VCP course for players in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 30, 2013 – A VCP players’ course for Haiti’s junior as well as senior men’s and women’s national teams was held from April 12 to 22 under the leadership of FIVB instructor Andre Glaive of France.

A total of ten training sessions were held for the boys’ and girls’ teams, which concentrated on fundamental techniques as well as offensive and defensive organisation. While the aim was to help these youngsters improve their playing skills, it also served to bring to the forefront some budding talent with potential to join the senior national team next year.

Four individual training sessions were organised for each position of the men’s senior national team ahead of their participation in the second round of qualification for the 2014 World Championships. The ten group training sessions then focused on offensive and defensive organisation as well as defensive transitions with the help of attacks and free balls. Likewise, the women’s senior team also took part in four individual training sessions.

At the press conference organised around the course, there were a dozen journalists representing two newspapers in Port-au-Prince as well as representatives from the local radio and TV stations present. Haiti’s Minister of Sports was also on hand to lend his support to the national teams before his departure for Santa Lucia.

The course provided a good opportunity for instructor André Glaive to take stock of the progress that has been made in the country since his first visit in 2011 after the devastating earthquake that hit the country in 2010.

“The road to development is long,” said Glaive “but they [the Haitian people] have made enormous progress over the past three years.” The volleyball community in Port-au-Prince has benefitted from the construction of a covered court with a permanent floor, which allows the national teams to train in excellent conditions and host competitions in their zone.

Glaive also applauded the federation’s new organisational structure and underscored the importance of their support and that of the FIVB in furthering the sport of volleyball in the country.