The first edition of the Ghana International Footvolley Cup & training camp and referee course is over – and it was a blast!

But first, let’s give you a short introduction about this specific project.

As there is very little money for Footvolley in Ghana, the main goal for this project was (apart from having a great time together) to attract potential national sponsors. Unfortunately Footvolley is not very well known in Africa, which makes it pretty hard there to find sponsors and raise money for trainings, trips to other countries and tournaments.

This is why we also needed support by our community and partner companies to achieve our goals.

The money we were able to collect was used for following things:

  • Accommodation for the participating teams
  • Food for all people involved
  • Restauration of the court at the event’s location
  • Construction of a second court at the event’s location

Long-term speaking we wanted to create a good base where players and coaches in Ghana can build on and bring Ghana into the position of a role model for Footvolley in Africa, so that other nations have a reference they can look at and learn from.

Training Camp (17.02.-19.02.2024)

What classifies a training as a bad or as a good training?

The coach is the one who is responsible for the training.
A great coach is one who is able to analyse the training’s conditions: players (amount and levels), resources (balls, court, tools etc.), knowledge of all game aspects and creativity to combine all these things and create a learning moment for the player – easier and clear to assimilate and that motivates the player to improve and be secure from injuries.

For the camp training held in our program we had about 40 players, 1 court and 7 balls. Players with different levels, from total beginners (first time playing) to experienced players (9 years playing). Since the clubs in Africa suffer from lack of material resources, the idea was to use the less material possible to make a good training, for example we used for plastic bottles instead of cones to do a “pogo” (reaction game) for warming up.

The idea was to use the warming up to focus on the body’s preparation for the practice, but combining exercises focused on important skills that one should have in order to improve one’s performance, such as mobility/flexibility, endurance and muscle power.

The middle part of the training was built in a way that we went trough the fundamental movements and fundamental aspects of the game: service, reception/defense, pass/setting and attack.

We always finished the sessions with game dynamics, developing players’ game dynamics, the positioning and basic strategy to play the game easier and better!

We had 3 days of hard training, a lot of knowledge was shared and a lot of fun, which is the most important!

Players and officials took notes and brought the information back to their nations, so now they can share with those who couldn’t attend the program and also with the new adepts of the sport!

We could collect a few words about the trainings from participants:

Sampson (Physical Education Student):

Going through the Footvolley training program with the team of AFFA was very good.
They inculcated all the scopes of fitness in the training. The dynamic warm-up helped us to prepare our muscles for the intensity of the game, the middle training did a great deal to physically push our fitness level high to build the endurance the game needed. The technique and game dynamic aspects were very important because it opened our eyes to know how the game is played properly. This helped us to know the right body part to use when we’re receiving a ball, setting a ball for our partner and also attacking to score a point.
The guys did a very great job and I think I can continue the teaching with my team independently.

Mercy (Ambassador of Footvolley Kenya):

I felt challenged but motivated during the training. The skills acquired will not only elevate individual performance but also contribute to the overall growth of Footvolley in Kenya, fostering a stronger and more competitive player base.

The coaches’ explanations during the training were clear and easy to assimilate as a beginner. I appreciate the thoroughness, as it left me with no doubts both during and after the session. Looking forward to more guidance as we progress in growing Footvolley in Kenya.

Kamarou (Ambassador Footvolley Benin):

The training is good but it is missing how to learn the basic techniques, the different motor operations to perfect these techniques. It is much more based on situational game strategies.
Details on basic techniques are missing, such as how to learn the touch with the inside of the feet, the chest, the shark attack and others.

Tournament (22.02.-23.02.2024)

On February 22 and 23, 2024, the first edition of the Ghana International Footvolley Cup took place at the University of Education in Winneba.

15 teams from Ghana, Benin and Austria/Brazil took part in the tournament, which was divided into 4 groups. After the group phase and the intermediate round (for the 4 remaining places in the quarter-finals) were completed on the first day, the focus on the second day was mainly on the center court, where all matches from the quarter-finals onwards were played.

The spectators got to see very close matches and we were happy to see various new skills and techniques the players had acquired during the 3 days of training camp before the tournament, which was also attended by a delegation from Footvolley Kenya.

The two semi-final matches were played between Theo & Theo (Keta Footvolley) and Joseph & Happy (Footvolley Benin), and Jerry & Nebiwu (Keta Footvolley) and Heraldo & Bernhard (BRA/AUT).
Theo/Theo and Heraldo/Berni won their matches and faced each other in the grand final of the tournament – and this was an exciting match with several lead changes!

After losing the first set, the twins from Keta came back very strongly from the break and won the second set. With a late comeback in the deciding set, Heraldo & Bernhard sealed the deal (18:9, 15:18, 15:9) and secured the title 🏆

We would like to thank all the players, referees, staff and tournament organization, spectators, our sponsors and you helpers for making this event an unforgettable experience!

What counts most in the end was the incredible fun, the joy and the good times we all had together, which made this week so special!