Twelve members of the United States women's volleyball Olympic team will be training in Christchurch for four days before leaving for the Sydney Games.

The team will hold its first public training session the day it arrives and will hold five other public training sessions. The team, with six officials and a sponsorship representative, will arrive in the city on Saturday 9 September. The team is in its final preparations for the 2000 Sydney Olympic. The team finished 6th at the International Grand Prix event (prize money totalled more than $US1 for the event) with upset victories over China, Korea, and Japan. The team will demonstrate a standard of volleyball not seen in this country before. The players will arrive just after a Malaysian tournament. Training will be held at the Pioneer Leisure Centre on Saturday 9 September 2pm (court work), Sunday 9am (court work), 4pm (weight training), Monday 9am (court work) and 4pm (agility training), Tuesday 9am (court work). Sessions will last at least one and a half-hours.

The Canadian gymnastics team is also training in Christchurch at the School of Gymnastics at Queen Elizabeth 11 Park at present. Members will take part in the opening ceremony of the Children Millennium Games to be held in Christchurch from 7-17 September.

Big weekend for sport

South Island and North Island secondary schools' boys and girls will compete against New South Wales and Queensland volleyball teams the same weekend. The tournament will be interrupted at times while the contestants attend the Americans' training sessions. Both South Island teams will contain players who were prominent at the recent club championships. The teams will play round robin on Thursday 7 September and Friday 8b September mornings to determine rankings for the semi-finals, which will be played on Friday afternoon at 1.30 (boys) and 3.30 (girls). Finals will be played on Saturday at 11am (girls) and 12.30pm (boys). A highlight will be test matches for boys and girls. Teams will represent the North Island, South Island, New South Wales, and Queensland. These games will be played on Saturday at 5.30pm (girls) and boys (7pm).

Coaching

In addition to the secondary schools' tournament, Volleyball New Zealand will be conducting a special coaching course for 20 level-3 players at the Pioneer centre this weekend.

Further information: Melissa Slater, City Council Sports Events Co-ordinator: 371 1776; Simon Vesty, Volleyball NZ development officer: 3329 817 (work), 354 2233 (home), 332 8813 (fax) or 025 207 0335.

Sam Fisher Corporate Communication Co-ordinator Christchurch City Council 03 371-1762 025 229 3552

Christchurch City Council http://www.ccc.govt.nz

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