Official Bulletin no. 3 May 2006

Edition in English

www.fivb.org

fÉDÉRatiOn inteRnatiOnale De VOlleYBall

The 2006 SWATCH FIVB World Tour, the top international circuit for Beach Volley-ball, comprises 30 events with prize money of USD 6.7 million and will be played in the five Confederations over a six-month period starting with the women’s Open event in Modena, Italy on 10 May 2006.

Two weeks later (23-28 May), the season’s first double-gender event will be held in Shanghai. This will be the second-straight season in which China’s 13 million-strong economic powerhouse welcomes the

SWATCH FIVB World Tour. The following week, the teams will return to Europe with the women travelling to Athens, Greece, and the men to Zagreb, Croatia.

After the first month of action in 2005, the only event that was not won by a Brazil-ian duo was the men’s Open in Shanghai, which was taken by the German part-nership of Christoph Dieckmann/Andreas Scheuerpflug. With Scheuerpflug now acting as manager to the newly-formed partnership of Christoph Dieckmann and Julius Brink (winner on the World Tour in Portugal in 2005 with Kjell Schneider), this ambitious partnership will be one to watch.

Later on this year we will also see the SWATCH FIVB World Championships U21 in Myslowice, Poland and the SWATCH FIVB World Championships U19 in Ber-muda. The latter event represents a major

step forward for the FIVB in bringing Beach Volleyball to the world’s tropical islands, which offer idyllic locations for tournaments and offer enormous – and as yet untapped – potential.

The Beach Volleyball season is completed by a further 16 FIVB-sanctioned Chal-lenger, Satellite and Exhibition events, some taking place in regions where the sport is already established, such as Swit-zerland, whilst others push the geographic

boundaries of Beach Volleyball even fur-ther, bringing the sport to new countries such as Cuba and the Czech Republic. Fur-ther events are set to follow as agreements are reached in the course of the year.

As the 2006 season gets underway, the FIVB is already working on the 2007 and 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calen-dars, which, together with the 2007 World Championships in Gstaad, Switzerland, will constitute the qualification process for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Thanks

“...will be playedin the five

Confederations...”in this issueVolleyball

• WorldChampionshipNews

• EuropeanChampionsLeague

Beach Volleyball

• SWATCHFIVBWorldTourcalendar

• NESTEACEVMastersEuropeanTourcalendar

National Federations

• GifttoGeorgianVolleyballFederation

• SponsorrenewswithGermanFederation

• NeVoBoappointsnewtechnicaldirector

• NewpartnerforVolleyballAustralia

This month’s issue focuses on Beach Volleyball, with the first events on the 2006 SWATCH FIVB World Tour and Nestea European Tour due to start the beach season this month. In addition to offering a preview of these events and the full calendar for the season, we also take a look at how some of the teams have been preparing for the season in Southern California – the spiritual home of Beach Volleyball.

the 2006 Beach Volleyball bonanza begins

“...bringing the sport to

new countries...”

to Beach Volleyball’s ever-increasing popularity, the FIVB hopes to bring the SWATCH FIVB World Tour to new loca-tions in North America, Australia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates for the 2007 season.

May 31, the men’s SWATCH FIVB World Tour will be back in Zagreb, Croatia

2 fiVB World Volley news no. 3 May 2006

KenyaVolleyballFederation(KVF)hashiredaJapanesecoach to help prepare thenational women Volleyball

team for the 2006 World Champion-shipssetforJapaninOctober.

According to the newly elected KVF Sec-retary General Dan Wanyama, through the assistance of Japanese International Agency Corporation (JICA), the Japanese coach, whose name is yet to be released, is expected in the country two months before the national women volleyball team leaves for Japan. “We are taking our participa-tion in the World Championships in Japan very seriously and that is why we are bringing in a tactician from Japan to come and team up with our local coaches in preparing the national women volleyball team,” said Wanyama.

He pointed out that local national women volleyball team head coach David Lung’aho, who also handles African Women Vol-leyball Club champions Kenya Pipeline, and his assistant Paul Bitok, who coaches Kenya Commercial Bank ladies’ team, will

work together with the Japanese tactician to mould a strong team which will repre-sent the country well in Japan. As regards team selection for the World Champion-ships, the KVF Secretary General said coach Lung’aho has been instructed to come up with a provisional squad of 20 players as soon as possible so that logistics for residential training camp and build up matches can be worked out by the federa-tion.

“The World Championships is a big tourna-ment and we have instructed the coach to ensure that he only goes for the best players while considering experience and youthfulness,” Wanyama said, adding that even foreign based players will be considered for selection into the World Championships squad. Among Kenya’s foreign based players who are playing as professionals abroad are national team captain Violet Baraza and Dorcas Nda-saba, who represented the country at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Other players are studying in various colleges in the United States.

national Women Volleyball team Wins top Sports award in KenyaKenya national women Volleyball team who are two times Olympians have been voted as the Sports Team of the Year in the country. The team, which has quali-fied for this year’s World Women Volley-ball Championships set for Japan in Octo-ber and next year’s World Cup, emerged the winner of the prestigious award after beating the athletics team which won last year’s Chiba Ekiden marathon.

During the presentation ceremony at the Five Star Grand Regency hotel graced by Kenya’s Vice President Moody Awori, Commissioner for Sports Gordon Oluoch and top sports journalists, sports officials and top company executives among oth-ers, national team member Moim was voted the Most Promising Female Player in the country.

Representing the national team during the presentation were Moim, booster Janet Wanja and libero player Mercy Wesu-tila both from Kenya Pipeline and Nancy Wanjala from Kenya Commercial Bank, who were accompanied by national team coaches David Lung’aho and Paul Bitok along with Team Manager Grace Wangu-ria. Also present was Kenya Volleyball

Kenya hires Japanese coach to prepare national team for 2006 World Championship

VOLLEYBALL wOMEn

Volleyball

Chinese men’s Volleyball team coachZhou Jian’an has announced his 18-player squad for the upcoming 2006WorldChampionshipinTokyoandthe2006AsianGamesinDoha.

Zhang Xiang, former captain of the Chi-nese national team, has been called back by Zhou to reinforce the attacking powers of China. “It is an honour to be back in the national team again,” said 35-year-old Zhang. “I hope I can help the young play-ers with my experiences.”

China had a disappointing one-win and five-loss result in the 2002 World Champi-onship and didn’t qualify for the 2004 Ath-ens Olympics. China, coached by former head coach Di Anhe, was eliminated by Iran 2-3 in the semifinals in the 2002 Asian Games.

The Chinese team will participate in a four-nation international invitation tournament in May and then play World League Pool C games against Italy, Russia and France in July and August.

Head coach Zhou Jian’an said the Chinese team will try their utmost to enter the second round in the World Championship and clinch a berth in the finals at the Asian Games. The final team line-up will be decided after the World League.

chinese national men’s team for 2006Wing Attacker: Hu Song, Guo Song, Sui Shengsheng, Shen Qiong, Zhang Xiang; Setter: Li Chun, Zhou Hong, Kang Kang, Jiang Fudong; Middle Blocker: Wang Hai-chuan, Yu Dawei, Wang Jin, Xie Wenhao, Guo Peng; Opposite: Tang Miao, Yuan Zhi, Jiang Kun; Libero: Chu Hui.

China’s head coach announces his 18-player squad for the World Championship year

VOLLEYBALL MEn

Guo Peng (5) and Li Chun (10) have been selected for the World Championship squadChina men’s head coach Zhou Jian’an

3fiVB World Volley news no. 3 May 2006

Giovanni Guidetti appointed Germany’s women’s coach after Hee Wan Lee unexpectedly resigns

VOLLEYBALL wOMEn

HeeWanLeeresignedasthecoachofGerma-ny’swomen’snationalteamashenolongerfelthehadthetrustoftheleaguesidesafterrecentdevel-opmentsandcriticismofhismannerofcommunica-tion.Formerworld-class setter Hee Wan Lee hadbeen responsible for the women’snationalteamsince1999.

During his tenure, the team qualified for two Olympic Games to finish sixth in Sydney 2000 and ninth in Athens 2004. The team also took the bronze medal at the 2003 European Championships‚ the women’s first medal since 1991. There were, however, also disappointments such as tenth place at the 2002 World Championships in Germany and eleventh at the 2005 European Championships in Croatia.

This month, our World Championship mascot

“Val-kun” is starting his game with a serve. He’s going for an ace, like World Champion server Dante Amaral from Brazil. Next month we will find out whether he scores, or whether the rally continues.Website: www.2006vball.jp

2006 World Championships

Lee is replaced by Italian Giovanni Guidetti, who, although only 33 years old, has already amassed considerable expe-rience as a coach. He has been a coach in Italy’s first league since 1997-98 (with Spezzano, Vicenza, Modena and Chieri), interrupted only by a one-year stint for USPV/USA. From 1997-2000 Guidetti was also co-trainer of the national wom-en’s team of Italy and was responsible for Bulgaria’s women’s team in the summer of 2003.

Guidetti will take up his post in time for the European Championship qualifica-tion tournament in Georgia (26-28 May), where Germany will face France, Georgia and Latvia. His contract currently runs until the World Championships in Japan from 31 October to 16 November, where Germany will play China, Russia, Azerbai-jan, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. The first four teams in the group will qual-ify for the next round.

The new coach is looking forward to the challenge: “I am ready to train the Ger-man team and I’m very proud that the German Volleyball Federation (DVV) has given me this opportunity. I would like to

Federation Secretary General Jacob Owiti and National Treasurer Kenneth Tonui, who all congratulated the national team for their achievement and Moim for being voted Most Promising Player.

Michael Joseph, Chief Executive Officer of Safaricom, who are the sponsors of the Sportsman of the Year Award (SOYA) congratulated the winners and said his company was proud to be associated with sportsmen and women in the country.

Apart from the national women’s Volley-ball team and Moim, General Service Unit (GSU) men’s Volleyball team, which won a bronze medal during last year’s Afri-can Club Championships in Benin, also clinched an award. Coming shortly after the Egyptian national Volleyball team won the same award in Egypt; it was a clear sign that Volleyball may soon overtake soccer as the number one sport in Africa.

“It is a fact that soccer is the number one sport in the world and Africa included but with the changing trend where the Egyp-tian national men’s Volleyball team and the Kenyan women’s national team have been voted ‘Sports Team of the Year’ in their respective countries, volleyball is the sport to watch,” said KVF Secretary General, Jacob Owiti.

qualify for the European Championships with the team and play a good World Championship.”

DVV president Werner von Moltke added “We are very happy to have found such a renowned coach for our women’s team in such a short time. I am confident he will be able to continue the good work of Hee Wan Lee.”

Giovanni Guidetti, the new coach

� fiVB World Volley news no. 3 May 2006

Beach Volleyball

International flavor for Southern California Beach Volleyball training

BEAch VOLLEYBALL MEn & wOMEn

The NESTEA EuropeanChampionshipTour2006isset to begin a record sea-son–moretournamentsand

moreprizemoneythaneverbefore...

Vassiliki Karadassiou thinks about this year’s NESTEA European Championship Tour with a mixture of anticipation and respect for the upcoming challenge: “The standard of this European tournament series has become even more demand-ing”, the athlete said shortly before being named Europe’s ‘Queen of the Beach’. “It will definitely be tough to be among the very best again this year.” This assess-ment is not only supported by the fact

that the competition on the continent is becoming greater every year, but also because the NESTEA European Champi-onship Tour, in its fourth year of existence, is offering six tournaments for the first time; more than ever before in the history of Beach Volleyball in Europe.

The prize money of the premium product of the European Beach Volleyball scene has also been increased along with the number of tournaments. A total of 700,000 Euros (plus bonus pool) will be divided among the male and female Beach Vol-leyball artists, along with extra incentives like the four Smart cars that are awarded by the Tour Main Partner Smart to the two

top teams of the CEV European Ranking at the end of the season.

The NESTEA European Championship Tour 2006 will also be offering a new nomenclature: the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) and the Zurich based agency Global Sports Marketing (GSM) have announced that the European tour-naments will receive a new name: Instead of being called ‘Open’, the tournaments leading up to the NESTEA European Championship Final are called ‘Masters’ in connection of the Host Country with imme-diate effect. “Our intention of renaming the tournaments is to further strengthen the corporate identity of our Tour. This accurately reflects the further increased standard of the Tour and its tournaments”, Christian Scholbrock, Managing Director of GSM, explained.

The Tour will again head to Alanya (Turk-ish Masters) to kick off the new season, then move on to Hamburg (German Mas-ters), Moscow (Russian Masters), Valencia (Spanish Masters), Lucerne (Swiss Mas-ters) and finally the highlight and conclu-sion of the 2006 European Season, the NESTEA European Championship Final 2006 in Royal The Hague (Netherlands).

The 2006 NESTEA European Championship Tour: a record season with five Masters and a final !

BEAch VOLLEYBALL MEn & wOMEn

While the Australian andNew Zealand domesticBeach Volleyball tours fea-tured international players

in January and February, the coachofreigningOlympicandWorldCham-pions Misty May-Treanor and KerriWalsh has been preparing severalinternational players for the 2006SWATCHFIVBWorldTourseason.

Dane Selznick, a former World Champion and winner of 13 domestic titles during his 19-season career on the United States circuits, worked with eight female and six male players from China along with their five coaches on the beaches in Southern California. In March, he spent time with players from Germany and Mexico.

“The Chinese talked with me several years ago about training in Southern Califor-nia” said Selznick. “This is my third year accommodating them. After talking with a German women’s team at last Octo-ber’s SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop in Acapulco, they decided to train here along with a women’s team from Mexico.”

Selznick, who was honored by the United States Olympic Committee for coaching May-Treanor and Walsh to their Athens

2004 Olympic gold medal, has combined American teams into the training mix with the Chinese, Germans and Mexicans.

In addition to May-Treanor and Walsh, US players in the training mix have been Nicole Branagh, Matt Fuerbringer, Casey Jennings and Holly McPeak.

“Ball control, body posture and timing are always an issue with me when evaluat-ing players,” Selznick added. “Due to the number of teams, we have three sessions

The tournaments of the NESTEA European Championship Tour 2006

17 - 21 May Turkish Masters in Alanya

31 May - 3 June German Masters in Hamburg

15 - 18 June Russian Masters in Moscow

20 - 23 July Spanish Masters in Valencia

5 - 8 August Swiss Masters in Lucerne

24 - 27 August NESTEA European Championship Final in Royal The Hague

back-to-back each day. One session has three Chinese men’s teams with one US team. Another period has two Chinese teams with Kerri and Misty, and then two Chinese teams with the Germans or another US team. We train three days a week with this format. A fourth day of practice is for skills training.”

The sessions have also been valuable for May-Treanor and Walsh in their prepara-tion for the for the 2006 season.

“The Chinese look like they’ve been prac-ticing before they arrived here,” said Selznick. “With the Chinese’s different style of play, it has helped Misty and Kerri prepare for the 2006 season. Misty is still

SoCal Training (left to right), Coach Yan Jianming, Gao Fangtian, Wu Penggen, Xu Linyin, Matt Fuerbringer, Casey Jennings, Dane Selznick, Zhou Shun, Liu Jian, Han Shengwei, Gao Shenyang (Federation Official), Head Coach Miao Zhihong

�fiVB World Volley news no. 3 May 2006

2006 Calendar of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour (30 events)

BEAch VOLLEYBALL MEn & wOMEn

SWATCH FIVB World Tour

Women’s Calendar DATES SITE/COUNTRY EVENT PRIZE MONEY BONUS POOL TOTALMay 10-14 Modena, Italy Open USD 100,000 USD 100,000 USD 200,000May 24-28 Shanghai, China Open 100,000 100,000 200,000May 31 - June 4 Athens, Greece Open 100,000 100,000 200,000June 20-24 Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Slam 140,000 150,000 290,000June 27 - July 1 Stavanger, Norway Grand Slam 140,000 150,000 290,000July 4-8 Marseille, France Open 100,000 100,000 200,000July 12-16 Montréal, Canada Open 100,000 100,000 200,000July 18-22 St. Petersburg, Russia Open 100,000 100,000 200,000July 25-29 Paris, France Grand Slam 140,000 150,000 290,000August 2-5 Klagenfurt, Austria Grand Slam 140,000 150,000 290,000August 30-September 3 Warsaw, Poland Open 100,000 100,000 200,000September 13-17 Porto Santo, Portugal Open 100,000 100,000 200,000September 26-30 Vitória, Brazil Open 100,000 100,000 200,000October 25-29 Acapulco, Mexico Open 100,000 100,000 200,000November 1-5 Phuket, Thailand Open 100,000 100,000 200,000

TOTAL USD 1,660,000 USD 1,700,000 USD 3,360,000

Men’s Calendar DATES SITE/COUNTRY EVENT PRIZE MONEY BONUS POOL TOTALMay 23-27 Shanghai, China Open USD 100,000 USD 100,000 USD 200,000May 31 - June 4 Zagreb, Croatia Open 100,000 100,000 200,000June 7-11 Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy Open 100,000 100,000 200,000June 14-18 Espinho, Portugal Open 100,000 100,000 200,000June 21-25 Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Slam 140,000 150,000 290,000June 28 - July 2 Stavanger, Norway Grand Slam 140,000 150,000 290,000July 5-9 Marseille, France Open 100,000 100,000 200,000July 12-16 Montréal, Canada Open 100,000 100,000 200,000July 19-23 St. Petersburg, Russia Open 100,000 100,000 200,000July 26-30 Paris, France Grand Slam 140,000 150,000 290,000August 2-6 Klagenfurt, Austria Grand Slam 140,000 150,000 290,000August 9-13 Stare Jablonki, Poland Open 100,000 100,000 200,000September 27-October 1 Vitória, Brazil Open 100,000 100,000 200,000October 18-22 Cape Town, South Africa Open 100,000 100,000 200,000October 24-28 Acapulco, Mexico Open 100,000 100,000 200,000

TOTAL USD 1,660,000 USD 1,700,000 USD 3,360,000

TOTAL PRIZE MONEY - USD 3,320, 000 / TOTAL FIVB BONUS POOL - USD 3,400,000 TOTAL PRIZE MONEY - USD 6,720,000

15 Women’s events including 4 Grand Slams / 15 Men’s events including 4 Grand Slams / Total of 30 events

playing it safe since the surgery (right shoulder) in December. Misty’s foot speed is very good right now. Her setting is also better. Kerri is still as fast as ever with the same great ball control and range at the net.”

As for a conflict of interest training foreign teams, Selznick feels there is “...none. I have been working with international players for more than three decades now. The training sessions are not about strat-egy, but about improving basic skills of the game. We work on serving, passing, set-ting, spiking, blocking and digging. Like any player and/or team I work with, I assess an individual’s current skills and work to improve their game.”

SoCal Training (left to right) for Germany’s Hella Jurich, USA’s Misty May-Treanor, Germany’s Rieke Brink-Abeler, Coach Dane Selznick and USA’s Kerri Walsh

6 fiVB World Volley news no. 3 May 2006

English League Champions crowned!

nAtiOnAL fEdErAtiOns

After the conclusion of theregular National Leagueseason in England, City ofWolverhamptonpreventeda

5thsuccessivetitleforLondonMaloryby winning the Women’s Division 1championship and losing only onematch…toMalory!

In Men’s Division 1 London Malory pipped London Docklands to the title, winning the championship for an unprecedented 17th time in 18 seasons!

The team that interrupted the London Malory winning streak in Division 1 by taking the title in the 1997-98 season have been relegated from the top-flight after over 20 seasons in the elite league of Eng-lish Volleyball: London Aquila Lynx join Loughborough Students back in Division

Confederations

Sisley Treviso is the newchampion of the Indes-it European Champions’League 2005-2006, having

thehonourofcallingthemselves‘thestrongest club in Europe’, after win-ning the final match against GreekIraklis Thessaloniki 3-1. In the all-RussianbronzemedalmatchLokomo-tivBelgoroddefeatedDinamoMoscow3-1.

Sharing the first two sets, Sisley Treviso gained the decisive point at the end of the third set (25-23), taking a 2-1 lead. Although Thessaloniki were close to forc-

ing a tiebreak set (21-22), Sisley managed to secure their second match point with an ace by Gustavo Endres (26-24).

The bronze medal went to Lokomo-tiv Belgorod once again after they also claimed bronze in last year’s Final Four in Thessaloniki (Greece). This year, they beat their compatriots from Dinamo Moscow in four sets.

Amongst over 12,000 spectators who gathered on Sunday were several offi-cials, namely FIVB President Dr. Rubén Acosta and his wife, CEV President Mr. André Meyer, European Cups Commis-

Sisley Treviso wins the Indesit Champions’ League 2005-2006 in Rome

VOLLEYBALL MEn sion President Mrs. Riet Ooms, CEV Vice President Mr. Jan Hronek, President of the Italian Volleyball Federation Mr. Carlo Magri, President of the Russian Volleyball Federation Mr. Vladimir Patrushev, Presi-dent of the Greek Volleyball Federation Mr. Thanassis Beligratis, President of the Austrian Volleyball Federation Mr. Peter Kleinmann, the Mayor of Rome Mr. Walter Veltroni, President of the Local Organising Committee Mr. Giovanni Malago, Presi-dent of the National Olympic Committee Mr. Giovanni Petrucci, as well as the head coach of the Italian national men’s team Mr. Gianpaolo Montali.

From a different sports field Russian Alex-ander Popov was present, former Olympic gold medallist in freestyle swimming.

individual awardsMVP: Alessandro Fei (Sisley Treviso)Best Scorer: Clayton Stanley (Iraklis Th.)

- Best Spiker: Thomas John Hoff (Iraklis Th.) - Best Server: Alessandro Fei (Sisley Treviso) - Best Blocker: Gustavo Endres (Sisley Treviso) - Best Setter: Valerio Ver-miglio (Sisley Treviso)Best Libero: Alexey Verbov (Lokomotiv Belgorod)

ResultsFinal: Sisley Treviso (ITA) - Iraklis Th. (GRE) 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24)Bronze medal match: Dinamo Moscow (RUS) - Lokomotiv Belgorod (RUS) 1-3 (19-25, 25-21, 20-25, 20-25)Semi-finals: Sisley Treviso (ITA) - Dinamo Moscow (RUS) 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-21)Lokomotiv Belgorod (RUS) - Iraklis Th. (GRE) 2-3 (24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 13-15)

2 next season, the students having experi-enced one season in Division 1.

They will be replaced by Division 2 Cham-pions City of Salford and either Thames Valley or Leeds, whose late run of form has seen them force a play-off.

Women’s Division 2 was dominated by Ashcombe Dorking and Loughborough Students 2 with each team losing only one match all season and ending up with iden-tical sets for and against records!

Ashcombe, the Division 1 Champions in 1987-88, 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 take the title by virtue of their superior points difference, but are joined by the students in Division 1 next season.

In Division 3 for women, notable con-gratulations go to promoted champions Nottingham, Swiss Cottage and Oxford Students, and for men to Brentwood Esto-nians, Haughton and again Oxford Stu-dents.

FIVB President Dr. Rubén Acosta H. presents the trophy to Treviso captain Samuele Papi

SponsorshipforaVolleyballclubinAfricacanoftenpro-vide a considerable boostto the club’s finances and

spurthemontogreatthings.TanianVolleyballClubofSeroweinBotswanaannounced a partnership with OaksServices (PTY) Ltd. on 6 April 2006.Thewastemanagementcompanyhasalready been assisting the club withtransportandmealsforplayerssincelastyearandhasnowformalised itsrelationshipwiththeclub.

A very young club, registered only in 2004, Tanian Volleyball Club joined the Mascom League in 2005. During the past year they have made considerable improvements both at management and playing level. The team participated in JB Sports and the Top 8 of the Mascom league.

Sponsorship for Botswana Volleyball Club

nAtiOnAL fEdErAtiOns

�fiVB World Volley news no. 3 May 2006

OnMarch27,thePresidentof the Georgian VolleyballFederation and Member ofFIVB Development Commis-

sionMr.LevanAkhvledianiandFirstLadyofGeorgia,HonoraryPresidentof the Federation Mrs. Sandra Elisa-bethRoelofs,heldapressconferenceintheFederation’soffice.

Mrs. Roelofs is from Holland and her home town educational college, ROC Westersceldecollege, had sent gifts to the Georgian Women’s Club ‘GIKO’, including balls, nets, a video camera, t-shirts, shorts, track suits and bags.Mrs. Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs said: “Vol-leyball is great sport, as it is a non-con-tact team sport that is violence-free. The Georgian Volleyball Federation is doing a lot to develop Volleyball and Beach Vol-leyball in Georgia. I decided from my side to ask my home town college to support the club ‘GIKO’. I hope many sponsors will follow this idea and buy equipment for local clubs in different regions of Georgia. Of course I will support the Men’s and Women’s National Teams of Georgia in May, when they play European Cham-pionship matches in Tbilisi, Georgia. On the Independence Day of Georgia, May 26, the Women’s National Team of Georgia will play against France and the next day against Germany. I hope that this is a good present for our supporters to see the best teams of Europe in Georgia. Also I hope that one day we will organize a Beach Vol-leyball tournament in Sukhumi.”Mr. Levan Akhvlediani thanked the Fed-eration’s Honorary President for her help in developing Volleyball and Beach Vol-leyball in the country, as well as the college in Holland for its support: “We saw how many youngsters visit Volleyball sections around country. A few years ago, we could never have imagined that so many

DATES EVENT COUNTRY CONF. M/W

2006 Global Calendar - Competitions and Events - Volleyball and Beach VolleyballGift to Georgian Federation from Netherlands

nAtiOnAL fEdErAtiOns

National Federations

April 29-May 1 Women’s Beach Volleyball Tour Vietnam AVC WMay Board of Administration Indonesia AVCMay 5-7 2006-2007 ECH Pool A Andorra CEV MMay 10-14 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Modena, Italy FIVB WMay 12 Press Commission & Press Officers’ Meeting Lausanne, Switzerland FIVBMay 13-14 2006-2007 ECH 1st Round Various venues CEV M/WMay 15-17 Executive Committee Meeting Lausanne, Switzerland FIVBMay 17-21 Beach Volleyball NESTEA ECH Turkish Masters Alanya, Turkey CEVMay 19-21 2006-2007 ECH Pool A Reykjavik, Iceland CEV WMay 19-21 Board of Administration Lausanne, Switzerland FIVBMay 20-21 ECH 1st Round Various venues CEV MWMay 21-28 2006 Asian Men’s Club championship Nam Dinh, Vietnam AVC MMay 23-27 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Shanghai, China FIVB MMay 24-28 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Shanghai, China FIVB WMay 24-31 Asian Women’s Club championship Manila, Philippines AVC WMay 24-28 2006 ECH U-19 Qualification tournament Various venues CEV WMay 24-28 2006 ECH U-20 Qualification tournament Various venues CEV MMay 25-28 FIVB Beach Volleyball Challenger Brno, Czech Republic FIVB MMay 26-28 2006-2007 M&W’s ECH 2nd and D Tournament 1 Various venues CEV M/WMay 27-28 2006-2007 ECH 2nd Round 1st Leg H&A Various venues CEV MMay 31-June 4 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Athens, Greece FIVB WMay 31-June 4 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Zagreb, Croatia FIVB MMay 31-June 3 Beach Volleyball NESTEA ECH German Masters Hamburg CEVJune M&W’s Beach Volleyball Tour (2 Legs) Indonesia AVC M/WJune 2-4 2006-2007 Women’s ECH Gibraltar, GB CEV WJune 2-4 2006-2007 ECH 2nd Round Tournament 1+2 Various venues CEV M/WJune 3-4 2006-2007 ECH 2nd Round 2nd Leg H&A Various venues CEV MJune 3-12 1st Pan-American Cup Mexicali & Tijuana, Mexico NORCECA MJune 5-11 Montreux Volley Masters Montreux, Switzerland WJune 7-11 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy FIVB MJune 9-11 2006-2007 ECH 2nd Round Tournament 2 Various venues CEV M/WJune 10-11 2006-2007 ECH 2nd Round 3rd Leg H&A Various venues CEV MJune 14-18 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Open Espinho,Portugal FIVB MJune 15-18 Beach Volleyball NESTEA ECH Russian Masters Moscow, Russia CEV M/WJune 16-18 ECH 2nd Round Tournament 2 Various venues CEV M/WJune 17 Top Teams Cup Drawing of Lots Luxembourg CEV M/WJune 17 CEV Cup Drawing of Lots Luxembourg CEV M/WJune 17-18 2006-2007 ECH 2nd Round 4th Leg H&A Various venues CEV MJune 20-24 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam Gstaad, Switzerland FIVB WJune 21-25 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam Gstaad, Switzerland FIVB MJune 23 Indesit ECL Drawing of Lots Vienna, Austria CEV M/WJune 24-25 2006-2007 ECH 2nd Round 5th Leg Various venues CEV MJune 24-25 Indesit ECL Seminars Vienna, Austria CEV M/WJune 27-July 1 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam Stavanger, Norway FIVB WJune 27-July 8 Vth Pan-American Cup Puerto Rico NORCECA WJune 28-July 2 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam Stavanger, Norway FIVB M

young people would play Volleyball. This is thanks to the hard work of our Federa-tion. As you know, the FIVB is the biggest sports organization in the world and I am proud the Georgian Federation is proba-bly the only one that has the First Lady as its Honorary President. This year is very important for us, as Volleyball is the only team sport in Georgia with national teams in both genders and they will play against best teams. Beach Volleyball is becoming increasingly popular not only on Black Sea cost, but in big cities as well. We hope our Men’s Team in Beach Volleyball will have good results on the 2006 SWATCH FIVB World Tour. Once again thanks to everyone for the support.”

Mrs. Sandra Elisabeth Roelofs, First Lady of Georgia, and Mr. Levan Akhvlediani, President of the Georgian Federation

� fiVB World Volley news no. 3 May 2006

World Volley News • Official Bulletin of the FIVB • 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 : press@fivb.org • Editor : Communication Department • No. 3 • May 2006

Confederations

ASICS extends contract with German Volleyball Federation

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ASICSGermanyandtheGer-man Volleyball Federation(DVV)extendedtheiragree-ment prematurely at the

DVV Cup Final in Halle (Westphalia).Thenewagreementrunsuntil2010.

ASICS has had a close and successful part-nership with the DVV since 1998. As a sponsor of national teams, clubs, events and top players, ASICS has witnessed numerous international sporting high-lights: for example the women’s World Championships in 2002, the men’s Euro-pean Championships the following year, the men’s Olympic qualification round in 2004 and the women’s World Champion-ship qualification tournament in 2005.

With the early extension of the partner-ship, ASICS underscores its sustained involvement and its confidence in its sporting partners in Volleyball, which is an important part of the technology-lead-er’s activities in Germany. ASICS has a long-standing tradition with Volleyball. At

the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, 80 % of all Volleyball players wore ASICS sport shoes. Today, ASICS is clear market leader in Germany with an 80 % market share and worldwide, it’s the brand that the majority of players place their trust in.

“ASICS and Volleyball quite simply belong together. Our commitment to extend our longstanding partnership with the DVV is a clear expression of our confidence in the potential of the national team and the sport as a whole. Volleyball will remain a strategic focus for us,” said ASICS Germa-ny’s managing director Dieter Bauer.

“We are very happy to secure this long-term partnership with ASICS – one of the world’s leading producers of sport shoes and textiles. Our athletes appreciated the quality of the products from the out-set and our mutual trust and respect has never stopped growing. With ASICS, we don’t just want our players to look good, we want them to cause a stir at the 2006 World Championships in Japan,” said DVV President Werner von Moltke.

ASICS Germany’s managing director Dieter Bauer, left, and DVV President Werner von Moltke, right, extended their agreement until 2010

Volleyball Australia sign on SportingPulse as technology and marketing partner

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Volleyball Australia ispleased to announce thesigning of a 3 years part-nership with SportingPulse

as their technology and marketingpartner.

“This partnership will allow Volleyball in Australia to grow to the next level and for our sport to finally be on the inter-net ‘map’ which will drive much of the future decision-making of the community” said Andrew Scotford, Volleyball Australia General Manager. The service will not only include the provision of a professional web presence for Volleyball Australia, its mem-ber states and their clubs and associations but also a complete management system that will let our administrators focus on growing the sport of Volleyball.

“We are delighted to be working with Vol-leyball at such an exciting time for their sport,” said SportingPulse General Man-ager, Andrew Collins. “SportingPulse are proud to work with sport at all levels; from grass roots administrators to world lead-ing national and international sporting bodies. Volleyball in Australia will benefit from proven best practice technology that provides efficiencies to all stakeholders and will help grow the sport by providing incentives for all Volleyball administra-tors affiliated with the national body.”

Joop Alberda appointed Technical Director of the Dutch Volleyball Association

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The Dutch Volleyball Asso-ciation recently announcedits plans to become one ofthebestteamsintheworld

again.Playingattoplevelonceagainwillhaveaverypositiveeffectonthewhole sport in Holland and the restof the world. The Dutch VolleyballFederation (NeVoBo) therefore planstogrowthesportatboththetoplevelandamongthegrassroots.

The Dutch Federation has had some tough years with big financial difficulties. How-ever, it’s on its way back up.

In order to achieve its ambitious goals, it has focused on a strong and profes-sional top sport organisation, sufficient structural and financial means and a pro-fessional organisation with courses and education for talented young players.

To assist with this development, NeVoBo decided to appoint a Technical Director. It is a great pleasure and a very big step for Volleyball in the country to announce Joop Alberda as the new Technical Director. After a successful period as coach of the National Team (World League in 1996 as well as an Olympic gold medal in Atlanta), he worked from 1997 until 2005 for the Olympic Committee in Holland and was member of the ‘Team the Mission’ in 2000 and 2004.

NeVoBo President Mr. H. Nieukerke, summed up the new appointment thus:

“I don’t have to introduce Joop Alberda to anyone. He is loaded with experience, knowledge and ambition. Therefore he is the perfect person to fulfil this function.”

Joop Alberda took gold as head coach of the Dutch men’s team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta

In addition to various commitments to Volleyball, ASICS is also increasing its focus on Beach Volleyball: Germany’s two top teams, Geeske Banck/Susanne Lahme for the women and Julius Brink/Christoph Dieckmann for the men, will also be start-ing the new season with ASICS.