only national public Over 1 billion potential viewers China Central Television – CCTV-5 Sports.

The development of ESPN Sur in Latin America, All-Russian The FIVB also signed in the beginning of a whole new brand- TV Channel Sport in Russia and Eurosport April an agreement partnership with US ing for the World France. Further- League, includ- more, public TV Even more of Volleyball action will be ing a new official channels like CBC available to TV viewers this year TV graphic layout, Canada, BNT Bul- comes at a perfect garia, Television time to mirror the Cubana, Egyptian development and Radio and TV Un- growth of the competition in terms of ion and RTS Serbia broadcasting, the dynamic logo sym- to name only few, bolising the beginning of a new era. are dedicated Host Especially in Volleyball the new high TV Broadcasters definition television is standard and and rightsholders has been incorporated by some Host for World League TV Broadcasters, including this year matches on 5 con- KBS Korea and Telewizja Polsat. tinents.

The 16 FIVB Host TV Broadcasters will For the very im- televise World League matches on a to- portant market of tal of 33 different TV channels, reaching China, the FIVB is around 730 million TV households. The proud to have all list of FIVB Host TV Broadcasters includes matches played in such household names as Fuji Television Chengdu produced Network in Japan and Rede Globo in Bra- by Sichuan Televi- zil, and leading sports broadcasters like sion and broadcast

FIVB leading sports broadcast network ESPN Dr. Rubén Acosta nominated as “Sport Icon” to broadcast the 2007 World League and World League finals via its broadcast chan- by the Mexican Sports Confederation nel ESPNU, bringing the best that Volley- ball has to offer to 100 million households The Mexican Sports Confederation now with a total prize of USD 20 million, in the United States and rest of the Ameri- categorized Dr. Rubén Acosta Hernan- besides the interest created with the in- can continent. Altogether, with ESPN-U in dez as a “Sport Icon” considering his volvement of 120 TV stations around the the United States and the Finish Sports many years of hard work and dedica- planet.” Television, the live TV coverage of the tion to elevate Volleyball to Host TV Broadcasters reaches an impres- the position it stands now sive potential viewership of over 1,8 bil- as the second most impor- lion people. tant sport in the world. Additionally to the Host TV Broadcasters, In a two-page story published the FIVB TV rightsholders add another in a recent issue of its maga- 180 million households or 450 million TV zine «Deporte Federado», viewers to the 2007 World League cover- the institution points out the age. success achieved by Volley- ball since the inception of the The FIVB World League on Eurosport will World League in 1990 and be available in 20 languages for 108,5 mil- emphasize on the attraction lion TV households and over 240 million the sport had on TV view- viewers in 59 countries. Selected matches ers around the world dur- will be broadcast also on Eurosport 2, in ing the last Olympic Games 9 languages, 40 countries and 22.2 mil- in Athens. The organization, lion TV homes in Europe. More than half presided by Mr. Alonso Pe- of the 106 matches will be broadcast live rez Gonzalez, mentioned the by Al-Jazeera Sport Channel to Volleyball expansion the International fans in the Middle East. Volleyball Federation has reached during the 23 years The growing success of the World League of presidency of Dr. Acosta. in the last years was confirmed by inde- pendent agencies, which reported a net In reference to the growth of audience of 1 billion people on the TV Volleyball since 1990 to un- viewer side, an average of 4 live broad- suspected levels, Dr. Acosta casts per match and around 1.800 TV is quoted saying that the The magazine dedicated its front page to Dr. Acosta’s hours worldwide on TV with an incredible World League “is fabulous achievements 93,5 % actual playing time.

FIVB World Volley News No.15 May 2007 Beach Volleyball

beach volleyball men & Women SWATCH FIVB World Championships powered by 1to1 Energy Big success for the kick-off press conference in Zurich

From 24th to 29th July, 100’000 The aim of this press conference was to Tournament di- spectators will head to the exclusive present the progress of the preparations rector Mr. Ruedi mountain resort of Gstaad, Switzer- of the SWATCH FIVB World Champion- Kunz officially an- Ruedi Kunz land, on the occasion of the SWATCH ships, the feature in the 2007 FIVB Beach nounced the sign- FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champi- Volleyball calendar. ing of an agree- onships powered by 1to1 Energy, one ment between FIVB, Sport Events Gstaad of the Beach season highlights. Just After hosting SWATCH FIVB World Tour GmbH and SRG SSR idée suisse, the most three months before the start of the events (Open and Grand Slam) for six important Swiss public broadcasting or- event, 40 media representatives and years, the alpine station was ready for ganisation, which will make the World 40 guests (including sponsors and another challenge, and it already prom- Championships available to all linguistic teams) were invited to a kick-off press ises to be successful as 30% of the tickets regions via no less than three channels. conference which was held in the main have been sold three months prior to the An exciting TV distribution will also be station of Zurich. event. provided abroad in more than 150 countries for the enjoy- The beautiful ment of the Beach setting of the Volleyball fans all Swiss mountains over the world. will host fierce competition Power company 1to1 energy presented a world first, announcing that the event would be entirely powered by eco-friendly solar energy. It will be provided by the stadium-inte- grated solar power station on the roof of the national stadium in Bern.

Switzerland has Beach VOLLEYBALL men & women some of the best pairs in the world and USA Volleyball launches Junior Beach initiatives offers well organised international and national events, permanent courts and a ahead of the 2007 World Championships large youth activity.

USA Volleyball, in con- in Myslowice, Poland and the FIVB Junior The best athletes in the world, the organ- junction with the Eleva- (Under-21) Beach World Championships isers, the partners of the event and thou- tion Group has announced on Sept. 5-9 in Modena, Italy. sands of fans from all over the world will 10 tournaments, two high create an unforgettable ambience. Follow- performance camps and one Inter- Junior Beach Volleyball players interested ing its mission, this event will then defini- national Selection Camp on the 2007 in improving their skills and eventually tively contribute to bring Beach Volleyball USA Beach Junior Tour. The focus is moving on to the next level now have a to the next step as it already did since its on competition, but also on expanding way to get there. The camp will include first edition in 1987 and onwards. participation on the beach and identi- two days of training, one day of competi- fying players for USA Volleyball’s high tion and one day of skills testing, all under The top 48 Beach Volleyball teams in each performance beach pipeline. head coach Dane Selznick. gender (twice the roster of the Olympic Games) will compete in this sixth edition «We plan to build on the great success “We want to start a true pipeline for beach of the SWATCH FIVB World Champion- of the inaugural 2006 USA Beach Junior volleyball that brings players from the ships, the most prestigious event in the Tour as Beach Volleyball’s popularity con- USA Beach Junior Tour to the FIVB Under- Olympic qualifying process to the Beijing tinues to grow, « said USA Volleyball CEO 19 and Under-21 World Championships 2008 Olympic Games. Teams having suffi- and FIVB Board of Administration mem- and then eventually to the SWATCH FIVB cient entry points to enter in such an event ber Doug Beal. «The juniors who partici- and AVP Crocs tours,” said Ali Wood, USA must compulsorily take part to it in order pate in the series this year could very well Volleyball’s director of Beach programs. to become eligible for the FIVB Bonus Pool be our future Olympians.» and Travel Allowance. Also, these World As for the two High Performance Camps Championships offer the highest points The Selection Camp, on May 10-13 in El - one on the East Coast and one on the for an event during the Olympic qualifica- Segundo, Calif., will open the USA Beach West - they will give players a chance to tion. Moreover, the event will reward the Junior Tour and will be used to iden- hone their skills on the sand with help teams with an unprecedented USD 1 mil- tify teams for the FIVB Youth (Under-19) from some of USA Volleyball’s best beach lion prize money and will be played in 3 Beach World Championship on July 11-15 coaches. stadiums of a capacity of 12’000 seats.

FIVB World Volley News No.15 May 2007 2007 SWATCH FIVB World Tour

beach VOLLEYBALL men & women 2007 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendars (37 events)

Women’s Calendar Dates Country Event Site Event’s Title Host Broadcaster Total Prize Money & Bonus Pool May 2-6 China Open Shanghai China Shanghai Shanghai TV Sports USD 200,000 Jinshan Open Channel May 23-27 Singapore Open Sentosa Singapore Open 200,000 May 30-June 3 Korea Open Seoul Seoul Open MBC 200,000 June 6-10 Poland Open Warsaw Warsaw Open Polsat Television 200,000 June 12-16 Portugal Open Espinho Espinho Open Sport TV 200,000 June 19-24 France Grand Slam Paris Henkel Grand Slam Sport + 300,000 June 26-30 Norway Grand Slam Stavanger ConocoPhilips NRK/TV Vest 300,000 Grand Slam July 4-8 Canada Open Montréal Montréal Open RDS 200,000 July 10-14 Germany Grand Slam Berlin Smart Grand Slam (TBD) 300,000 July 17-21 France Open Marseille World Series 13 Sport+ 200,000 July 24-28 Switzerland SWATCH FIVB Gstaad SSR-SRG 500,000 World Championship powered by 1 to 1 Energy August 1-4 Austria Grand Slam Klagenfurt A1 Grand Slam ORF 300,000 presented by NOKIA Aug. 7-11 Norway Open Kristiansand Otera Open NRK/TV Vest 175,000 Aug. 14-18 Finland Open Aland PAF Open MTV3 (Swedish TV) 200,000 Aug. 28-Sept. 1 Russia Open St. Petersburg St. Petersburg Open Sport-Russia 200,000 Sept. 25-29 Brazil Open Fortaleza Brazil Open Rede Globo/Sport TV 200,000 Oct. 23-27 Mexico Open Acapulco Acapulco Open Televisa 200,000 Oct. 31-Nov. 4 Thailand Open Phuket Phuket Thailand Open ITV 200,000 Total Prize Money & Bonus Pool USD 4,275,000

Men’s Calendar Dates Country Event Site Event’s Title Host Broadcaster Total Prize Money & Bonus Pool May 1-5 China Open Shanghai China Shanghai Shanghai TV Sports USD 200,000 Jinshan Open Channel May 8-12 Bahrain Open Manama Bahrain Open Bahrain Radio & TV 200,000 Corporation May 23-27 Italy Open Roseto Italian Open Sport Italia 200,000 degli Abruzzi presented by Abruzzo June 6-10 Croatia Open Zagreb VIP Open HTV Croatia National 200,000 Television June 13-17 Portugal Open Espinho Espinho Open Sport TV 200,000 June 20-24 France Grand Slam Paris Henkel Grand Slam Sport + 300,000 June 27-July 1 Norway Grand Slam Stavanger ConocoPhilips NRK/TV Vest 300,000 Grand Slam July 4-8 Canada Open Montreal Montreal Open RDS 200,000 July 11-15 Germany Grand Slam Berlin Smart Grand Slam (TBD) 300,000 July 18-22 France Open Marseille World Series 13 Sport+ 200,000 July 25-29 Switzerland SWATCH FIVB Gstaad SSR-SRG 500,000 World Championship powered by 1 to 1 Energy Aug. 2-5 Austria Grand Slam Klagenfurt A1 Grand Slam ORF 300,000 presented by NOKIA Aug. 8-12 Norway Open Kristiansand Otera Open NRK/TV Vest 175,000 Aug. 15-19 Finland Open Aland PAF Open MTV3 (Swedish TV) 200,000 Aug. 29-Sept. 2 Russia Open St. Petersburg St. Petersburg Open Sport-Russia 200,000 Sept. 5-9 Poland Open Stare Jablonki Mazuri Open presented Polsat Television 200,000 by Hotel Anders Sept. 26-30 Brazil Open Fortaleza Brazil Open Rede Globo/Sport TV 200,000 Oct. 24-28 Mexico Open Acapulco Acapulco Open Televisa 200,000 Oct. 31-Nov. 4 Indonesia Open Bali Bali Open LATVI 200,000 Total Prize Money & Bonus Pool USD 4,475,000

Total Prize Money & Total FIVB Bonus Pool: USD 8,750,000 The above total includes the World Championships figures and 3 continents 18 Women’s events including 4 Grand Slams & 1 WCH / 19 Men’s events including 4 Grand Slams & 1 WCH / Total of 37 events

FIVB World Volley News No.15 May 2007 Confederations

volleyball women them in the 2004 and 2005 final and los- 22nd Women’s African Clubs Champions Championship ing to Kenya’s KC Bank in 2006. Ahly put th on an exciting performance and won the Egypt’s Al Ahly wins for the 5 time match 3-1 (25-12, 18-25, 25-22, 25-15) in 91 minutes. Egypt’s Ahly came back CAVB President Dr. Amr Elwani gave the with the trophy of the 22nd winners their trophy together with the Ahly Coach Raouf Abdel Kader was very Women’s African Clubs competition Control committee while Pipe- happy to win the title after losing three Champions Championship lines team was awarded the silver medal. times in the final and was also satisfied on 10 April, 4 years after their thrill- The previous champions Kenya Commer- with the performance displayed by his ing victory over Pipelines of Kenya, in cial Bank won the Bronze medal follow- players. «We are happy to have won to- a fantastic final attended by a huge ing their victory over Al Shames of Egypt day without our historic star Tahani Tos- crowd at home in the Cairo Stadium in the third place match. The spectators son after she retired. Today we did a good complex hall. This is the fifth time that enjoyed a really fantastic classic final be- job in serving, which disturbed Pipelines Ahly wins the title, the last time being tween Egypt and Kenya when Ahly took and prevented them from using their in 2003. the revenge from Pipelines after losing to strong attackers at the net» he said.

In the bronze medal match, the last competition champions KC Bank stayed on the podium but in the third place this time, after defeating Al Shams of Egypt in straight sets 25-20, 25-19, 25-19 in just 69 minutes. The previous champions ended their job quickly thanks to their strong spiker Nafula Palanga and the 20 point match scorer Docoras Ndasaba, who surprised their less experienced opponent.

Final Ranking 1. Ahly Egypt Al Ahly beat former Al Shams 2. Kenya Pipeline in the gold-medal match 3. Kenya Com. Bank 4. Elshams Egypt obituary Individual Awards Highest honours following l Most Valuable player (MVP): “Great Zare” Petrovic’s premature departure Catherine Wnjiru (Pipelines- Kenya) l Best Attacker: The Volleyball family is in ments. He played a record 253 matches Docoras Ndasaba (KC Bank- Kenya) mourning after Zarko Petro- with the national team and was also a l Best Blocker: vic, one of the best Serbian three time bronze medal winner, 1996 Emily Yebei (Pipelines- Kenya) Volleyball players, suddenly Olympic Games in Atlanta, 1996 World l Best Server: passed away in the beginning of April. Cup and 1995 European Championship. Noran El Maghawry (Ahly- Egypt) He left a long-lasting mark on Volley- He was the recipient of many prestigious l Best Digger: ball both in his region and internation- awards including the National Award for Dina Assal (Shams- Egypt) ally and will be greatly missed. Sport Development. l Best Setter: Yosra Abdel Karim (Ahly- Egypt) Born in 1964, Petrovic started off his bril- The funeral took place on April 4 in Novi l Best Receiver: liant career by winning four times the na- Sad and was attended by over 2000 peo- Sara Talaat (Ahly- Egypt) tional championship, which earned him ple, fellow players, coaches, Volleyball of- the “Statue of Greatness” for his achieve- ficials, representatives from other sports, family and friends who came All Contributions to pay last respect to the great man. Welcome!

Mr. Slobodan Milosevic, Sec- Please send your comments retary General of the OSS, said and articles by e-mail to: that marks of deepest condo- lence were sent from all over the [email protected] world and quoted a Japanese proverb: “When a good man dies, or by mail / fax to: a new star is born”, adding that “With Zare’s departure a whole Fédération Internationale new constellation is born.” de Volleyball Avenue de la Gare 12 Players from the different na- CH-1001 Lausanne - Switzerland tional teams paid tribute to “Great Zare”, whom they de- Tel : +41 (21) 345 35 35 A commemorative gathering was scribed as a great man and a held a day prior to the burial Fax: +41 (21) 345 35 45 great friend.

FIVB World Volley News No.15 May 2007 Technical & Development

DEVELOPMENT works with young people there. The visit Japanese Olympic gold medal-winners was capped by a Volleyball tournament gathering teams and spectators from all bring Volleyball’s positive energy to Nepal seven refugee camps in the east of Nepal.

Volleyball brought fun and the cheap versions they had been using The programme also included photogra- friendship to refugees in for years.” phy classes for 14 girls from Japanese pro- Nepal thanks to the efforts fessional Koji Yamazaki as well as lessons of a trio of Japanese golden The Volleyball courts were marked out on from a sports trainer and a masseuse. girls and the UNHCR. Volleyball Hall the camp’s grassy football pitch. “These of Famer Takako Shirai and former kinds of recreational activities are needed This proved to be a very popular event, so teammates Katsuko Kanesaka and in the camps to keep the youth positively much so that plans are afoot to hold an- Hiromi Yano travelled from Japan to engaged,” said Binod Khatioda, who other tournament in June this year. eastern Nepal to conduct activities in a camp housing refugees, presenting Volleyball equipment, clothing and other sports goods provided by Volley- ball clubs and companies in Japan.

“It feels great to be here,” Shirai said. “More than technical training we want these people to have fun and learn how to work as a team. It is definitely not a one-shot deal and we will surely find an opportunity to come again. I have made the girls promise that they will practice regularly so I can check how much they have improved by the time I return.”

The UNHCR reported: “They could barely control their excitement when presented Japan’s golden girls Takako Shirai (centre), Hiromi Yano (right) and Katsuko Kanesaka (left) with a highly symbolic Volleyball with professional Volleyballs to replace

beach VOLLEYBALL men & women tory of the sport since its beginning until First CAVB Beach Volleyball Clinic in Cairo it reached the top in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, leading all other sports pushes the sport forward in the Continent in the number of TV viewers. The practical part was conducted by FIVB instructor Africa successfully started es, officials and National Federations’ rep- Richard Amon (USA) who held practical the future of Beach Volley- resentatives and was broadcasted by two lectures on a Beach Volleyball court. ball through its first Beach TV Channels as well as many newspapers Volleyball Clinic hosted by that expressed the importance of this Clin- The opening ceremony was attended by the Heliopolis Sherouq Club in Cairo, ic to implement the continental Beach Vol- CAVB President Dr. Amr Elwani who ex- Egypt and organized by the African leyball activity following a decision of the pressed his happiness with the start of the Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) un- CAVB Board of Administration in 2006. continental activity of this sport with this der the supervision of the FIVB. Clinic, which will pave the way to other It included a theoretical part instructed by tours in many African countries before es- Sixty participants from 20 African coun- FIVB expert Mr. Jeff Brehaut (ENG) who tablishing the continental ranking in 2007. tries attended it, including players, coach- held daily lectures on the rules and his- “We are happy to have these experienced instructors in this Clinic and to be able to rely on their long experience to provide us with the right way to push the sport forwards.”

Mr. Jeff Brehaut also expressed his satisfaction with the standard of the Clinic participants. “The African players have all the capa- bilities to be world class players in Beach competition and they only have to start in the right The course participants and officials way.”

FIVB World Volley News No.15 May 2007 Calendars

national federations Technical Courses and Seminars Calendar - May-June 2007 Iran plans the future of Volleyball DATES COURSE PLACE SPONSOR May 2-13 Coaches Level I Senegal FIVB I.R. Iran Volley- May 5-11 Refereeing IRCC Thailand, Kingdom of FIVB ball Federation May 7-18 Coaches Level I Barbados FIVB President Mo- May 12-19 Refereeing IRCC Dominican Republic FIVB hammad Reza May 18-31 Coaches Level II Senegal FIVB Davarzani evoked May 20-31 Coaches Level I St. Lucia FIVB in April his plans May 21-27 Refereeing Refresher Bahrain FIVB for the develop- June 4-8 Beach Volleyball “Get involved” Senegal FIVB ment of the sport June 4-15 Coaches Level I Antigua FIVB in his country. June 5-9 Players Sudan FIVB June 7-19 Coaches Level II Dominican Republic FIVB Main targets for the progress of June 10-21 Coaches Level I Iran FIVB Volleyball in Iran June 11-22 Coaches Level I India FIVB We are going to invest in our young play- June 21-July 3 Coaches Level II United Arab Emirates FIVB ers. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the June 23-27 Technical seminar Outside hitter Bahrain FIVB next Asian games in China and the 2012 June 23-27 Volleyball at School Canada FIVB London Olympic games are our goals for June 27-July 1 Technical seminar Outside hitter Mexico FIVB the future. Our proper attention is upon the youth and junior players so that they Volleyball Cooperation Programme Calendar - May-June 2007 will gradually be able to enter the national teams. DATES COURSE PLACE May 1-6 Refereeing Fiji We have some projects for Volleyball and May 2-8 Coaches Korea, People’s Democratic Republic its expansion, including to find talent May 7-12 Young Players Saint Vincent & Grenadines players and offer them a special train- May 7-14 Coaches El Salvador ing programme; strengthen our Volley- May 8-15 Coaches Tonga ball schools; and to increase by five the May 10-15 Teachers Ghana number of Volleyball teams in the country. May 15-22 Coaches Philippines We are aiming to be among the top ten May 20-25 Refereeing Mongolia senior teams in the world. May 21-26 Refereeing Zimbabwe June 2-7 Young Players Tanzania Change of players in the senior June 2-7 Beach Volleyball Vanuatu national team June 5-12 Coaches Palestine There will be a complete renewal. We had June 5-14 Coaches Jordan some young talent players who never got June 8-15 Coaches Korea, People’s Democratic Rep.ublic the chance to show their abilities, they al- June 9-16 Coaches Trinidad & Tobago ways stood in the back row and we hope June 21-26 Refereeing Burkina Faso that without any stress and fear they will be able to reveal themselves. 2007 Global Calendar - Competitions and Events - Volleyball and Beach Volleyball Without a doubt we are in need for the DATES EVENT COUNTRY CONF. M/W future of backing of potential players, or multi-dimension players, who are good May 1-6 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Shanghai FIVB M/W at reception, dig, service and defense. We May 4-6 Men’s ECh Small Countries Division, Final round Cyprus CEV M should better prepare this situation by May 4-6 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit 2007 Mexico NORCECA replacing talent and sharp players in our May 7-15 6th Asian Youth Girls’ Volleyball Championship Nakhon Ratchasima THA AVC W national teams. May 8-12 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Manama, Bahrain FIVB M May 11-13 Women’s ECh Small Countries, Final round Scotland CEV W Regarding the performance May 11-20 VTV Cup Women’s Volleyball Invitation Vietnam AVC W of Iran at the 2006 World May 12-19 Spring Cup 2007 Brno CZE & Izola SLO CEV M/W Championship in Japan and the May 14-16 FIVB Executive Committee meeting Lausanne, Switzerland FIVB - Asian Games in Doha May 17-20 NESTEA ECh Tour Austrian Masters St. Pölten, Austria CEV Our performance at the World Champion- May 18-20 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit Puerto Rico NORCECA ship was excellent, even though we were May 19-21 FIVB Board of Administration meeting Lausanne, Switzerland FIVB - in a hard pool with very strong teams. Par- May 20-28 6th Asian Youth Boys’ Volleyball Championship Genting Highland, Malaysia AVC M ticipating in the World Championship was May 22 2007 World Cups Supervisory Board meeting Lausanne, Switzerland FIVB - a rare chance for our players. Our team’s May 23-27 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Sentosa, Singapore FIVB W performance at the Asian Games was not May 23-27 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Roseto degli Abruzzi FIVB M satisfactory, though, as we were beaten by May 25-27 European League 2007 Qualification round Various venues CEV Korea. Volleyball is a sport of moments, May 25-27 World League, 1st week, pools A-B-C-D Various venues FIVB M and today we are in need of sharp players. May 25-27 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit 2007 Trinidad & Tobago NORCECA We are in need of highly technical players, May 30-June 3 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Seoul, Korea FIVB W who could be active in different positions. May 31-June 3 NESTEA ECh Tour Russian Masters Moscow, Russia CEV

World Volley News • Official Bulletin of theV FI B • Av. de la Gare 12 • CH-1001 Lausanne • Printed in Switzerland • FIVB founded in 1947 • Pres. Dr. Rubén Acosta H. Tel. + 41 21 345 35 35 • Fax + 41 21 345 35 45 • Web Site: www.fivb.org • E-mail: [email protected] • Editor: Communication Department • No. 15 • May 2007

FIVB World Volley News No.15 May 2007