AVC impressed, ready to assist Indonesia

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Last year's disappointing performance by the Indonesian volleyball team at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games spoke for itself, but the recently concluded Proliga, the inaugural professional volleyball league, seemed to impress Asian board members.

Representatives from 18 countries are currently holding a congress of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) in Jakarta.

The three-day congress, organized by the Indonesian Volleyball Association (PBVSI) at Hotel Mulia, will end Thursday.

"PBVSI has succeeded in staging a league for men's and women's teams with a great number of spectators attending matches. We are very impressed by their achievement," AVC President Jizhong Wei told reporters on the sidelines of the convention.

The fact that PBVSI could operate without relying on subsidies from the government, according to Wei, was another achievement.

"They raised all the funds themselves, without any government support. Some federations in many countries are not able to do that," he said, accompanied by his Indonesian counterpart Rita Subowo.

The 65-year-old Chinese man, who was inaugurated as the AVC president last September, said that with local competition actively organized, Indonesia's volleyball federation deserved assistance from the world's volleyball governing body FIVB and AVC, in the form of a coaching course and the provision of coaches for national team.

The Proliga, which was wrapped up on April 7, was joined by eight men's and eight women's teams with Bandung Tectona and Jakarta Monas being the eventual winners in their respective categories.

Foreign volleyballers featured in the matches, an unprecedented breakthrough by PBVSI, which appeared to be an added attraction for the country's crazed fans.

The three-month competition, which was rotated in five cities every week, lured between 4,000 and 5,000 spectators at every game, according to Rita.

"We had more than 10,000 spectators at the finals in Jakarta," he added.

The league was established against the backdrop of the national team's disappointing performance in Kuala Lumpur, which saw the men's squad, which had never before gone outside the top two places, end up in fourth place for the first time.

Wei offered his moral support. "Perhaps, for the time being, Indonesia has not achieved a great deal, but if they can maintain the trend (Proliga), I'm sure they have the potential to progress," he said, when separately interviewed by The Jakarta Post later on in the day.

"Thailand was like Indonesia before. They were very weak. But they mobilized interest among the public, and now they have a good achievement," he said.

With assistance from FIVB which started seven years ago, Thailand, particularly in the women's field, has molded itself as one of the world's powerhouses.

It has been included in the eight-strong 2002 World Grand Prix, which will start in July.