Nevobo abroad

Our main goal is to develop volleyball in the Netherlands. At the same time, we also feel a sense of responsibility for the development of the sport and its organisations in other countries. Besides that, we want to stimulate a better and healthier world by using volleyball to create social and sustainable change in the daily life of people worldwide.

Strong worldwide position

We believe that it is important to implement the main elements of our sport: teamwork. As a member of the worldwide volleyball family we take the responsibility, within our capabilities, to support other members. We believe that equal partnerships lead to sustainable development. By sharing knowledge and expertise we remain our worldwide position as one of the leading federations for volleyball development. Collaboration is a key element of volleyball and it helps all of us to increase knowledge and expertise. Therefore, we collaborate with different partners around the world at different levels.

Development of the sport

Management development
The structure of club sports in the Netherlands is one of the most efficient systems in the world for sport participation and development. Millions of volunteers share their expertise at club level to make it possible for millions of people to play sports. Nevobo supports 1.000 clubs and 110.000 volleyball players in their activities. Since the system is comparable to the way federations are organised, the strategic and educational programmes that we use to support boards of clubs can be well translated to the level of federations. That means that it also works the other way around: knowledge that we gain from our international partnerships also finds its way to our clubs. We exchange knowledge, provide advice, co-operate with other federations with the aim to increase the quality of the organisations offering volleyball.

Grassroots development
Volleyball is the biggest family sport in the world. This means that people of different cultures, genders, levels and play our beloved sport. Although volleyball courts can be found in each country and village, it is very difficult to build a strong infrastructure for grassroots level. In the Netherlands we are continuously working on innovation for our youth programmes at clubs, but also at schools. We mix technical and social elements in our grassroots programmes to make sure that children learn how to play in a safe environment, so they will learn to play with a smile as well as to work hard to become more skilled. We share our experiences with other federations and try to adapt to the cultural differences.

Technical development
Strong national teams are important to inspire potential players, increase marketing possibilities and strengthen the position of a federation in the (inter)national field of sports. Being a small country, we try to innovate and work highly efficient on our technical development. Knowledge, curiosity and experiences are key elements to keep our position on the highest international stage. Coaches education and technical programmes are fundamental to build strong national teams. In cooperation with the FIVB and other colleague federations we invest in small volleyball federations to develop elite teams in a sustainable way.

Social impact
Volleyball is one of the most social sports in the world. We are used to cooperate and get everyone involved. Players learn to become equal team members, to set goals together, to speak out and to give and receive feedback. In a volleyball team, everyone is important. How different is the situation in many societies around the world. We believe that volleyball is more than just a sport. It creates opportunities for personal development and social inclusion. Therefore, we developed a girls empowerment programme, Volleyball4Life, which is now active in Nepal and Senegal.

Our work and partners
Previously, we have been active in Burkina Faso, Suriname and Rwanda. At this moment we have a long-term cooperation with Nepal and Senegal. Our strategic partners are the World Volleyball Federation (FIVB), NOC*NSF (Dutch Olympic Committee), European Union (EU) and International Sport Alliance (ISA). We work closely with volleyball federations from all over the world on different topics.

More information
For more information about international cooperation, please contact Sport Development Manager Peter van Tarel (+31 6 239 091 37) or email to: peter.van.tarel@nevobo.nl.