Arrived mid day to Santo Domingo and, to my surprise, we were met by Sr. Cristobal de Marte the President of Norceca and 1st Vice President of the FIVB. He was glad to greet us and gave a nice welcome talk to the players.

A bus took us to the Hotel Lina which is about a 10 min walk from their Olympic Training Center. This on the outside seems quite a mess but it is well used by all their sports. They hosted the 2003 Pan American Games where the Dominican Women beat Cuba in 5. At this time they built a 8000 seat volleyball hall which was next to their older volleyball training site.

Housed in the older site are the offices for Norceca and the FIVB Development Centre which is run by the Dominican Volleyball Federation. There are two courts with 'Sport Court' flooring on wood. Behind are another two smaller courts where additional training can be utilized.

Sr. Cristobal has personally financed the training of 230 athletes ranging in age from 12 to 30+. This program was started in 1995 and has blossomed into a full time training programme for all their athletes.

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lsawula@compusmart.ab.ca