Beijing Olympic Volleyball

Portugal dream of first-ever Summer Games slot ahead of Men's World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Espinh

Volleyball quotes Men’s Volleyball National Team Head coach for Portugal, Jorge Schmidt

Espinho, Portugal, May 29, 2008 - Portugal Head Coach Jorge Schmidt is dreaming of leading his team to the Olympic Games for the first time in their history, but it will not be easy for the Brazilian in the upcoming Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament.

The three-day, round-robin event, which starts at the Nave Municipal de Espinho Hall in Portugal on Friday, also features 2006 FIVB World Championship silver medalists Poland, NORCECA Vice Champions Puerto Rico and Indonesia.

“We will do our best but the qualification will not be easy against these world-class teams,” said Schmidt less than two days before the start of competition.

“I dream of the moment that I can see my team clinching the Olympic ticket, especially after we have got all the help from the Portuguese Volleyball Federation and the National Olympic Committee.”

A single Beijing berth is available at the Portugal tournament, one of three Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments that decide the last four places available in the 12-team Olympic Tournament from August 10-24.

Germany secured their first appearance in the Olympic Games since Munich 1972 by winning last weekend’s Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Dusseldorf.

Japan will host Australia, Korea, Iran and Thailand, as the four best-ranked teams at the Asian Continental Championship, and Italy, Argentina and Algeria at the Tokyo Men’s Olympic qualifier from May 31 to June 8. The round-robin tournament doubles up also as the Asian Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament, so the winner plus the best Asian team (even if the winner is Asian) will book a place at the Volleyball Tournament of the Olympic Games.

Brazil, Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Serbia, USA and Venezuela have also already booked their tickets to Beijing through the FIVB 2007 World Cup or Continental Qualification Tournaments, and China have qualified as the host country.

Schmidt believes Portugal are well prepared to join these teams.

“We have made good preparations through the local camps, and then we played friendly matches against Slovenia and Cuba,” said Schmidt.

“The participation in the European Championship helped us to play strong matches (and on) our way to play this qualification tournament we faced strong countries like Bulgaria, who came first ahead of our team in the European qualification.”

Poland are aiming to recover from their great disappointment in the European Championship qualifiers where they lost twice. An Olympic ticket will be the only way to correct the situation. Coming with most of the squad that emerged in Japan during their fantastic 2006 World Championship performance, they are the hot favorites.

Volleyball quotes from Men’s Volleyball National Team Head coach for Poland, Raul Lozano.

“We want to play better than we did in the European qualifications, but of course Portugal, with the aid of the spectators, will be a strong team to face,” said Poland Head Coach Raul Lozano.

“We want to qualify for the second time in a row after Athens 2004 and for the third time in four successive Olympics, but the players should know that the way will not be easy.”

Indonesia arrives with the least experience between the participating teams as they play for the first time in a tournament against three European teams.

The Indonesians have not had enough preparation for the competition as the local league finished just 20 days ago.

Volleyball quotes Men’s Volleyball National Team Head coach for Indonesia, Hu Xinyo, about coaching and training before the Portugal Olympic qualifiers.

“We prepared through only a short camp in Indonesia before coming her,” said Hu Xinyo, the Chinese Head Coach of Indonesia, after the first training session in Portugal.

The Indonesian local league lasted three months which didn’t allow for the national team to train together or play friendly matches during that time.

“I think it is difficult also to face three European teams as my players are used to playing only against the Asian teams in the different competitions.” Hu added.

Volleyball quotes Men’s Volleyball National Team Head coach for Puerto Rico, Carlos Cardona, about coaching and training before the Portugal Olympic qualifying tournament.

Puerto Rico will be a team to keep an eye on because of their international experience. Head Coach Carlos Cardona is optimistic of gaining a place in Beijing.

“We had a preparation program in two stages. The first was in Puerto Rico as we spent time at a local camp, then the second was through a European journey in Italy and France where we played against both teams,” said Cardona.

“We know that in order to qualify we have to win the three matches and we will work on that. The only team we don’t know about is Indonesia, while we have played before against Poland and Portugal,” said the Argentine.

Remember the volleyballs are in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are Volleyball Voices, Volleyball Voyeur, Beijing Olympic Volleyball, Beijing Olympic Beach Volleyball, and Aprils Beach Volleyball Log. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the coaching and training secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Get free volleyball team coaching and training by discovering the secret coaching technique, strategies and skills of Olympic volleyball players and their coaches. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the

FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can get the inside track on coaching, training and improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that black box right now to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Italy gets the Broadcast rights to 2010 and 2012

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced an agreement with SKY Italia for the broadcast rights within Italy for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.
 
SKY Italia, Italy’s leading digital satellite television network, acquired the rights across all broadcast platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile phone.
 
SKY Italia will be responsible for ensuring the broadest possible audience is able to access the Olympic Games across all of these platforms, including a guaranteed continuation of free-to-air television coverage. To achieve this commitment, SKY Italia will shortly begin seeking a partnership with a free-to-air network in Italy.
 
Commenting on the agreement, IOC President Jacques Rogge said: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with SKY Italia who made a commitment to us that will allow not only increased coverage of the Olympic Games, but also an exciting promotion of Olympic sports and Olympic values in Italy.”
 
IOC Vice-President Thomas Bach, who led the negotiations, said: “This is a fantastic deal for the IOC and the Olympic Movement as a whole. SKY Italia demonstrated an unrivalled commitment to the Olympic Games and the Olympic values that will allow sports fans in Italy the chance to see more Olympic sport than ever before, not only on SKY Italia’s exciting subscription channel platforms, but also on a full range of digital media outlets and on free-to-air television.”
 
Tom Mockridge, CEO of SKY Italia said: “We are very proud of this deal that shows our constant commitment to offer more quality and choice to our subscribers, and we are grateful to the IOC for having chosen Sky Italia as a partner. As we did for the last football World Cup in Germany, SKY Italia will grant unprecedented coverage of the Olympic Games in Vancouver and London, offering our subscribers the possibility to view all the events in a unique and exciting way. We will do our utmost to interpret the spirit of the Olympic Games that makes this event so extraordinary, leading up to the Games, during the event itself and outside Games time. We share with the IOC the will and commitment to make the Olympic Games available on all platforms, granting Italians the possibility to view on free-to-air television comparable amounts of coverage to previous Olympic Games. We will immediately start discussions to identify the best free-to-air network partner to proceed with this project.”

London 2012: Great Britain developing Olympic volleyball players

As featured in the: The Citizen

"My goal is to work with my coaches to aim towards playing for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics."

England call for volleyball star

A Leyland student is heading for international volleyball stardom and is dreaming of taking part on the 2012 Olympics.

Chris Martin was invited to Oxfordshire for the final stages of the selection process and following an intense training programme of court play, training and classroom work, he secured his place in the England Cadets Squad.

Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Subscription Drive.

London 2012: There's more to beach volleyball than skimpy outfits

The Dominion Post reports

Anna Scarlett challenges anyone who calls beach volleyball glamorous to try it out for themselves.

In Wellington this weekend for the fourth round of the New Zealand beach volleyball tour, Scarlett, who has teamed up with Susan Blundell, is keen to set the record straight.

"I had someone say to me in an interview the other day 'Oh it can't be that hard, running around in the sand and hitting a ball'.

"It's a very interesting mentality that people have of the game because it is hard. If anyone ever tried to play volleyball, and especially on the beach, it's quite amusing for us to watch them try but it is good for them to see how hard it is to control the ball," she explains.

Click New Zealand beach volleyball to read more

2012 Summer Olympic volleyball forecast: Britain's Men's Volleyball team hoping to gain experience and respect

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

"We live, breathe and sleep volleyball. We love the game and we've all got the same dream of playing in the Olympics. Our bodies are taking a pounding - tendinitis, aches and pains everywhere - but every Monday we have to start again. We know we're improving and we still believe we're good enough."

The above quote could pretty much come from any fanatical volleyball player whcih is pretty much all of us but it comes from Britain Men's Volleyball team player, Ben Pipes. Great Britain, host of the 2012 London Summer Games, is in the midst of "creating" a men's national volleyball team competitive enough to qualify to represent the host country. Here's a great story for us to follow on how a country creates a men's national volleyball team from scratch.







Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Subscription Drive.
Don't Miss Out! Sign UP Now!