Cristobal Marte, the man behind the development of women’s volleyball in the DR to world class standards, described the agreement signed with the sports administration of Tianjin, China as an “unprecedented” one that would take Dominican volleyball into the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Three members of the China team in the Athens Olympics came for the month long training exchange in Santo Domingo. A Dominican team will travel to China for a similar intense training program from 4 May to 4 June. Marte is optimistic about the new crop of juvenile volleyball players. The juvenile players will eventually replace the national women’s volleyball team that defeated the United States in the Athens Olympics.