PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 21, 2014 - The Haitian Volleyball Federation made history recently when it hosted its first Volleyball Cooperation Programme away from the capital, in collaboration with the FIVB Development Department.

The five-day Volleyball Cooperation Programme course took place in Ouanaminthe in the north of the country, with the focus firmly on young players and was set up under the auspices of the Haitian Federation and its president Margarette C. Graham and her team, who attended the course every day.

French instructor Andre Glaive visited the Caribbean nation to lead the coaching of the 27 girls and 35 boys, who were selected to take part. He was assisted by six local coaches who put the young players through their paces and worked on all their skills, in attack and defence, serving, reception and tactics.

The FIVB has been committed to helping the development of volleyball following the earthquake of 2010 which measured 7.0 in magnitude, killed between 230,000 and 316,000 people and displaced over 1.5million people.

Since then the FIVB has donated courts and court equipment for volleyball and beach volleyball that will be used in the new Olympic Park that the Sports Ministry and sports federations are on the point of finalising.