Volleyball team with a future - Khalaf

The UAE spikers, training for the sixth Rashid Volleyball International Tournament, are the team of the future, feels Saeed Khalaf, assistant coach of the UAE national team.

"This team haveÊ the potential to be the best in the Gulf region and in two to three years will dominate the GCC tournaments," Saeed, who knows the UAE volleyball like the back of his hand, told Gulf News yesterday at the Ajman Club, where the team is practising.

However, to achieve this goal, he stressed that the team needs a sustained period of togetherness.He felt theÊ only drawback is "Our players find it difficult to get leave from their respective workplaces.

"We have had only ten training sessions together as part of the preparations for the Rashid International tournament," he lamented.

Saeed is involved with the sport since 1977, as player until 1985 and then as coach. "I played for Ras Al Khaimah and Al Wasl Club," said the former UAE international. After being a club coach, Saeed joined the National junior team as an assistant coach in 1992. "I have been with the senior team for over a year," he said, which is being coached by Tunisian coach, Al Munsef bu Al Ayba, who too was coach of the junior team before taking over the senior team last year.

"Most players in the team have graduated from the junior ranks, so in that sense we all have worked together for a long time," Saeed revealed.

So far we haven't played a single practice match," said Saeed with regret. But he hoped that before the GCC Championship, in October in Riyadh, the team would have had enough practice matches.

Taking a positive attitude, Saeed said: "Look, the Rashid International Tournament will provide us with the best opportunity to play against stronger teams."

He wants young UAE players to play more and more matches against stronger opponents like Ukraine, Tunisia and India. "These matches will make our players mentally stronger and rich in experience," he said. Hence, Saeed is glad that the UAE national team will get more matches to play under the revised format.

"We would have played three matches in eight-team format but now we will get five," he pointed out.

Saeed may sound greedy but he would have liked even more matches for the UAE players, because, "such opportunity don't come often."

He said that as the players assemble for training on weekends, they try to do some power exercises and a bit of tactics. "Whatever preparations we have done is not definitely enough but we will try our best to make a positive impression," Saeed said.

He also revealed that the national team will miss two key players, Ibrahim Khalfan and Aref Ali, who sustained injuries during Al Wasl's campaign in the GCC Club championship last month in Dubai.

Two UAE players, Said Redha and Sami Jashim, have been picked for the GCC Selection in the Rashid International volleyball tournament, starting at the

Al Shabab Club from March 12-19.

Defending champions Ukraine, two-time winners India, Tunisia, Australia, UAE, GCC Selection are the team taking part in the tournament held by the UAE Volleyball Association as part of the Dubai Shopping Festival.

The UAE team: Mohammed Al Attas (captain), Khalid Awadh, Abdullah Amor (Al Jazira), Khaled Waleed and Khalid Mehmood (Al Nasr), Mohammed Rashid Al Marri and Hassan Rajab (Al Wasl), Mohsin Abbas and Hassan Majid (Bani Yas), Saleh Ibrahim (Al Ahli), Jashim Bilal (Al Shabab) and Nasser Humaid (Ajman Club).