Modern volleyball facilities are under construction in Haiti with the assistance of Dominican volleyball experts. The DR is helping to construct the Olympic Center of Haiti, a sports complex that includes an indoor gymnasium where international tournaments can be played. It will be inaugurated at the end of May or early June.
Dominican Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, who is president of the NORCECA Confederation, made the announcement at the conclusion of the annual meetings of all the commissions of continental volleyball and beach volleyball governing body on Sunday, 3 March in Santo Domingo.
“The height of the indoor gymnasium was redesigned, at our request, in order to comply with all the international volleyball specifications,” said Marte Hoffiz. “That is a key step towards developing volleyball in the country by bringing some international NORCECA competitions.”
The complex also includes outdoor multi-purpose courts as well as beach volleyball courts. Marte Hoffiz said that three outdoor Sport Court volleyball-playing surfaces were donated by NORCECA Confederation this year in addition to one provided in 2013.
“We have stepped up our support with the donation of sport equipment to Haiti and also with the organization of several courses and clinics in a joint initiative with FIVB,” he said. Marte is recognized as the father of women’s volleyball in the Dominican Republic, taking the Dominican team from scratch to its current 8th world ranking.
“Our goal is to change the lives of many young Haitians who love to practice sport,” stated Marte Hoffiz. “It is a social responsibility we have towards people living in extremely difficult conditions in Haiti.”
The International Olympic Committee and several International Sport Federations are contributing to the construction of the Olympic Center of Haiti located outside Port-au-Prince, the capital of the country, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.