President of the BVI Volleyball Association, Sabinah Clement, was recently appointed to the Legal Commission of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). Elevation to the position comes as a direct result of the dedication Clement showed working as Secretary of the Legal Commission of the North and Central America and Caribbean Zonal Confederation (NORCECA) over the last four years. Photo: Supplied

Ms Clement also sits on the Board of Administration of NORCECA and is the Vice President of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association. Photo: Charlie Jackson/VINO

Elevation to the position comes as a direct result of the dedication Clement showed working as Secretary of the Legal Commission of the North and Central America and Caribbean Zonal Confederation (NORCECA) over the last four years, where she has been instrumental in revamping the Constitution of the Confederation, and its incorporation as a non-profit organisation in the Dominican Republic.

At the recently held FIVB World Volleyball Congress in Anaheim, USA, a new President was elected in what was heralded as the first truly democratic election for that institution.  Mr. Ary Graca do Filho of Brazil emerged as the new President over Mr. Chris Sachat of Australia and Dr Douglas Beal of the United States.  At that same Congress, a number of changes were made to the Constitution of the FIVB to bring it in line with the new democratic vision of the outgoing President Mr. Jizhong Wei of Japan.

There were also a number of rejected proposals that were pushed back to the Legal Commission to re-visit and bring revised proposals to the next congress.  It was expressed that this is indeed a new era for world volleyball and there is much work to be done on the rules and regulations regarding the sport to ensure that every person involved is represented fairly.  The Legal commission is pivotal in this regard as its work must take account of not only the mandate of the FIVB, IOC and WADA but most importantly of its constituent National Federations, officials and athletes.  Ms Clement will be the only female member of this commission and one of two persons from within this region.  Among other things, her voice will therefore be representative of the needs of women athletes and small nations forming part of the FIVB.

Ms Clement also sits on the Board of Administration of NORCECA and is the Vice President of the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association - one of four geographic zones within NORCECA.

The other members of the Commission are:

Mr.  Hannu  KANANEN (Finland) - President,
Mr.  Achilleas  MAVROMATIS (Greece) -  Secretary
Mr.  Philip  BERBEN (Belgium) - Member
Mr.  Domenico  D'ALESSIO (Italy) - Member
Mr.  François  DIKOUME (Cameroon) - Member
Mr.  Andrzej  LADZINSKI (Poland)- Member
Mr.  Jaime LAMBOY (Puerto Rico) -  Member
Mr.  Vasavan  SAMUELS (South Africa) - Member
Mr.  Chris  SCHACHT (Australia) - Member  AUS
Mr.  Valmar  SOUZA PAES (Brazil) - Member  BRA