Volleyball Empowerment helps build talent development system for women’s volleyball in Latvia

The Latvian Volleyball Federation is working with Italian specialist Daniele Mario Capriotti, appointed as part of a FIVB Volleyball Empowerment project, to build the foundations of a strong and sustainable talent development system for women’s volleyball in the country.

Most recently, Capriotti, who leads the Latvia women’s, U22 and U17 national teams, has been studying and meeting the country’s top youth volleyball players as part of the selection process of the Latvian U-15 national team, assessing players, giving his advice, and meeting with local coaches.

Daniele Mario Capriotti has been appointed as part of a FIVB Volleyball Empowerment project

That is just the latest example of the Latvian Volleyball Federation’s efforts to build a system for women’s volleyball that aims to lay the foundations for sustained international beach volleyball success. These efforts have been accelerated following Capriotti’s appointment to the national team in May 2022, under a FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support project which is set to run until the end of 2024.

Since 2019, the Latvian Volleyball Federation has received both coach support and volleyball equipment through the Volleyball Empowerment programme, totalling an investment of over 300,000 CHF.

FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F° said:

“Talent scouting and building development pathways is fundamental to any strong beach volleyball national team programme. Not only is it about finding and developing talent in the right way, but it is also about allowing young players to dream big and know that if they work hard there are opportunities in the sport for them.

“I am really pleased that the Latvian Volleyball Federation is using the Volleyball Empowerment programme to build a sustainable programme of development in the country, and I have no doubt we will see women’s beach volleyball in Latvia go from strength to strength in the future.”

Following a visit to the Latvian regions of in Kuldiga, Liepāja, Rīga, Gulbene, and Daugavpils, Capriotti emphasised the importance of meeting with not only the players, but also the coaches and schools, to understand their views and training programmes.

Head Coach Capriotti meets with local youth players

Head Coach Daniele Mario Capriotti said:

“The youth program has two goals. The first is monitoring, which means seeing as many players as you can. This season, they are the girls born between 2007 and 2010. The main objective is to understand the situation in Latvia’s regions. We can’t say who can and can’t become an incredible volleyball player, but we can certainly predict somethings and look for potential.”

The scouting and selection process has been a hit with Latvia’s youth beach volleyball players, who have enjoyed having the opportunity to learn new skills.

“We wanted to prove and test ourselves, compare ourselves to other players, and learn something new,” says 14-year-old Sabīne Farnaste from Skrunda about the motivation to take part in the event in Kuldīga. “I loved it. There was a different atmosphere. The coach was very open and understanding, showing how to best execute different skills. We were also able to express our thoughts, which were heard. I came back from Kuldīga with the realisation that everything had to be done with even more emotion in volleyball.”

For Latvia’s U15 team, the first official competition will be the European Championship Selection tournament at the end of 2024.

All the details of the FIVB’s Volleyball Empowerment and development programmes are available through the Data Visualisation Tool that can be accessed here.