Arnhem, the Netherlands, 11 July, 2018 – The World ParaVolley Board of Directors completed its three-day meeting in the Papendal Hotel on Tuesday on the eve of the 2018 Sitting Volleyball World Championships, which will take place across the Netherlands starting Sunday. Led by World ParaVolley President Barry Couzner OAM, the Board reflected on the organisations impressive growth over the past year whilst building for a very bright future, hinged on its key initiative – The World ParaVolley Foundation.
The World ParaVolley Foundation was established as an independent 501(c)(3) (USA) non-profit charitable organization to be totally dedicated to fundraising activities to improve access to competitive volleyball for athletes with physical impairments and to support development projects that improve opportunities for Para Athletes to develop as individuals.
By partnering with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for the Paralympic Games, the World ParaVolley Foundation is striving to deliver programs to allow persons with physical impairments to reach their potential regardless of their individual backgrounds or resources.
The objectives of the Foundation are:
– To develop ParaVolley and positively impact the lives of persons with physical impairments.
– To develop relationships with key internal and external constituents to provide the platform necessary to carry out the goals of inclusion, diversity and achieving sports excellence for Para Athletes.
– To support the International Paralympic Committee’s vision to use Para Sports to inspire and excite the world.
Earlier this year the World ParaVolley Foundation launched its first fund raising campaign – Because I Can – with the goal of securing the funds necessary to grow ParaVolley and improve the lives of its Para Athletes.
To achieve a more inclusive and diverse society the Foundation will focus on development programs in five key areas:
– Realizing the potential of Emerging countries focusing on both Sport and Administrative development
– Women in Sport
– Anti-Doping Infrastructure
– Development of Beach ParaVolley (Standing)
– Developing the Administrative Capabilities and HR of World ParaVolley.
Every one of World ParaVolley’s 15,000 athletes has an amazing story about their lives and overcoming enormous barriers to achieve their goals.
General Assembly
With the World ParaVolley General Assembly in mind, which will take place at the High Performance Centre Papendal B.V. on Friday, the Board reviewed all functional areas of the organisation, including key subject areas such as antidoping and classification, and received reports from each of the zones and commissions while also reviewing the governance and structure of the organisation and its strategic plan.
Beach ParaVolley (Standing)
The Board also reemphasised the organisation’s drive to grow the development of Beach ParaVolley (Standing) with the long term aim to have the discipline included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Sports Director changing of the guard
The meeting closed with President Couzner leading a standing ovation in recognition of the significant contribution made by outgoing World ParaVolley Sports Director Denis Le Breuilly, who fulfilled the role with passion and dedication for eight years. Laurent Torrecillas of France is the new World ParaVolley Sports Director.
2018 Sitting Volleyball World Championships
The 2018 Sitting Volleyball World Championships features the best athletes from around the world and take place in the Netherlands from July 15-22 visiting the following cities: Arnhem, Rotterdam, Venlo, Eindhoven and The Hague.
The men’s preliminary round matches will take place in Venlo and Eindhoven before the semifinals and finals take place in The Hague on July 21 and 22. Arnhem hosts the women’s preliminary round matches before heading to Rotterdam for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals from July 19 to 21.