Dutch coach Abbing prepares Botswana for take-off through Volleyball Empowerment

Botswana Volleyball Federation President Tsoseletso Magang has predicted a brighter future for volleyball and beach volleyball in the country, thanks to the efforts of Dutch coach Han Abbing.

Abbing was seconded to Botswana by the FIVB in January 2023 as part of a three-month coach support project, totaling an investment of CHF 9,000, under the transformational Volleyball Empowerment programme which aims to help national teams reach their full potential.

The experienced coach wasted no time in making an impact in Botswana, facilitating the resumption of training sessions for the national teams which had long been halted due to COVID-19 restrictions. Abbing’s work with the team followed on from a previous three-month coach support project, led by Augusto Sabbatini, who worked with the team from December 2019 to February 2020.

While the most recent Volleyball Empowerment project was initially aimed at volleyball, Abbing found that Botswana also had exciting potential in beach volleyball, a sport that is naturally more accessible in terms of the facilities needed.

“Indoor volleyball is quite expensive compared to beach volleyball. Han sat us down and explained to us how big our potential is in beach volleyball which is less expensive. Botswana has a lot of sand so we can easily set up sand courts all over the country.

“We have also identified areas such as Chobe where we have physically strong and tall people as a potential source for beach volleyball players in future. If we can set up youth programmes in such regions, we will have a good pool to choose from.

“Having Han here has been an eye opener and I’m confident that the Empowerment programme will take me closer to achieving my dream to revive Botswana volleyball,” said Magang who was elected unopposed in April 2022 for her second stint at BVF having served as President from 2007 to 2009.

Abbing has also spent his time in Botswana sharing his knowledge with local coaches through various training sessions. The local coaches have benefited from enhanced knowledge in various aspects of team preparation, including organising training sessions; warm-up exercises; attack and blocking drills; technical and tactical training; cooling down exercises, as well as keeping the team motivated during training.

“He is an open-minded coach who has settled in well with the locals here. He is flexible and has been visiting clubs at their training venues to share his experience of drills and basic skills.

“He has gone around the country and identified potential areas of growth for our sport and has left us in a very good space in terms of developing volleyball. We now have a clear idea on what to do and how to go about it,” said Magang.

Dutch coach Han Abbing (left) with Botswana beach volleyball national team players Sekao Jack and George Chiswaniso. (Photo credits: BVF)

Abbing has specifically noted the performance of the men’s national team pair of Sekao Jack and George Chiswaniso and the women’s duo of Cathy Boima and Ngirl Wright.

Botswana last weekend dominated the first leg of the CAVB Zone VI Beach Volleyball Tour 2023 held in Namibia. Jack and Chiswaniso took gold in the men’s event and Boima and Wright took the women’s gold, while another team from Botswana was awarded bronze.

Meanwhile, Jack and Chiswaniso have also qualified for this year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship set for 6 to 15 October in Mexico and the second edition of the African Beach Games in Hammamet, Tunisia.

Looking further ahead, the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment programme last year approved a two-year 72,000 CHF coach support project for beach volleyball in Botswana that is set to start at a later stage.