Former Dutch national team coach joins East Africa Cup

Less than three years ago, John Bestebroer was celebrating with the rest of the women’s Dutch national sitting volleyball team: they had just obtained a bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

Three years later, the former national coach is still involved in sitting volleyball, but surrounded by a different team: prior to the launch of the East Africa Cup on 22 June, he will be training a group of twelve young Tanzanians interested in becoming volleyball referees.

"After the Paralympics in 2008, I wanted to share my experience within a foundation. I also realised that promotion of disabled sport is quite poor. I thus set up Sport Compass, a foundation aiming to promote disabled sport at different levels of competition."

For the first time in the history of the East Africa Cup, youth will have the opportunity to compete in standing and sitting volleyball games, and John Bestebroer will ensure the referees managing these new sports codes are up for the challenge.

Combining theory and practice
The 3-day training comprises theoretical and practical interactive sessions, ensuring the skills learned in the classroom are directly applied on the volleyball court.

John Bestebroer believes this training will help the young referees gain precious skills in volleyball : "this training shows the East Africa Cup is about so much more than football. I’m proud volleyball has been included in the activities, and I want to help bring these young referees to a higher level."

Beyond Moshi
One week in Moshi, one year in the community is the official slogan of the East Africa Cup. The overall aim of the trainings carried out throughout the event is thus to ensure participants apply these newly-acquired skills upon their return to their communities.

For Lomnyaki Kivuyo, a member of CHRISC Tanzania, the main reason to take part in this training was to improve his knowledge of volleyball rules and signals. However, being a primary school teacher in Arusha, the young volleyball referee also sees clear benefits for his students after the East Africa Cup : "I coach two volleyball teams in Arusha, and this training will help me teach them the rules of volleyball when I go back home."

More information

• Visit the sportanddev.org section dedicated entirely to the East Africa Cup.
• View the flickr slideshow of the training.
• Read more about sport and disability.