2 FIVB X-Press No 124

N o 124
March 2004
English edition
FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE VOLLEYBALL
Nike partners with FIVB bringing new
excitement to the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour
Nike, the world’s
leading designer,
marketer and distributor of
authentic athletic footwear,
apparel, equipment and
accessories, partnered
with the FIVB to be the
exclusive competitive
apparel supplier for the
2004 Swatch-FIVB Beach
Volleyball World Tour, the
FIVB announced in
February.
Both parties came together at the 2003
Austrian Grand Slam event in Klagenfurt,
and, along with taking in some exciting
Beach Volleyball action, delegates
from the two organizations enjoyed some
highly productive discussions.
Indeed, so-much-so that the FIVB and
Nike eventually agreed on a partnership,
which includes the sports manufacturer
providing highly innovative competition
apparel for players (tank tops), referees,
FIVB delegates, volunteers and staff on
the Swatch-FIVB World Tour.
"This new relationship with Nike is
indicative of the tremendous success
of Beach Volleyball," FIVB President
Dr. Rubén Acosta said. "Nike is
renowned for its expertise in sportswear
manufacturing and this will lift
the status of the Swatch-FIVB World
Tour higher than ever".
The new line of competition apparel will
also be used at the 2004 Summer Olympic
Games, due to be held in Athens between
August 14- 29, by some of the world’s
best Beach Volleyball teams as well as
officials.
“This new relationship with Nike is
indicative of the tremendous success of
Beach Volleyball,” FIVB President Dr.
Rubén Acosta said. “Nike is renowned
for its expertise in sportswear manufacturing
and this will lift the status of the
Dain Blanton (USA) in a Nike shirt at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he took home
the gold medal with partner, Eric Fonoimoana
Swatch-FIVB World Tour higher than
ever.”
“We are excited to partner with the
Swatch-FIVB World Tour,” Nike Director
of Olympic Sports Marketing Eddie
Brown said. “This allows us to bring our
years of apparel innovation to even more
Beach Volleyball athletes. In addition, we
look forward to gaining further insights
into their elite performance needs
through our never-ending quest to build
the world’s greatest athletic product.”
According to Angelo Squeo, the FIVB’s
Beach Volleyball Coordinator, the partnership
represents exciting times ahead:
“Nike has recognized the huge potential
of Beach Volleyball and that makes us all
very proud.” Mr. Squeo continued; “The
mission is to create a trend, and, with the
professional look of the athletes’ uniforms
we believe that we can attract
many new fans to the sport.”
“I believe that we here at the FIVB are creating
a pool of strong sponsors who are
all working together with us in an exciting
environment. It is an excellent way
for Beach Volleyball to grow.”
Mr. Squeo went on to say that both Nike
and the FIVB would essentially be working
as a team in terms of the design of the
new uniforms to be worn by Beach Volleyball
athletes.
“The FIVB has always given great attention
to the uniforms of athletes and officials,
which play a significant part in the
Beach Volleyball image,” Mr. Squeo said.
“Therefore with Nike’s innovative ideas
we look forward to further developing
such a project in order to portray the most
important values of our sport.”
The 2004 Swatch - FIVB World Tour
began its landmark season on March 9 in
Brazil and by the season’s end it will have
included 27 tournaments (15 men and 12
women), of which 18 are included in the
Olympic qualifying process and offered
US$5,480,000 in Prize Money and Bonus
Pool. Among the highlights contained in
this year’s Swatch - FIVB World Tour is
what promises to be an exciting three-leg
Grand-Slam which will take in the cities
of Berlin, Marseille and Klagenfurt. And,
of course, the final assignment of 24
men’s and 24 women’s vacancies for the
forthcoming Summer Olympic Games
will be decided.
www.fivb.org/
For more news and updates visit
our website at: www.fivb.org
Find out more at www.fivb.org

VOLLEYBALL
DRAWING OF LOTS COMPLETED FOR MEN’S WORLD
OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENTS
The Drawing of Lots for the three Men’s
World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments
to be held in Japan, Portugal and Spain in
May was completed in Tokyo in February
under the supervision of FIVB Executive
Vice-President Dr. Saleh A. Bin Nasser
from Saudi Arabia and FIVB Executive
Member Professor Hiroshi Toyoda from
Japan.
The World Olympic Qualifying tournament
in Japan from May 22-30, which
also doubles as the Asian Continental
Olympic Qualifying tournament, will see
the hosts entertain Algeria, Canada,
France, Korea, China, Australia and Iran
with one Olympic ticket going to the winner
and then a second Olympic ticket
being awarded to the top Asian team. In
the event an Asian team wins the tournament,
the next best-Asian team will claim
the second ticket as the Continental
Olympic qualifier.
The World Olympic Qualifying tournaments
in Portugal, from May 21-23, and
Spain, from May 28-30, sees Kazakhstan,
2 FIVB X-Press No 124 March 2004
Venezuela and Poland join Portugal, and
Spain host Cameroon, Cuba and the
Netherlands. The winners of each tournament
will claim an Olympic ticket to
Athens.
The four tickets on offer across the three
tournaments will complete the men’s
Volleyball Olympic Games qualification
process with a total of 12 teams.
The eight men’s teams already qualified
for the 2004 Athens Olympics are Greece,
Brazil, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro, Russia,
USA, Argentina andTunisia.
Meanwhile, the final four teams to complete
the women’s Volleyball Olympic
Games qualification process will be
found at a World Olympic Qualification
tournament in Japan from May 8-16,
which also doubles as the Asian Continental
Olympic Qualification tournament,
with the hosts playing off with
Korea, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Italy,
Russia, Puerto Rico and Nigeria for the
final four tickets.
Men’s teams competing at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments
Portugal (May 21-23):
Portugal, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Poland
Japan (May 22-30):
Japan, Algeria, Canada, France, Korea, China, Australia, Iran
Spain (May 28-30):
Spain, Cameroon, Cuba, the Netherlands.
Women’s teams competing at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments
Japan (May 8-16):
Japan, Korea, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Italy, Russia, Puerto Rico, Nigeria
Women’s Teams already Qualified for
the 2004 Olympics in Athens
Greece (Host)
China
Brazil
USA
Dominican Republic
Germany
Kenya
Cuba
Men’s Teams already Qualified for
the 2004 Olympics in Athens
Greece (Host)
Brazil
Italy
Serbia & Montenegro
Russia
USA
Argentina
Tunisia
France name squad for Tokyo
The President of the French Volleyball
Federation Jacques Shaw, on the proposition
of the national coach Philippe Blain
and national Technical Director Michel
Cogne, announced France’s 18-strong
squad for the Men’s World Olympic
Qualification Tournament to be held in
Tokyo from May 22-30.
France will play Japan, Algeria, Canada,
Korea, China, Australia and Iran with the
winner and the best Asian team claiming
tickets to Athens 2004. The 18-man squad
will be trimmed to 12 prior to the tournament.
France: Yohan Cohen, Hubert Henno,
Dominique Daquin, Andy Ces, Frédéric
Gibert, Jean Charles Monneraye,
Stéphane Antiga, Laurent Capet, Frantz
Granvorka, Vincent Montmeat, Loïc De
Kergret, Loic Lemarrec, Marc Schalk,
Philippe Barca-Cysique, Guillaume Samica,
Mathias Patin, Oliver Kieffer,
Sébastien Frangolacci.
Portugal coach says
group is “difficult but beatable”
Following the Drawing of Lots ceremony
held in Tokyo, Japan in February for the
three Men’s World Olympic Qualification
tournaments (to be held in Portugal,
Spain and Tokyo), head coach of the Portuguese
side Juan Diaz says his team has
a difficult yet beatable group, which
includes favourites Poland, Venezuela
and Kazakhstan, ahead of them to claim
Olympic Games qualification when they
face off in Porto from May 21-23.
“It is a difficult group, but at the same
time beatable,” he said. “We know
Poland well and the Venezuelan team,
while although we do not know Kazakhstan’s
Volleyball, the fact that it is an
old Russian republic implies that, by tradition,
they have great Volleyball skills.”
“It’s important that we are playing
Poland because, theoretically, they are
more beatable than France or the Netherlands
(who were the other two European
sides drawn to play in Tokyo and Madrid
respectively).”
Venezuela, ranked 11th on the FIVB
World Rankings (nine places better than
Portugal and two places behind Poland),
pose as one of the biggest threats to Portugal’s
hopes. (continued on page 2)
www.fivb.org/
For more information on other
teams go to: www.fivb.org

VOLLEYBALL
OTHER VOLLEYBALL NEWS
(continued from page 2)
It will be the third consecutive time that
Portugal disputes an Olympic Qualifying
Pool with Venezuela. In the two meetings
to date, both sides have won one
match with Portugal beating Venezuela
in 1996 (3-1) and Venezuela beating Portugal
in 2000 (3-2).
The meetings with Poland, who have a
gold medal and 11 top-10 finishes to their
name in 13 World Championship appearances,
are more recent. In the 2002 World
League the first two matches were split
(3-2, 2-3) in Portugal before Poland won
both clashes at home 3-1 and recorded a
similar victory at the 2002 World Championship.
“It is necessary to prepare well, especially
mentally, so that we will be able to reach
our objectives and gain qualification for
the Olympic Games of Athens,” Diaz
said. “The players have the notion of
what they are capable of and they’ll gain
confidence with a lot work, therefore like
this we will achieve our objectives. It is
that which is found inside the players: the
necessity to fight for qualification.”
Horstink, Kooistra and Cristina
back for the Netherlands
Netherlands national coach Bert Goedkoop
announced his 18-man squad in
Febraury for the final Olympic Qualification
tournament for the Athens Games in
August and pulled off three surprises by
recalling the experienced trio of Albert
Cristina, Robert Horstink and Wytze
Kooistra in place of youngsters Gerjan
Huisken, Joram Maan and Dennis van
der Veen.
Of the 18 players in the squad only 12 will
actually travel to Madrid, Spain to contest
the tournament with the hosts,
Cameroon and Cuba from May 28-30.
Only the winner earns a ticket to the
Games.
The Netherlands squad:
Dirk-Jan van Gendt, Marko Klok, Allan
van de Loo, Rob Bontje (ORTEC.Nesselande),
Nico Freriks, Jeroen Trommel,
Erik Schuil, Desi van Waaijen, Joppe
Paulides, Albert Cristina (VC Omniworld),
Mike van de Goor, Wytze Kooistra,
Robert Horstink (Piet Zoomers/D),
Erik Siebers (AA Drink/Capelle), Kay
van Dijk (VC Zwolle), Reinder Nummerdor
(Milano, ITA), Guido Görtzen (Perugia,
ITA) and Richard Schuil (G.del Colle,
ITA).
China aim for gold
Women’s Volleyball World Cup champions
China are setting their sights on further
success at the forthcoming Olympic
Games in Athens this summer. The athletes
arrived in Zhangzhou, in Southeastern
China earlier this month for an intensive
month-long training regime which
has been taking place behind closed
doors.
Asked if the World Cup winners would
settle for a place among the top three in
Athens, team manager Li Quangiang
responded, “That’s the priority, but at the
same time, we will make every effort for
the gold medal.”
“The players have been steadily improving
since this team was established in
2001, and the World Cup victory last year
boosted our confidence,” Li Quangiang
continued. “We are also very aware of the
capabilities of our rivals. All of the players
and coaches here have set a goal
which is to win in Athens.”
China, who dominated the sport between
1981 and 1986, are under immense pressure
to deliver in the Olympics due to
their tremendous victory at the World
Cup which took place in Japan last
November and their title winning performance
in last year’s World Grand Prix.
The team have become heroines in their
native land and along with the knowledge
of the strength of their opponents,
this will add to the pressure within the
team according to Li Quaniang. “China is
on a par with the United States, Russia,
Italy and Brazil,” he said. “No team can
be certain of victory. The competition in
Athens will be very tough and hard.”
Although confident in their ability, head
coach Chen Zhonghe told reporters he
was slightly worried his players weren’t
yet displaying their full capabilities. “We
will have a tough year in 2004 because
our players have not yet reached their
peak despite all of the team training we
have done over the past three years.”
Yet despite Chen Zhonghe’s slight reservations,
China will enter the Olympic
Games this summer as many people’s
favourites. Indeed, according to Li Quangiang,
the current intensive training
schedule China is undergoing will only
help to enhance the team’s chances. “The
training is very important for the
Olympic Games. I think they (the players)
will be in their best shape in one
month’s time.”
Top honours for Chinese
women’s head coach
The head coach of the Chinese Women’s
Volleyball team Chen Zhonghe was
selected as one of China’s 10 Inspirational
Persons of the Year in 2003 in an annual
campaign organized by China Central
Television in February to select people
who have inspired the country and
moved its people during the year.
Chen Zhonghe has been selected as one of
China’s 10 Inspirational Persons of the
Year in 2003
The 10 people up for the award are
selected from various walks of life, some
of them well-known, others less famous.
But what they have done must be an
inspiration to China and its people.
Zhonghe led the national women’s team
to an eye-catching victory at the 2003
World Cup in Japan, which completed a
remarkable year for the Chinese women
where they had already collected the 2003
World Grand Prix title.
2003 also marked the completion of a
triple crown for the Chinese women,
which has seen them win three major Volleyball
tournaments, namely the World
Cup (2003), the World Championship
(1986) and the Olympics, since 1984,
when China claimed gold at Los Angeles.
The national women’s Volleyball team is
widely acclaimed as a source of great
sporting pride amongst ordinary Chinese
people and Zhonghe has become
renowned for his perseverance, working
his way up slowly through the coaching
ranks since starting his career as an assistant
coach 22 years ago.
www.fivb.org/
For team and player profiles go
to: www.fivb.org
FIVB X-Press N o 124 March 2004
3

VOLLEYBALL
OTHER VOLLEYBALL NEWS
USA Volleyball’s 2003 Athletes
and Team of the Year
Danielle Scott,
(pictured left)
Jeff Nygaard and
the Beach Volleyball
team of
Misty May and
Kerri Walsh are
among the nominees
for the 2003
United States
Olympic Committee
(USOC)
SportsMan, SportsWoman and Team of
the Year honours.
The nominees are the 2003 Athletes and
Teams of the Year representing Olympic,
Pan American, Affiliated and Disabled
Sport Organizations within the U.S.
Olympic Movement.
Each year the USOC recognizes the top
male and top female athletes and the top
team as selected by their respective member
organizations. The names of the athletes
and teams are placed on ballots used
to select the USOC SportsMan, Sports-
Woman and overall Team of the Year.
Members of the USOC Board of Directors
and Athletes Advisory Council, along
with representatives of the national
media, comprise the voting panel that
selects the USOC SportsMan, Sports-
Woman and Team of the Year.
Forty-four females and 46 males, as well
as 28 teams, are being honored by the
USOC for their athletic accomplishments
in 2003.
Scott led the USA women’s national Volleyball
team in scoring and blocking at
the first Olympic qualifier of the quadrennial,
the World Cup in Japan (Nov. 1-
15), as Team USAfinished third to reserve
a ticket to the 2004 Olympics in Athens,
Greece. Scott ranked second among all
players on all teams with 40 blocks
in 11 matches (3.64 per
4 FIVB X-Press No 124 March 2004
match) and finished eighth overall in
scoring with 152 points (13.82 per match).
On the year, Scott led the team in total
blocks (89) and hitting percentage (.486)
and was second on the team in total
points (433) and points per set (3.38) as
Team USA finished the season ranked
No. 2 in the world with a record of 29-15.
Along the way the United States won
gold medals at the Pan American Cup
and the NORCECA Zone Championships
and captured bronze medals at
the World Grand Prix and the World Cup.
At 6-8 and 215 pounds, Nygaard, (pictured
under) named 2003 Association of
Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Most
Valuable Player in just his third season on
the tour, was a powerful force as he
teamed with first-year partner Dain Blanton
to win three tournaments. The duo
also finished second once, seventh twice
and ninth once in eight tournaments en
route to earning 2003 AVP Team of the
Year honors.
Nygaard and Blanton also took the international
sand by storm, winning in their
first tournament together on the Swatch-
FIVB World Tour (Hellas Open, Rhodes,
Greece, June 8). They also teamed to earn
a bronze medal at the French Grand Slam.
Overall, they finished in the top four
three times in eight matches internationally
to become the top American pairing
on the World Tour rankings.
“Xpress” now also in Arabic!
The FIVB is pleased to announce that our monthly Newsletter, Xpress, is now
produced in Arabic, in addition to its three regular versions in English, French and
Spanish.
You can download the latest Xpress directly from our site, or send us your comments
and articles to Xpress@fivb.org
Downloads@fivb.org
You can now download the 2003
World League Final Report from the
FIVB website. Visit :
www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/WorldLeague/2004/Index.
asp
You can now download the 2003
World Grand Prix Final Report from
the FIVB website. Visit :
www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/WorldGrandprix/2004/in
dex.asp
You can download the 2004 Beach
Volleyball Press Kit from our website.
Visit: www.fivb.org
Download the Xpress from our website
in English, French, Spanish or
Arabic..Visit:
www.fivb.org/EN/Infomedia/XPre
ss/index.asp

VOLLEYBALL
TWO IMPORTANT AND SUCCESSFUL FIVB MEETINGS
Olympic Games preparation
right on track
The FIVB and ATHOC inspected both the
Volleyball and Beach Volleyball venues.
From left to right: Mr. Nikolaos Sofianos,
Mr. Thanassis Beligratis, Mr. Jean-
Pierre Seppey, Mr. Leonidas Karaiskos,
Mr. Franz Schmied
A delegation from the FIVB consisting of
the General Manager Mr Jean Pierre
Seppey and FIVB Controller Mr Franz
Schmied returned from a successful
three-day inspection visit of the Volleyball
and Beach Volleyball facilities for the
2004 Olympic Games in Athens earlier in
March. They returned to Lausanne,
Switzerland extremely pleased with the
progress of work on all of the facilities
and the cooperation of the Athens Organising
Committee (ATHOC).
The President of the Hellenic Volleyball
Federation Mr Thanassis Beligratis,
deputy vice-president and FIVB Executive
vice-President Mr Fanis Tsiokris,
Executive Director and Deputy Chief
Operating Officer Mr Sypros Capralos,
General Sports Manager Mr Makis Assimakopoulos,
Manager Sport Services
Anita Spring, venue manager for the
Peace and Friendship Stadium for Volleyball
Mr Andreas Theodoridis, Volleyball
competition manger Mr Leonidas
Karaiskos, Beach Volleyball competition
manager Mr Nikolaos Sofianos, Volleyball
administration manager Tattana
Zarkada and Beach Volleyball administration
manager Katerina Kotsiarini all
welcomed the FIVB delegation.
The progress of preparation of the sporting
facilities for the Athens Olympics had
been a concern leading up to the Games
but following three days of meetings,
inspections and discussions, Mr Seppey
confirmed only a few details were still to
be completed and all facilities for Volley-
ball and Beach Volleyball are well on
track.
“ATHOC has worked very hard to meet
the requirements of the FIVB and a lot of
credit must go to them for their fantastic
attitude towards making sure everything
is in order for Volleyball and Beach Volleyball
by the time the Olympic Games
begin in August,” Mr Seppey said. “Our
time in Athens has been very valuable
and we have come away very happy
knowing virtually everything is in place
to make sure Volleyball and Beach Volleyball
will be great success come
August.”
“The meetings with the FIVB were very
positive and constructive and we managed
to solve a number of issues,” Mr
Beligratis said. “We have now confirmed
the final objectives and we are looking
forward to making the sports of Volleyball
and Beach Volleyball successful in all
departments.”
The Olympic Games in August is the
highlight on the FIVB calendar this year
and the meticulous preparation and
detail that goes into making sure everything
is ready reflects the status of the
event. Volleyball first became an Olympic
sport in 1964 in Tokyo, while Beach Volleyball
made its first appearance in 1996
in Atlanta.
Fruitful meeting between FIVB
and Dutch Volleyball and Sports
leaders
The FIVB welcomed a delegation from
the Netherlands Volleyball Federation
(NeVoBo) headed by President of the
Dutch Olympic Committee and former
Olympic swimmer Mrs Erica Terpstra in
what proved to be a fruitful day of discussion
on the future of Netherlands
Volleyball. in February.
“It was a pleasure to be able to seek
advice and to be able to discuss the
future and the past of Netherlands
Volleyball,” said Mr. Nieukerke. “A lot
of valuable information was exchanged
and we came away very
happy.”
“We came here to seek advice and we left
as friends,” said Ms Terpstra, the former
Netherlands Minister of Sport. “Today’s
meeting went beyond all of my expectations
and I’m very happy to have made
the trip. I’m looking forward to the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens where Volleyball
and Beach Volleyball under the leadership
of the FIVB President Dr. Rubén
Acosta will be a great success.”
During the working meeting, Mrs Terpstra,
newly elected President of NeVoBo
Mr. Hans Nieukerke, Mr. Joop Alberda a
member of the Netherlands Olympic
Committee management team and Mr.
Hans Hein the managing director for Pro-
Volley and Mr. Ron Zwerver, a 1996 Volleyball
gold medalist, expressed their
passion and determination to get the
Netherlands back to the top of international
Volleyball and asked through their
detailed project for the support of the
FIVB.
“It was a pleasure to be able to seek
advice and to be able to discuss the future
and the past of Netherlands Volleyball,”
said Mr. Nieukerke. “A lot of valuable
information was exchanged and we came
away very happy.”
From left to right - Mr. Hans Nieukerke,
Mr. Jean-Pierre Seppey, Mrs Erica Terpstra,
Mr. Joop Alberda, Mr. Ron Zwerver,
and Mr. Hans Hein
“From the FIVB point of view we were
very pleased to see the newly elected
leaders of NeVoBo eager to cooperate
actively with us for the benefit of Volleyball
and Beach Volleyball and I can assure
you that the FIVB is ready to support and
help Netherlands Volleyball because we
have the know-how and expertise in the
different aspects of the game, which will
benefit them,” said FIVB General Manager
Mr. Jean-Pierre Seppey. “The relationship
the FIVB has with all of its 218
federations is a key ingredient to the success
of the sport of Volleyball and its
international operations and we hope to
continue this with the Netherlands.”
www.fivb.org/
For more news and updates visit
our website at: www.fivb.org
FIVB X-Press N o 124 March 2004
5

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
THE 2004 BEACH VOLLEYBALL SEASON BEGINS!
Fortaleza kick starts countdown
to the Olympic Games
A mixture of mountainous sand dunes,
palm trees and Atlantic Ocean breakers
will greet more than 60 women’s Beach
Volleyball teams from 23 countries when
they gather for the opening tournament
of the 2004 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour,
the US$ 180,000 Brazilian Open in Fortaleza.
In what will be a crucial opening event to
a season highlighted by the 2004 Olympic
Games, Fortaleza (March 9-14) continues
the Olympic qualifying process, which
started last June in Greece and concludes
July 11 when the 24 teams are determined
for the August 14-24 Olympics in Athens.
The Fortaleza stop is the first of 12 on the
women’s SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.
Competition resumes May 19-23 in
Rhodes, Greece followed by other
Olympic qualifying events in China,
Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Norway
and Canada. The tour will then continue
in France and Austria before moving to
Italy and Brazil after the Olympic Games.
The men’s SWATCH-FIVB World Tour
takes in 15 events starting March 16-21 in
Salvador, Brazil followed by an event in
Cape Town, South Africa March 24-28.
Other Olympic qualifying events for men
will be in China, Serbia and Montenegro,
Portugal, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Germany,
Norway and Canada before the
men’s tour continues in France, Poland
and Austria and then after the Olympics
in Spain and Brazil.
See the April edition of the Xpress for results
from Fortaleza, Salvador and Capetown.
Swatch-FIVB World Tour
Pottharst Back for Summer
Australian Beach Volleyball legend Kerri
Pottharst will come out of retirement for
the second time to attempt to qualify for
her third Olympic Games when the Brazil
Open in Fortaleza opens the women’s
Swatch-FIVB World Tour.
The Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist
and bronze medalist in Atlanta 1996 has
partnered fellow Australian Summer
Lochowicz and entered qualifying for
Fortaleza. According to Australian media
their objectives are simple; play hard,
enjoy the experience and qualify for the
Athens Olympics in August. The first two
sound easy enough but the last point,
6 FIVB X-Press No 124 March 2004
qualifying for Athens, is going to be the
biggest challenge either of them will have
faced in their respective careers.
Amazingly just six months ago both of
these players were no longer playing on
the international stage. Pottharst having
retired in March of 2003 then returned for
three events with Angela Clarke before
unofficially retiring again in August following
the Indonesian Open on the
Swatch-FIVB World Tour.
Summer’s emerging career was dramatically
halted when Team Australia Beach
Volleyball (TABV) made the strategic
decision midway through 2003 to pair
Lochowicz’s partner Kylie Gerlic with
Angela Clarke for the remainder of the
year. It left Lochowicz out in the cold and
teetering on the edge of quitting the
sport.
However Lochowicz, 25, saw a glimmer
of hope in Pottharst, took a chance and
called the 38-year-old. Two wins on their
local Australian tour saw a wave of interest
from the Australian media and fans
alike regarding whether Pottharst and
Lochowicz would, could or should make
a run at the Athens Olympics. It all came
down to the 2004 Beach Volleyball calendar.
Qualifying rules dictate to be eligible
for the Olympics a team must play a minimum
of eight qualifying events together.
So when the 2004 Swatch-FIVB World
Tour calendar was released and showed
the required eight events prior to the July
11th cutoff, it made the decision a little
easier.
Of course with only the minimum quota
of events available there is no room for
error. Any injury, sickness or bad day at
the office could end their dream. Is failure
a possibility? Sure, but it’s hard to see any
sort of failure in combining Australia’s
most experienced Volleyball athlete with
one of the nations’ brightest young talents.
No doubt if things don’t go according
to plan goals and objectives for the
year will be re-assessed.
But what if they do make it? It would
mean Sydney 2000 gold medalists Pottharst
and Natalie Cook would be taking
part in their third Olympic Beach Volleyball
tournament, but this time on opposite
sides of the net. For Summer it would
be a dream come true.
The first step of the new campaign starts
with qualifying for the Brazil Open.
Story by Josh Lawrence
Thailand wins Asia-Pacific
Women’s Beach Volleyball
Challenge
Thailand A’s Kamolthip Kulna and
Jarunee Sannok added another feather
to their cap by winning the Asia-Pacific
Women’s Beach Volleyball Challenge
following a superb victory over
China’s Zhang Xi and Ji Linjun in a
thrilling final 18-21, 25-23, 16-14 at the
start of March.
Both the Thai and Chinese teams made
it to the final without dropping a set all
tournament but it was the Thai duo
who faltered first when China’s
Zhang, 17, and 14-year-old Ji stormed
home in the first set. The six-foot-plus
Zhang became China’s Great Wall in
defense as Kamolthip tried everything
to get high enough to get a ball past her.
Following a hard-fought second set,
which went Thailand’s way, the home
side finally found the form that led
them to win a South East Asian Games
gold medal in December and fended
off the Chinese in the do-or-die third
set decider.
Kamolthip and Jarunee had better
team-work and communication, while
the Chinese teenagers started to falter
and made a lot of mistakes.
The game was tied at 14-14 when
Jarunee blasted a winner through the
Chinese defense before the crowd
went wild after Jarunee turned up the
heat and took the Thai team to victory
16-14.
“This is the first time we have played
them and they played very well,” said
27-year-old Kamolthip, who shared
$3,000 in prize money with Jarunee. “If
they didn’t make a lot of mistakes in
the third set we would not have won.”
Earlier in the third place play-off, Australians
Stacy Kloeden and Renae
Maycock bounced back from one set
down to defeat the Thai B team’s Namfon
Intuan and Yupa Phukrongploy 21-
18, 28-26, 12-15.
Indonesian pair Siti Nurjanah and Ni
Putu Yudhany Rahayu finished fifth
after fighting back from one set down
to claim a three set victory (19-21, 21-
16,15-11) over the New Zealand pair of
Lucy Todd and Susan Blundell.
Vietnam’s Mai Thi Hoa and Pham
Ngoc Son beat Japan’s Yuki Yanagawa
and Mariko Miyata 21-17, 21-14 in the
seventh place play-off.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
USA CLAIM MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TITLE
IN COUNTRY vs COUNTRY TOURNAMENT IN BRAZIL
Misty May and Kerri Walsh of the USA
win the country v country title.
The American women’s pair of Misty
May and Kerri Walsh, favourites for the
2004 Athens Olympic gold medal, took
only 41 minutes to beat Brazil’s Queen of
the Beach Vanilda dos Santos Leão and
her partner Gerusa da Costa Ferreira
winning 21-7, 21-16 to see USA walk
away with the country v country title, on
Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in
February.
A week earlier, the American men’s pair
of Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard broke a
two-year American drought to beat the
world champions, Ricardo and Emanuel
from Brazil 2-1.
For Walsh, 25, and 26-year-old May, it
was an easy victory, and a sensational
match between the two best Beach Volleyball
nations. In the end the height
advantage and overall skill of the world
champions was too much for the Brazilians
who were playing for the first time
together.
“They didn’t really start to play until late
in the first set,” Walsh, who attributed the
easy first set win to a nervous start by the
Brazilians, said. “In the second set, they
played a lot better.”
Brazil tried to put pressure on Walsh but
she was up to the task. Several times her
outstanding attack “nailed” the Brazilian
block, which even caused the local 1,500
strong crowd to cheer and applaud the
talent of Walsh and May.
Aweek after her first title in Beach Volleyball
- the 2004 Queen of the Beach - Val
said she expected to play a more stable
game than the Americans. “I thought we
would have been able to have played better,
but I do not want to say that I believed
we could have won,” she said. “We have
learnt our lesson that we need to train
more and more if we want to achieve our
objectives.”
For Gerusa, the fact that it was the first
time Val and her had played against the
Americans complicated things even further.
“We went into the match in the
dark,” she said. “They are excellent players
and the simple fact of playing against
them was already a dream. We can’t wait
for the Swatch-FIVB World Tour now.”
Playing in front of a packed passionate
and noisy local crowd, the men’s Country
v Country tournament, was just as
exciting. From the first whistle the
Americans showed that they were not
going to aid the Brazilian party and proceeded
to claim the honours in this
annual event.
Date Event Team Results
22
February
16
February
Women’s Country
Vs Country
Men’s Country
Vs Country
Misty May and Kerri
Walsh, (USA)
v
Santos Leão and her partner
Gerusa da Costa Ferreira
(BRA)
Dain Blanton and Jeff
Nygaard (USA)
v
Ricardo and Emanuel
(BRA)
Set 1 Set 2 Set 3
21-7 21-16
22-20 20-22 15-13
“We came prepared to change the history
of the Challenges of the Beach,” said
Blanton, who with Eric Fonoimoana won
gold at the Sydney Olympics. “We played
a very aggressive game and fought for
each point. We know that whenever we
face them the game will be very good. At
the French Grand Slam in Marseille they
defeated us 2-1 in the semifinals. Now it
was our turn.”
Brazilian back court star Emanuel complained
of a lack of rhythm in his side but
said the great game of the Americans was
to blame. “I prepared myself mentally for
the game and it was one we definitely
didn’t want to lose it, but in the third set,
our physical stamina was lacking,”
Emanuel said. “By that stage, we were
making so many errors, while the Americans
were faultless. They played very
well and they deserved the victory.”
The Road
to the Olympics
The FIVB Beach Volleyball department is
pleased to announce the completetion of
their publication, ‘The Road to the
Olympics’ which includes the 2003 Final
Report and also looks ahead to the 2004
season. This will shortly be downloadable
via the FIVB website.
www.fivb.org/
For more Beach Volleyball news
and updates visit our website at:
www.fivb.org
FIVB X-Press N o 124 March 2004
7

FIVB
DEVELOPMENT NEWS...
Development Centre of Dakar
> Search for new resources continues to
help mission
In order to help them fulfill their 2004
missions, the management of the Development
Centre of Dakar has recently
decided to launch a project which
includes finding new economic partners.
Since its beginnings in 1986, in accordance
with the wishes of the FIVB President
Dr Rubén Acosta, the Development
Centre of Dakar has served the whole of
the West African region, with only the
material and money from the FIVB and
the help of the Senegalese authorities and
excellent local volunteers, who served
the personnel and support needs nobly.
The President of the Senegalese Volleyball
Federation, FIVB instructor and
director of the centre Abdoulaye Baba Sy,
can be proud of the extremely good
results which justify the continuation of
such an institution in this part of Africa.
Nevertheless the managers do not want
to be consumed by the monotonous routine
nor by the wait and see attitude of
others. They want to grow the development
centre and it is this reason for which
they have decided to start this new search
for additional resources in addition to the
annual allocation from the FIVB.
The first contacts have been made with
the Youth and Sports Ministry Conference
(CONFEJES), the Solidarite
Olympic, Olympafrica and other organizations
like the national Olympic Committees
of countries which have already
used the facilities of the Centre or would
be likely to do so in the future. All of these
approaches, which have not included
commercial firms, should result in the
reinforcement in the operational capacity
of the Centre.
> Raising the awareness of athletes and
administrators
Taking into consideration the daily work,
courses, seminars, conferences, and
training sessions which, with the different
under age tournaments, have seen
people stuck with the same routine for six
to seven years now, one of the major priorities
is to upgrade the administrative
and information tools.
The Centre has a 70 m 2 room that is dedicated
to the administration, a gymnasium
with space to host four Volleyball
FIVB X-Press • Monthly information of the FIVB • Av. de la Gare 12 • CH-1001 Lausanne • Printed in Switzerland • FIVB founded in 1947 • President Dr. Rubén Acosta H.
Tel. +41 21 345 35 35 • Fax +41 21 345 35 45 • WebSite: http://www.fivb.org/ • E-mail: info@fivb.org • Editor: Communication Dpt. • N o 124 • March 2004
8 FIVB X-Press No 124 March 2004
courts and a meeting room for 50 people.
The students and their instructors can
equally benefit from the accommodation,
a restaurant and the discounted prices of
the Léopold Sédar Senghor Centre.
The Centre covers 24 countries and
works in four languages of which the
principle language is French, with English,
Portuguese and Arabic the others.
The reason for this is to raise the technical
level and the knowledge of the people
(players, referees, coaches, managers)
who are called to work in the world of
Volleyball, organize all sorts of information
sessions and also to intensify the
cooperation at international level and
above all Africa.
Development for National
Federations, a Key Task for AVC
Development within Volleyball’s National
Federations (NFs), particularly in
less-developed regions will be the main
priority for the Asia Volleyball Confederation
(AVC) in 2004, it was announced in
Febraury. The situation within many of
the AVC’s National Federations has been
described as less then encouraging and
has led to the organisations’s President,
Wei Jizhong, to comment: “We must vigorously
promote the development of our
NFs and help them to grow.”
There is a major unbalance within the
Asian region in terms of development
within the sport and this has led the AVC
to take firm action on the issue. “We must
intensively implement FIVB projects in
Asia,” Wei Jizhong noted.
The AVC has decided to help and encourage
less-advanced members to participate
in the FIVB Sports Aid Program
VOLLEYBALL EQUIPMENT FORUM
Recycle used Volleyball equipment
Starting from this
edition, all “Development News” will be
included in the monthly Xpress rather than a
separate publication.
(SAP) which has made a real impact on
Asian Volleyball development. In discussing
the issue, the AVC Development
and Marketing Committee unanimously
agreed that the help must be given to
those who are in the greatest need of help
and will produce some achievements.
In the past, some AVC NFs received help
from the FIVB but, unfortunately, did not
produce the expected results. Therefore,
the AVC has recommended to the FIVB
that the help given to AVC be on a Zonal
balance, one NF in each of the AVC’s five
Zones: DPR Korea (Eastern Zone), Cambodia
(Southeastern Zone), Bangladesh
(Central Zone), Yemen (Western Zone)
and Vanuatu (Oceania Zone).
The AVC will propose the establishment
of a fourth FIVB Development Center in
Jakarta, Indonesia. The Asian organisation
has also requested a development
center in Bahrain in order to attract more
participation from nearby countries. Two
other Development Centers in Thailand
and India are to continue their aggressive
programs, in order to maintain development.
The AVC Western Zone will receive more
attention and Asian Technical Support
Programs are to be carried out there. The
AVC Coaches Committee will select three
or four countries in the zone to train
school teachers and will spend one week
in each country from October to November.
AVC island members in the Pacific will be
expected to devote most of their efforts in
developing Beach Volleyball, as the geographic
features of the region are much
more suitable for that particular discipline
of the sport.
> The FIVB Development Department encourages all National Federations with used
Volleyball equipment in good working order to offer it, though this forum, to National
Federations who are able to make good use of it. Send us details of any used equipment
(technical.development@fivb.org) that you have to offer and we will publish it
through this forum.
Don’t forget to include the name and address of who to contact to arrange shipping. We
would like to thank the federations that have already offered their equipment but
would also like to encourage more federations to do the same.