BANGKOK, Thailand, January 31 - The 2008 South East Asian Volleyball Association Meeting ended on high note, with the SEAVA country members throwing full supports in their bid of making future competitions and organisations even better.

The annual meeting took place at Radisson Hotel on January 31, with Somporn Chaibangyang, vice president of the Thailand Volleyball Association and vice president of the Permanent Secretary of Interior Ministry, presiding.

Also present in the one-day meeting were Shanrit Wongprasert, the SEAVA's president from Thailand and vice president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation, Anthony Liao, AVC B/A Member of SEAVA from the Philippines, Nguyen Thi Thanh, representing Ha Manh Thu, AVC B/A Member of SEAVA from Vietnam, Chahya Aziz, representing Jetty R. Pattiasina, AVC B/A Member of SEAVA from Indonesia.

Eight SEAVA country members from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam joined the meeting, while representatives from Cambodia, Singapore and East Timor were not present.

Somporn, chairman of the meeting, opened up with a welcome speech by saying that with kind cooperation from all affiliated SEAVA country members, he hoped that development of the sport in the region would make a rapid progress and have a brighter future.

Shanrit, the Executive Vice President of AVC South East Asian Zone, followed up with an opening address. He thanked for the presence of the SEAVA country members and was convinced that their determined efforts on making the SEAVA a bigger organization with better prospects would be eventually brought to fruition, especially to the younger generations.

Shanrit noted that everything can be possible only if everyone works together effectively and efficiently. Moreover, since new leaders in the FIVB and AVC were recently appointed, all affiliated country members of the SEAVA should catch up with the possible latest information and changes in the sport.

He also pointed out that for some SEAVA country members, the results of indoor volleyball and beach volleyball in terms of competitions and organizations were very impressive. However, by improving on management to compete with other zones of Asia and those from other continents, he believed the SEAVA would get better outcomes in the near future, not only on competition results but also organisations and management.

In the meeting, Shanrit also asked kind cooperation from all SEAVA members to help Laos host the indoor and beach volleyball competitions and make the two events a success in the 2009 South East Asian (SEA) Games for the first time at the end of this year.

He said that Thailand is ready to assist Laos to make their debut attempt in hosting the Games a memorable success, while Thailand Volleyball Association will also throw in supports in all aspects including the preparation for equipments and well-qualified staff.

The other topics taken into consideration in the meeting were competitions and activities in 2008, 2009 and beyond for all SEAVA members to see the development levels in different years and the right directions for the SEA's volleyball-governing body to progress. Songsak Charoenpong, member of the FIVB & AVC Referee Committee, also gave a speech on new rules and changes of the sport.

As for competitions to be hosted by Thailand this year, Shanrit said the beach volleyball competitions will kick off with the inaugural Khanom Asian Beach Volleyball Invitation in Nakhon Si Thammarat from April 4 to 6, followed by the 7th Phatthalung-Loma "Sangsom" Asian Beach Volleyball Invitation in Phatthalung from April 9 to 11 and the 10th Samila-Sangsom Asian Beach Volleyball Tour in Songkhla between April 14 and 16. With successive three tournaments being held, Shanrit was very upbeat that the SEAVA country members will field a bigger number of players to test their mettles in those competitions.

Thailand will also organize the FIVB International Referee Candidate Course in Bangkok from May 23 to 29, the FIVB Coaches Course Level 1 from July 18 to 29 and the FIVB Technical Seminar "Setting" from October 26 to 30.

The indoor volleyball in Thailand will open its campaign with the 2009 Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship in Nakhon Pathom during June 1 and 8, followed by the second round – Asia Pool E of the 2010 Men's World Championship from June 9 to 11 and the 2010 Women's World Championship second round – Asia Pool C from June 12 to 14 in the same province.

Thailand will also become the battle ground for several major events this year including the inaugural Asian Women's University Volleyball Championship in Bangkok from June 17 to 24 and the World Grand Prix Qualification Round Asian Zone in July.