MIAOLI, Taiwan.- The Dominican Republic is the smallest and poorest country in this year Women’s Volleyball World Grand Prix and also in the Olympics, and that says a lot about the heart and desire of its players. 

That was the statement of Cristobal Marte, the Dominican’s Team Manager who also is its sponsor and biggest fan, during the Thursday press conference before the start of the Chinese Taipei phase of this year Grand Prix, the premier annual women’s competition of the FIVB.

“We have come a long way since we started this developing program ten years ago,” said Marte, who is also an executive vice president of FIVB and business entrepreneur in his native Dominican Republic. “Being a poor and small country says a lot about the big heart and desire of our women. We have worked very hard to reach this level.”

That is not an easy task considering volleyball is not the first sport in the Dominican Republic, taking a back seat behind baseball and basketball.

“We played one week ago the Pan American Cup and are already qualified for the 2005 World Grand Prix,” said Marte. “We also qualified for last year event but could not take part because the event over lapped with the Pan American Games celebrated in our country.”

“To qualify for the Grand Prix, the Dominican Republic has to be better than teams from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and Peru,” said Marte. “That is not an easy task, but we have done it with the dedication of the players and coaches.”

The Dominican Republic won the gold medal in the 2003 Pan American Games, took part in the World Cup in Japan and qualified for the Olympics sweeping the South American Qualifier against Argentina, Venezuela and Peru.