SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic, May 9, 2014 - The Physical Education National Institute in collaboration with NORCECA Volleyball Confederation is organizing a course for public and private school teachers in Santiago, the second largest city of the Dominican Republic.

The event is taking place at the Sacred Heart College and is coordinated by the NORCECA/FIVB Regional Development Center in the Dominican Republic.

Gilberto Herrera of Cuba, a well known FIVB Instructor with a long experience as coach, is the director of the course.

The course is focused on the basics of volleyball for boys and girls and to introduce the students in the practice of the sport.

Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, President of NORCECA, and Nelson Ramirez, Director of the Development Center, were present in the opening of the course along with Nelson Acevedo, Vice Director of the Physical Education Institute and Cloti Collazo and Blasina Matias, administrative and academic directors of the Sacred Heart College.

"The Physical Education teachers are a key component in the chain of the development of the athletes," Marte Hoffiz said during the opening ceremony. "That's the importance to have these courses to train them properly."

On the other hand, Acevedo remarked the importance of the course for the expansion of volleyball at a school level in the Dominican Republic.

Vice President Jose Aybar represented the National Volleyball Federation while Eladia Cordero and Guillermo Ottenwalder represented the Ministry of Sports.