Beach Volleyball - Training and Preparation in China

Previous entries primarily focused on our leisure experiences in Vanuatu. However, a lot has happened in beach volleyball, especially during the week.

After the initial introductory phase, I quickly realized that all aspects related to the athletes would be entrusted to me: organizing training groups, determining the number of sessions, ensuring that the athletes are present, and so on... In detail, my main task was to prepare the women's top team (Milla Pata and Sherysin Toko) for the Asian Championships and the World Tour event in China. The theory is clear about what needs to be done, but in practice, it is very difficult to implement due to illnesses, school, weather conditions, and issues with the court (the sand is extremely hard and the gardener, who is responsible for maintaining the sand on all 4 courts twice a week, cannot be found).

Another focus was to prepare the U18 girls for the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. We faced similar problems here, and especially the blocker was frequently absent from the training sessions. Coach Josh and the girls will fly to Buenos Aires at the beginning of October and get a taste of the Olympic atmosphere for 2 and a half weeks.

In late October, we will be organizing a national championship for the men, as a basis for selecting two teams to represent Vanuatu at the 2019 Pacific Games. The Pacific Games are the highest and most important competition in this region, and next year, New Zealand and Australia will participate for the first time. Coach Josh would also like to participate as a player, which temporarily raises doubts about his coaching career.

In addition to all these beach volleyball tasks, last week we received a request to scout and assemble a women's indoor national team for the Pacific Games. With Annis's help, we will conduct trials in Port Vila and on Tanna Island, but we'll talk more about Tanna in another article.

Next stop: China.

My team traveled directly from Thailand, where they participated in the Asian Championships last week and unfortunately were eliminated in the group stage. Considering the preparation and the newly formed team, this was not very surprising, but still disappointing. However, I am now optimistic as I have flown to Qinzou in China to make the second tournament more successful with the team. I spent one day in Sydney, enjoying the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and the botanical garden. After arriving in China, overcoming communication problems (WhatsApp, Gmail, and Facebook are blocked), reconnecting with old acquaintances from the volleyball world (former partners, opponents, and coaches), and getting used to the land and the people, we trained well and were excited for our first match against Italy.

By the time this article gets posted on the blog, the games are already over, and unfortunately, the tournament in China ended after two good, hard-fought matches against Italy and Thailand. Nevertheless, I am especially proud of Tini (Sherysin Toko), who delivered an impressive performance during her appearance on the World Tour. For the next few days, we will enjoy our time at the beach, join the festivities for the Chinese National Day on the streets, and socialize with teams from all over the world.

On Friday, we will fly back to Vanuatu, and Anni will also return from her relaxing yoga trip in Fiji (she will report on that).

Next Sunday, after I land in Port Vila at 11 PM on Saturday, October 6th, it will be almost immediately time to take another flight to Tanna Island (about 30 minutes south). The next day, the Tanna Games (an internal island tournament in various sports) will take place. We will scout talented indoor and beach volleyball players and then spend two days relaxing and climbing the famous active volcano.

So, more reports about our next adventures will follow soon.