FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° reaffirmed the FIVB’s commitment to leave a sustainable legacy in Rio on Thursday as the federation launched the second of two development training centres set up in the city as part of its work to develop volleyball at grassroots level in Brazil.
The centre, launched in Leme – a neighbourhood in the South Zone of the City, is based at the São Tomás de Aquino School and will benefit the Babilônia and Chapeu Mangueira favela communities. It follows on from the training centre launch in the favela community of Formiga two days ago.
President Graça was joined at the launch by World Olympians Association (WOA) President Joël Bouzou, Champions for Peace swimmer and Costa Rica’s first Olympic medallist Sylvia Poll and former Brazilian beach volleyball player Jackie Silva who won the gold medal in the inaugural women's beach volleyball Olympic tournament at the 1996 Olympic Games.
The VolleyballYourWay Viva Vôlei Training Centres aim to bring local communities in Rio closer to the Olympic experience and ensure that everyone, particularly children, in Rio experience the benefits of the Olympic values and playing volleyball.
They are a joint initiative by the FIVB and the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV) and will be partly funded by the FIVB up until 2020. More than 600 children will participate in the programme as the FIVB looks to inspire the next generation of Brazilians to take up volleyball which is the only sport that can rival football’s popularity in the country.
FIVB President Dr. Ary Graça said: "In Brazil, we say football is a religion but volleyball is the number one sport! It is important we harness this unparalleled passion and enthusiasm for volleyball and encourage even more people to follow and take up the sport from a young age. At the FIVB, we are constantly looking for new ways to develop the sport, particularly at grassroots level, and these development training centres are integral to this. We are committed to ensuring local communities in Rio benefit from these Olympic Games long into the future and these centres represent a key part of our social sports legacy programme in Rio.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation for their hard work and sharing our vision for the sport. The FIVB represents the global volleyball family and we cannot grow as a sport without the ongoing support of national federations."
São Tomás de Aquino School Principal Barbara Belanga said: "The continuity of the work is important to kids and teens' education, and we believe that volleyball will provide a lot of development for them."
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