Saints Volleyball Outreach (SVO) was founded in 2012 with the goal of sending more volleyball-specific student coaches to Lusaka, Zambia to work with Zambian NGO Sport In Action.

SVO came to fruition with the hard work and dedication of five teammates from the University of St Andrews’ Women’s Volleyball Team. After spending a year fundraising, the team headed out to Lusaka, Zambia for the project’s inaugural trip in May 2013. The girls worked at five different schools on a daily basis, spending their weekends running volleyball tournaments, leading player’s clinics, and organizing coaching workshops (in association with Sport In Action). They built relationships with the Olympic Youth Development Centre in Lusaka and the Zambian Volleyball Federation.

After a successful first trip, SVO plans to travel annually to Zambia to continue to develop both the project and the vast number of volleyball players they had the privilege of working with. They are lucky enough to have two more members of the St Andrews’ Volleyball Team join the project, heading to Lusaka in May 2014. This year the SVO team plans to add a further Coaching Development component to the project, as well as establishing programs for both beginners and girls at some of the Sport In Action schools.

The opportunity SVO has had to connect with and train so many incredible kids would not have been possible without the plethora of support this initiative had received, both home and abroad. Sport In Action has been an incredible partner and without their talented and inspirational team, SVO would still just be an idea. The Director of Sport and Exercise, Stephen Stewart, at the University of St Andrews has championed the project from the beginning and his continual support and advice has been invaluable to SVO’s success. Finally, the SVO team has been overwhelmed by the generosity of family, friends, and even strangers in helping them achieve their fundraising goals.

Thank you for your continued support!

From your 2014 SVO Team: Hannah Berwian, Lorena Tussis, Emma Fox, Liliana Besosa, Vitalija Lavreckyte, Maureen MacIsaac, and Britt Martin.