Sitting Volleyball Team: Preparations underway for the 11th ASEAN Para Games

To participate in the upcoming 11th ASEAN Para Games which will be hosted by Indonesia from 30th July to 6th August, the athletes from Myanmar National Para Sitting Volleyball Team are training at Myanmar Paralympics Sport Federation in Dagon Myothit (North) Township in Yangon.

With the close supervision of the coaches, 16 athletes are undergoing camp training since November 2021.

Manager, Min Naing Oo, Myanmar National Para Sitting Volleyball Team said "The athletes are ready to participate in the competition. The sitting volleyball team is currently organized with the collaboration of senior athletes and newer athletes. There are 3 coaches, 1 international judge who will supervised for 12 athletes and 4 newer athletes during training period. Generally, our paralympic sports, sitting volley is similar with normal standing volleyball, but later, the international federation decided the standing volleyball is not inconvenient with disable athletes. So, they changed to play volleyball with sitting method for the disabilities."

The rules for sitting volleyball are based on those for non-disabled athletes, with a few small differences. When hitting the ball, players must always keep part of their body from buttock to shoulder in contact with the floor.

Athlete, Zaw Moe Aung said "We, sitting volley ball team won gold and silver medals in Asia regional level competitions, and also in SEA games. 6 senior athletes can still play well and we saw that our junior athletes’ performances are really amazing. We pay much concentration on this competition and we’re also trying hard to compete for our nation’s prestige."

Due to the outbreak of pandemic, last year ASEAN Para Games could not be held in Cambodia. In the 9th ASEAN Para Games, Myanmar Sitting Volleyball Team won gold medal after defeating Cambodia in the final match.