National women’s beach volleyball team players excel and emerge as role models for community projects in Vanuatu
While the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment programme was established to help national teams reach their full potential, the support often has a more wide-reaching impact on the communities it touches, and there is no better example of this than Vanuatu.
The FIVB has invested CHF 150,000 in coach support for Vanuatu’s beach volleyball teams, but the sport has developed as a sport for all in the small Pacific Ocean Island nation.
Vanuatu Volleyball Federation (VVF) President Debbie Masauvakalo has applauded the significant impact of the FIVB’s investment, with more and more young women taking up the sport. Volleyball Empowerment also seamlessly complements the country’s long-standing Volley4Change community project.
“The vision of FIVB President Ary Graça through Volleyball Empowerment is consistent with our Volley4Change project. By raising the standards of our national teams, this helps us to create role models and ambassadors for our community project who are national team players.
“When our team won bronze at both the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022, we shared this triumph and joy with our local communities, displaying our medals to inspire young children and people in the villages. This helped in transforming the mentality of community leaders who now support the idea that women can be professional athletes as well as mothers and wives back home,” said Masauvakalo.
Vanuatu women’s national player Sherysyn Toko (left) coaches the U16 boys team of the After-School Programme under the Volley4Change community project (Photo credits: VVF)
In view of the increasing popularity of the sport due to the ongoing success of the national team, the VVF has developed an After-School Program (ASP) for children, where they are coached by past and present national team players. This unique mentorship opportunity has furthered the community’s passion for the sport.
“We are trying as much as possible not to lose our national team players and keep them within the sport, even after they stop playing. We identify their passions when they are still playing so that we can empower them to build careers in retirement. We provide training workshops in areas like media, leadership, computer skills and of course coaching, so that we can bring them back to volleyball in a new role,” explained Masauvakalo.
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