Members of the Belau Beach Volleyball receiving another funding support for the Hong Kong Beach Volleyball Competition on February 23 and 24.
Palau will be sending athletes to participate for the first time in the Hong Kong Beach Volleyball competition slated February 23 and 24.
The athletes who are members of the Belau Beach Volleyball Club, a non-profit organization in Palau, namely Keilan Kenny, Litang Idalynn Kelmal, Dilmesoi Tadao,Edson Ngiraiwet, Texxon Taro, Rdiall Eleazar, Clyden Clyde, Dawn Rechelulk, and Amaya Ngirkelau left Palau on February 21 evening to compete with 15 other teams from different countries that will be participating in the competition.
Belau Beach Volleyball Club Secretary Janice Merep, in an interview, said that this is going to be a “history in the making” since this will be the first time that Palau will be sending young delegates to participate in the competition for the first time.
According to Merep, the team intentionally planned to join the beach volleyball competition in Thailand that just concluded last week but due to some mishaps, they needed to cancel it. This, eventually, led the team to another opportunity to compete for the sports outside the country.
Belau Beach Volleyball Club President Obak Sato, in the same interview, said that the competition will be a good way to expose the kids from Palau to high-caliber tournament and be able to share this experience back to the community.
The club, being a non-profit organization, was able to give the kids this opportunity through the aid of several public and private entities such as the Island Creations, Palau Asia Pacific Air (PAPA), Koror State Government, and NECO Plaza, who sponsored their trip and other needs for the competition.
According to Sato, the club aims to promote sports development in Palau and one of these efforts is the promotion of beach and indoor volleyballs. (Rhealyn C. Pojas)