World Volleyball Update
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Submitted by David Martin on March 4, 2004 - 1:00am
The teams for Volleyball at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens will be finalised in May during a series of Olympic Qualifying tournaments. The Australian men will play in Japan (May 22-30) against the hosts Japan, Algeria, Canada, France, Korea, China and Iran for one of only two Olympic spots available - one for the winner and the second to the best Asian team. The Australian women though are already out of Olympic contention as they struggle to move back up to a top-25 world ranking. As of January 2004, the Australian men's indoor team are ranked 21 (with 21.25 points) in the world. On top of the men's world rankings are Brazil (277.0 points) and Italy (226.5 points) after their first and second placings respectively at the 2003 World Cup. The Australian women have fallen a couple of spots to 27 (7.5 points). Heading the women's world rankings are China (257.0 points), USA (236.0 points) and Brazil (191.5 points), all of whom have already qualified for the Athens Games.
Qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games already are:
FIVB have recently started a new volleyball development programme with the slogan "Building Tomorrow Today". In an effort to promote volleyball as more than just another sport, the FIVB have also started a Sports Aid Programme (SAP), forming part of its global mission: "namely concerning the development of quality programmes and assets in order to provide equal opportunities and maximum enjoyment." Also in international development news, plans are progressing for East Timor to complete formalities to become the 218th National Federation affiliated to the FIVB. Teams from East Timor have competed in Darwin's Arafura Games and Australian team members such as Nicolas Mortimer have visited East Timor to provide coaching support and inspiration.
A provisional calendar for the 2004 World League has been announced, with matches held from June 4 to the finals beginning July 16 in Rome, Italy. The Australian Volleyball Federation is still recovering from the debt created when they entered a team before the Sydney Olympics, so it will probably be a few years yet until we see an Australian team in the World League. However, hopefully one of the television stations will up the rights to show the world's best volleyballer's on Australian screens. The draw for the 2004 World Grand Prix is also being finalised, with matches from July 7 to the finals starting July 27 in Italy.
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FIVB have recently started a new volleyball development programme with the slogan "Building Tomorrow Today". In an effort to promote volleyball as more than just another sport, the FIVB have also started a Sports Aid Programme (SAP), forming part of its global mission: "namely concerning the development of quality programmes and assets in order to provide equal opportunities and maximum enjoyment." Also in international development news, plans are progressing for East Timor to complete formalities to become the 218th National Federation affiliated to the FIVB. Teams from East Timor have competed in Darwin's Arafura Games and Australian team members such as Nicolas Mortimer have visited East Timor to provide coaching support and inspiration.
A provisional calendar for the 2004 World League has been announced, with matches held from June 4 to the finals beginning July 16 in Rome, Italy. The Australian Volleyball Federation is still recovering from the debt created when they entered a team before the Sydney Olympics, so it will probably be a few years yet until we see an Australian team in the World League. However, hopefully one of the television stations will up the rights to show the world's best volleyballer's on Australian screens. The draw for the 2004 World Grand Prix is also being finalised, with matches from July 7 to the finals starting July 27 in Italy.