Côte d’Ivoire’s long absence from major continental volleyball competitions is set to end this year, with both the senior women’s and men’s national teams expected to participate in the African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) African Nations Championships.
The women’s tournament will be held in Yaounde, Cameroon from 14 to 25 August while the men’s competition will take place in Cairo, Egypt between 1 and 14 September.
While the women’s team last featured in the 2005 edition held in Nigeria, the men’s team’s most recent appearance was 30 years ago in the 1993 edition staged in Algeria.
According to Federation Ivoirienne de Volleyball President Pascal Whadja, the West African country will field both its men’s and women’s national teams, following the coach support provided by the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment programme.
As part of the programme, which aims to empower national teams worldwide to reach their full potential, German coach Mirko Culic was assigned to lead the national team programme in Côte d’Ivoire. The FIVB has invested CHF 59,000 across Côte d’Ivoire through both coach support and knowledge transfer programmes to support the development of volleyball in the country.
President Whadja notes that even though Culic started from scratch, there has been significant improvement in the performance of the national teams level. In particular, the men’s team finished fifth at this year’s CAVB Africa Zone 3 Nations Championship.
“Players have gained confidence in the sport and there is better organisation in training sessions with the clubs that participate in the activities of the federation. Culic helps the national technical management team in the planning of training sessions, and in the training itself,” said Whadja.
German Coach Mirko Culic conducts a training session with the Côte d’Ivoire U21 women’s team during the CAVB Zone 3 U21 Nations Championships held in July in Niger (Photo credits: COURTESY)
In addition to reviving Côte d’Ivoire’s national teams, Culic has been sharing his knowledge with coaches of top clubs like women’s CO Descartes and men’s AS INJS to improve their level of performance at regional and continental events.
“He teaches local coaches how to manage a good training schedule and they have formed a good working relationship,” said Whadja.
Culic recently travelled with Côte d’Ivoire teams to the CAVB Zone 3 U21 Nations Championships held in July in Niger. Now, as he prepares the national teams to compete against Africa’s best this summer, Whadja is optimistic that this is the beginning of a bright future for Côte d’Ivoire volleyball.
“He will be in charge of both teams and our long-term objective is to be among the best African teams,” Whadja asserted.
Source : fivb.com
Cet article est repris de son site d'origine, où vous trouverez la version complète.
Lire l'article sur fivb.com
