Mover & Shaker | Weiping Tu OAM (AUS)

Weiping Tu OAM has spent over 40 years helping grow the game of Sitting Volleyball, both within the Asia Oceania zone and around the globe.  After studying Volleyball at the famous Beijing Sports University and coaching in China for many years, Weiping migrated to Australia in 1988 and the began coaching Volleyball in Sydney.  In the 90s he began a full-time training program at the Australian Institute of Sport which formed the Australian Men’s Sitting Volleyball team for the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.  More recently he has been focusing on coach education and had Technical Official appointments at many international World ParaVolley competitions, including World Championships the London 2012 Paralympic Games and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

1 – How did you get involved in Sitting Volleyball?

Back in 1987, I attended an International Disabled Sport and Rehabilitation training course. Professor Dr. H. Kosel of the University of Cologne gave me a book of Sitting Volleyball from the Netherlands. I instantly felt that this sport was really interesting, so I started to coach a rehabilitation hospital team in China.  Then in 1990 I joined the coaching team for the Australian National Men’s Volleyball team and a year later I ran the national volleyball level one and level two coaching courses in Australia. At the end of the course, I always emphasised sitting volleyball as another type of volleyball.

In 1997 I was appointed as Honorary Head Coach of the inaugural Australian National Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team, taking them to:

• 1998 – World Sitting Volleyball Championship in I R Iran.
• May 2000 – Von Siemens Cup in Hamburg, Germany and friendship games in the Netherlands.
• 2000 – The Paralympic Games 2000 in Sydney.
• 2002 – 8th Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC Games) in Busan, Korea.
• 2006 – 9th Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC Games) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

By 2006 I was elected as the Development Director for the Asia Oceania Committee for Volleyball Disabled, AOCVD (now called ParaVolley Asia Oceania – PVAO), becoming more involved with jobs as an International Technical Official.

2 – What is it that motivates you each day to further develop our sport?

Now I am heavily involved as a Jury member, Assistant Technical Delegate and Technical Delegate in World Championships, Super 6, Paralympic Games, Asian Para Games and PVAO Championships. Recently also, in the Beach…