Volleyball body plans congress

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Volleyball Association will hold its annual national congress here in April, Sutardiono, the association's deputy, said Friday.

"The officials have yet to set the date. The congress will be a meeting between the association's national officials and officials from its 27 provincial branches. Each branch will send two officials to attend the congress," Sutardiono said.

The congress is designed to evaluate the association's programs from 1997 and plan its programs for 1998.

The association had asked each branch to provide suggestions for the development of athletes, not only in the capital, but also in the provinces, he said.

"We want to know if the branches are able to continue our programs. They must have reasons if they aren't able to go on with the programs. Most of the branches are dealing with a limited budget, but we hope they can find a solution to overcome that," Sutardiono said.

Next year, the association plans to help coordinate the Indonesian Volleyball league, the junior national championships, the interclub championships and the student championships. The events will be jointly held by the association, the Indonesian National Youth Committee and the Tiara Foundation.

Sutardiono told Kompas daily that the congress' organizing committee members would be announced after being approved by the association's chairperson, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, President Soeharto's daughter also known as mbak Tutut.

Sutardiono said the association had named four male and four female beach volleyball players being groomed for December's 13th Asian Games in Bangkok, but that the names would be announced after being reported to mbak Tutut. (yan)