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 FIVB
announces opening of new development centre in
the Caribbean, hosted by Barbados
Lausanne, 2 March 2006 - The FIVB Regional
Development Centre in Bridgetown, Barbados,
heralds a new and historic chapter in Volleyball
both on the island itself and for the Caribbean
region as a whole.
FIVB President Dr Rubén Acosta Hernandez
welcomed the news, commenting that “the FIVB
Regional Development Centre in Barbados is
perfectly located in the Caribbean region, which
counts seventeen national Volleyball federations
and a population of around 10 million. Barbados
has excellent links with neighbouring countries
and will offer a stable environment for
promoting the development of Volleyball and
Beach Volleyball in this region of great
potential”.
The opening of the Regional Development Centre
in Barbados is part of the FIVB’s global
development programme, the broadest aim of which
is to improve the general standard of Volleyball
throughout the world and, more specifically, to
create the conditions under which each country,
given its resources, is able to express its
potential in competition and derive the maximum
benefit possible from our sport.
For the FIVB’s Technical and Development
Director, Mr Helgi Thorsteinsson, the
inauguration of the Centre represented the
culmination of over a year’s work: “I am happy
that we have been able to open the Regional
Development Centre in Barbados as part of the
FIVB’s continuing development strategy. The
Barbados Volleyball Association now has the
necessary structures in place to provide support
for coaching and management training with a view
to fostering talent and creating even better
opportunities for the Caribbean region”.
In a brief ceremony last month, which was
twinned with the opening and awards
presentations for the new Volleyball season, the
Barbados Volleyball Association’s president,
John Griffith, described the launching of the
centre as the realization of the dream to
continue the rapid development of Volleyball in
Barbados and within the English-speaking
Caribbean. The FIVB Regional Development Centre
in Barbados perfectly complements the existing
development centre in the Dominican Republic as
an English-language alternative for training.
Its inauguration was welcomed by the National
Sports Council of Barbados and the Barbados
Olympic Association.
Training programmes are already under way at the
centre, with a one-week FIVB Referees’ refresher
course having started on the first day of the
new centre’s existence. Two regional coaches’
courses are already booked for later in the
year.
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