AFECAVOL celebrates General Assembly

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, January 21, 2018.- The Association of Central American Volleyball Federations AFECAVOL held the 2017 General Assembly during two days of sessions (January 20-21) in San José, Costa Rica, to evaluate results, as well as the approval of the 2018 competition calendar and the election of the Executive Committee.

The opening words were pronounced by AFECAVOL President Edgar Alvarado, who congratulated the efforts of each National Federation for the promotion of volleyball in Central America.  “It is a pleasure to meet with all the representatives of the area, each one of you make great efforts for your athletes; I hope that 2018 will be a successful year and also to have a fruitful discussion during our Assembly”.

The representatives of the seven countries of the zone listened to the reports by the presidency of AFECAVOL, of the Secretariat of AFECAVOL, as well as that of the Treasury.

In addition, the reports presented by the organizers of the Central American championships during the past 2017 were evaluated, where the members decided to return to the competition system of one daily session as the results weren’t positive from playing a double session.

First Vice-President of the FIVB and President of NORCECA Cristóbal Marte Hoffiz, also attended the Assembly, who spoke about important issues, emphasizing the magnificent organization of the XI Central American Games Managua 2017.

“Nicaragua marked the before and after of the Games for Central America; as president of the NORCECA Confederation I thank the legacy for our sport, with the extraordinary investment in infrastructure made by the Nicaraguan government. In addition, the AFECAVOL teams have shown an important development, using seriously the resources invested by NORCECA".

Marte Hoffiz stated that 2017 was not an easy year due to the new dispositions by the FIVB and congratulated the presidents of the Central American Federations for supporting the perseverance of the work carried out by the Confederation; “It was not an easy task, your work and passion were of the utmost importance to contribute to the successful development of all our activities”.

Fortunately, the development plan of the FIVB in the 2010-2017 periods was used well by NORCECA and today the AFECAVOL zone, CAZOVA, ECVA and the Central zone are recipients of wise decision. “I am a work tool for all of you” added Marte Hoffiz.

NORCECA confirmed to keep on delivering sport equipment, two tickets for each stop of the NORCECA Tour per country, scholarships for training in the FIVB Regional Development Centers, technical assistance with an itinerant instructor in the region, among other contributions.

The report of the website and social networks of AFECAVOL was also presented, which included a statistic report, as well as an AFECAVOL report of Managua 2017 Central American Games. The National Federation of Costa Rica also presented their coverage of the Managua through the Facebook live.

The countries organizing the tournaments were urged to have the live broadcast of the entire championship through Facebook live or some other platform that allows Central American volleyball to be promoted.

The Referee Commission of AFECAVOL had its first intervention in an Assembly with a report that included the list of referees who participated in the AFECAVOL tournaments, in NORCECA continental championships, as well as in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

The recommendations were that the national referee commissions should have the support of the international referees to have a solid foundation and encourage new prospects, and that the AFECAVOL Commission will be a support to evaluate referees. In addition, the Federations must receive the overall evaluation of their referee’s performance after each tournament.

AFECAVOL 2018 competitions will start March 8 -12  in Costa Rica, with the AFECAVOL Beach Volleyball Youth Olympic Qualifier, where the champion will win a ticket to Buenos Aires 2018; It was also decided that this tournament will be the first edition of the Central American U-19 Beach Volleyball Championship.

The Central American U-17 Beach Volleyball Championship was changed to Nicaragua from April 19-23. The Assembly approved that as of 2019, the U-17 and U-19 Beach Volleyball categories will be held simultaneously.

The XX Central American Women's Cup will take place on August 3-12 at Belize and the XVIII Central American Senior Beach Volleyball Championship will be held in Panama from August 22nd to 27th.

Nicaragua will host the IV Central American Women's Under-23 Championship from August 25 to September 3, while the Men's division will be hosted by Guatemala from September 14-23.

Honduras confirmed to host the XI Central American U-21 Beach Volleyball Championship in Roatan from September 27 to October 1. The 2018 activities will conclude with the XX Central American Senior Men's Cup in El Salvador from November 9 to 18. I

Major competitiions will also be hosted by Central American countries, with the Boy’s U-19 Continental Championship in Costa Rica (June 2-10), Honduras has yet to confirm either the U-20 or  U-18 Women's Continental Championships (June 16-24),  Men’s U-21 Continental Championship will be in Nicaragua (July 8-16) and Guatemala will host the U-23 Men's Pan-American Championship (October 13-21).

In its closing words, Marte Hoffiz explained that after the FIVB budget reductions to support our Confederation during 2017 and the changes announced for 2018, actions must be taken to continue with the same success as in the past years, “in reference to the FIVB Development Hub project, I am pleased because AFECAVOL carried out the necessary administrative procedures to be part of the project; we are waiting for the program to be executed. NORCECA kept its commitment to work hard, complying with the entire Continental and Pan-American championships, as well as the world qualifying events and the 2018 the competition calendar has already been determined. “I can assure you that all the results are due to the efforts that each of you as presidents of your national federations have put at the service of Central American volleyball and consequently to NORCECA”.

NORCECA will be modifying the presidential periods for the Zonal Associations given to modifications in the FIVB, for which the presidency of AFECAVOL will be extended to 2019. In this way, NORCECA will present a list of ten candidates to form part of the FIVB Board of Directors prior to the congress in 2020 and from these candidates they will confirm the five representatives of NORCECA before the FIVB.

In this matter, Marta Centeno de Sajché confirmed that she will not finish her term as president of AFECAVOL, so the Assembly voted for Mr. Edgar Alvarado of Costa Rica to continue as President of AFECAVOL and Centeno Sajché to become Honorary President.

Don Edgar Alvarado said “I appreciate the trust you place in me, I hope to have a close communication with all of you and the success of the AFECAVOL tournaments.  AFECAVOL will continue to collaborate with NORCECA and I wish Marta all the best”.

Cristobal Marte´s closing remarks were of gratitude and satisfaction for the efforts in last year and AFECAVOL’s commitment to work alongside NORCECA, “AFECAVOL has set the tone for the other zonal Associations, innovating and taking the initiative in many projects; the fact that the AFECAVOL region will host three continental events this year gives me great satisfaction. The projection of NORCECA, after the changes of 2017, is to attract more investment, keep growing and never stop working. While I have energy and health, my efforts will not stop”.

Marte Hoffiz thanked Marta Centeno for the great work she did during her presence at AFECAVOL and congratulated her on her personal projects, indicating that she will always be part of the volleyball family, “Marta made the transition of her retirement easier, her help is highly appreciated and she will always have a place in our organization, so this is not a goodbye”.

Marta Centeno was in charge of closing the sessions by addressing the AFECAVOL members. “We created a good friendship during my administration, I can continue to support each and every one and AFECAVOL  in any organizational or administrative matter required; this decision has not been easy for me, volleyball has brought me much happiness, I have grown as a person and as a sport leader. I close a chapter in my life, now is time to dedicate to personal matters, especially my family. I congratulate the growth of volleyball in Central America; you have taken advantage of every opportunity”.