Two professional volleyball coaches from China are helping the Lao men's and women's volleyball and beach volleyball teams to prepare for the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane in December.
The coaches, Mr Yin Ming and Mrs Qin Wensui, are former Chinese national volleyball representatives and have both coached popular clubs in China .
Mr Yin, who works for the Beijing City Sports Office, arrived in Vientiane last week and will train the men's and women's volleyball teams.
Mrs Qin comes from the Beijing City Club and arrived in Vientiane last month to train the men's and women's beach volleyball teams.
Secretary of the Lao Volleyball Federation, Mr Sychan Chitpanya, said the federation received assistant from the Chinese government to support the teams in their preparation for the games.
The coaches will lead the teams until after the games. This is the first time the Lao national teams have been trained by a foreign coach.
The teams will find it challenging to win a medal at the games as they lack experience at the international level and have not had a regular training programme in the past. Mrs Qin is currently training the men's and women's beach volleyball teams at the Sports Training Centre in Sikeuth district.
The volleyball teams have been training at the Nongtha village indoor courts in Chanthabouly district since March.
When the indoor stadium at Dongsanghin village in Xaythany district (Km16) is finished in October the volleyball teams will begin training there.
There are presently 15 men and 15 women players training with the squad, but the federation will select two final squads of 12 players each to compete at the games.
The teams will travel to Vietnam and Thailand for training in July and August, when they will also compete in friendly matches against those countries.
At a friendly tournament in Phnom Penh , Cambodia , last week, the women's beach volleyball team was defeated 2-0 in each of their matches against Cambodia and Vietnam .
Players in all the squads come from the Vientiane , Xieng Khuang, Borikhamxay, Savannakhet and Champassak provincial teams as well as the Ministry of National Defence team. They were selected after the eighth National Games held in Champassak province last December.
By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes
