adminGeophrey Sifani Sports Reporter
TWENTY-THREE participants enrolled for a five-day Confédération Africaine de Volleyball (CAVB) volleyball information system course that ended at a Harare hotel yesterday. The workshop was conducted by CAVB IT manager and information system instructor Hesham Mohammed Sayed Mamoud from Egypt.
Zimbabwe Volleyball Association (ZVA) vice-president for technical and development affairs Enias Kondo said the aim of the course was to educate participants on how to capture match data during a volleyball game.
“This course is key in that we need to integrate information and technology with volleyball development. The use of statistics for growth can’t be overemphasised in this day and age,” said Kondo.
The adoption of the system comes in the wake of ZVA’s strategic plan to develop and standardise volleyball in the country. The Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) already uses the system to calculate points scored by individual players.
There are seven categories for particular skills in volleyball such as top scorers, top spikers, top blockers, top servers, top receivers, top diggers and top setters, who get awards at the end of matches.
Players who win seven different categories for particular skills are rewarded with the most valuable player (MVP) title at the end of a tournament.
“It also provides the media with accurate information data as the match is actually being played. The information is vital for future analyses,” Kondo said.
Participants covered topics that include the meaning of volleyball information system, infrastructure required and the setting up of computers and routers, theory and practical training of key personnel, the supervisor, observer, recorder and operator.
There were also practical sessions for participants on data capturing conducted at Harare International School.
“We’re expecting that players develop their skills from this system and that judges, coaches and the media have better analysis skills of matches,” Kondo said.
He said the ZVA was hoping to test the new system at the National Youth Games and Confederation of School Sports Associations of Southern Africa games if it’s approved by the Sports and Recreation Commission.
Online Reporter