Thu, 27 Feb 1997

Volleyball body expects clean sweep at Games

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Volleyball Association is aiming for a clean sweep at the 19th SEA Games here in October, after failing to win any golds at the last Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

"Our target, as set by the National Sports Council, is to win all four golds at the Games. We'll try our best by preparing our spikers well, both physically and in terms of skill," said association Chairwoman Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, better known as mbak Tutut, at the volleyball national congress yesterday.

Indonesia only won two bronze medals at the last games, the country's worst volleyball performance in SEA Games history. Previously, the volleyball team had won the men's gold medal on four consecutive occasions since 1987 at the biennial event.

"Let's try our best to regain our glorious times," Tutut urged the congress.

The association is grooming 16 male spikers, coached by Li Qiujiang of China, while 20 female spikers are being trained by Japan's Satoshi Matsunaga at the association's facilities at Sentul in Bogor, West Java.

A national championship for both junior and senior players is being prepared by the association in cooperation with the Indonesian National Youth Committee and the Tiara Indonesia Foundation.

Students c'ships

The first step toward the championship will be high school championships in each province. Organizers hope these will be held shortly after the General Election in May.

"The provincial event will pick the best players to team up for the national championships," Tutut said. "The best in the national events will be selected as future national spikers for international events," she added.

Tutut, who also chairs the Tiara Indonesia Foundation, said that President Soeharto, her father, has agreed to provide a trophy for the national junior and senior championships.

The association plans to divide the country into eight areas, each comprised of four or five provincial branches, to facilitate the development of volleyball. Association officials are expected to personally oversee the progress of the new groupings.

"You all have to report to me if some of officials don't come to observe," Tutut said.

Some conference participants suggested that each area stage internal championships for seniors, to compete for a trophy from the association's chairwoman. The winner of that competition would then represent the area at the national championships, according to the proposal. A decision has yet to be reached by the conference.

The division currently proposed to the association is as follows: * I: Aceh, North Sumatra and Riau; * II: Jambi, West Sumatra and Bengkulu; * III: South Sumatra, Lampung and Jakarta; * IV: West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java; * V: Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara and East Timor; * VI: West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan; * VII: South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi; * VIII: Maluku and Irian Jaya.

There were calls from some conference participants that the area division not place all of the provinces on Java in the same group, with a view to boosting the development of volleyball in other provinces.

"I know that Java should not be included in one group to prevent it from dominating volleyball," said Tutut. "I'll leave it to the commission to discuss." (yan)