RAIMONDO Anton RSA (PVA)

Anton started as an athlete in sitting volleyball in 2009 in London, UK. He was passionate about playing the sport and loved the camaraderie, excitement and competitiveness of the game.

He started developing the sport in 2014 first in South Africa, then across Southern Africa and Africa in general. There were a number of reasons – he missed the game after moving to South Africa in 2013. The sport did not exist in Southern Africa and felt there was a great opportunity for physically impaired people to benefit from sitting volleyball. It would uplift players, both physically and psychologically, and there were not many options for team sports in South Africa. Furthermore, he relished the challenge of building a national team and having that team compete in international tournaments.

A number of individuals had a great influence on his development:

Athlete

“In my early years as an athlete, I played a lot with Jabbar Mustafa, the best all-round player in the UK at the time. I was able to benchmark my skills against him and continually improve. I learnt a lot from him.

“Ian LeGrand was my club and national coach and I attribute a lot of skills development to him too. His commitment to the sport and never-ending push for better performance helped me to excel.”

Sports Development

“I received a lot of support and encouragement from Denis Le Breuilly, then sports director for WPV. He was instrumental in providing the first WPV courses in South Africa and later in Zimbabwe. These courses set the foundation for skills development in the region and helped motivate me further to develop the sport in Southern Africa. This led to the formation a Southern African ParaVolley Committee, which I chair. He has always been available for advice and recognised further opportunities where I can contribute to development of the sport, including in a role within Media for World ParaVolley.”

Event involvement as an athlete (2009-2019):

Representing South Africa’s Men’s Team – 7 International Caps

2019 Kigali, Rwanda, – African Championships – 5th Place
2017 Kigali, Rwanda – ParaVolley Africa Zonal Championships – 6th Place

Representing Great Britain’s Men’s Team – 68 International Caps (Vice-captain)

2013 Poland – European Championships – 8th Place
2012 London, Great Britain – Paralympic Games -8th place. First English volleyball team ever to reach quarterfinals
2012 UK National Championships – 1st Place – Captain
2011 Great Britain – Continental Cup – 7th Place. Voted GB Man of the Tournament
2011 The Netherlands – European Championships – 9th Place
2010 Oklahoma, USA – World Championships – 17th Place
2009 Poland – European Championships – 10th Place

Roles as a coach (2014-present):

2014 – Present: Cape Town, South Africa – Club Coach for iKapa Storm
2016 South Africa National Club Champions, 1st Place
2017 South Africa National Club Champions, 1st Place
2018 South Africa National Club Champions, 1st Place
2019 South Africa National Club Champions, 1st Place
2017 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – Southern African Club Championships – Bronze Medal
2019 Maputo, Mozambique – Southern African Club Championships Gold Medal
2016 – Present: South African Men’s National Coach
2017 Kigali, Rwanda, African Championships, 6th Place
2019 Kigali, Rwanda, African Championships, 5th Place

He has also worked in the fields of Sports Development since 2015 and Media since 2016

Awards received:

2011 – Guinness Book of Records. Holder for the longest sitting volleyball rally. Set on Trafalgar square, London, UK.
2011 – Voted GB Man of the Tournament. Continental Cup, UK.
2011 – Nienburg, Germany. European Club tournament. Captain of East London Lynx Club. 1st Place win. Best result ever for a Volleyball England club team.
2012 – Member of Volleyball England Hall of Fame. London 2012 Paralympics, UK. First GB volleyball team ever to reach the quarter-finals in an Olympics or Paralympics.
UK Grand Prix Club Tournaments – Medals 2010 Gold, 2011 Silver, 2012 Gold, 2013 Silver

Coaching Certifications:

2010 – London, UK – UKCC Level 1 Coach – certified
2016 – Cape Town, South Africa – World ParaVolley Level 1 Coaching – Certified
2017 – Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – World ParaVolley Coaching Tutor – Certified

Official posts held:

2015 – Present : Co-Founder & President of ParaVolley South Africa

Established the official organisation for all ParaVolley Sports in South Africa
Organised all 4 national championships to date
Established 10 + sitting volleyball clubs nationally and growing

2016-present: President of Southern Africa ParaVolley

Organised 3x WPV Level 1 workshops (South Africa 2016, Zimbabwe 2017, Mozambique 2018)
Organised 2x Sub-zonal Club competitions (Zimbabwe 2017, Mozambique 2018)
Established 5 new African nations in sitting volleyball, three of which are WPV members
2016 – Rio, Brazil. Rio Paralympics 2016 – Media Delegate for World ParaVolley
2017-2021 – ParaVolley Africa Board Member, Media and Communications
2016 – Present: South African Men’s National Coach