President of NORCECA Confederation visits Japan – Volleyball news
Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, the President of North and Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Federation (NORCECA) is currently visiting Japan.
He is in Japan to offer condolence to the friends and family of famous coach Yasutaka Matsudaira, who bid farewell to life on December 31. He suffered from the lung infection, which proved to be fatal for him.
The NORCECA President, Marte Hoffiz, expressed his thoughts before departing from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
He stated, “I had a very good relationship with Professor Matsudaira, one of the most revered individual in volleyball for all his invaluable contributions as a coach an innovator. He will be sorely missed by the volleyball community.”
Matsudaira started his volleyball career as player in the Japanese team. He played in Japan's national team from 1954 to 1960. He was part of the Japanese squad that captured gold medal in 1958 Asian Games.
His extraordinary leadership skills enabled him to find a place in the coaching staff of Japan Volleyball Association. He performed his duties as the associate coach and contributed to the bronze medal victory of Japanese team at the 1964 Olympic Games,
which held in Japan. Later on, he became the head coach of the team and helped Japan to secure Olympic Silver medal in 1968. The journey of success continued and eventually Matsudaira enabled his team to win the gold medal in 1972 Olympics Games.
He served as head coach for several years and later on became the President of Japan Volleyball Association (JVA). In his volleyball career, he touched the heights of fame and earned a great reputation. The Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) selected
him as the first Vice President from Japan. He was the honorary member of Japan’s Olympic Committee.
Matsudaira was inducted to the Hall of Fame as the first coach from Japan in 1998. He was also selected as the Coach of the Century by FIVB in 2000.
He held the office of President of Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) for quite some time. His colleagues will surely miss him.
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