17 March, 2026
The Vanuatu Volleyball Federation had a big week at Coolangatta Beach on the Gold Coast last week, competing in both an FIVB event and fielding FOUR pairs in the Australian Youth Championships.
The former is the annual step in the National Womenâs team calendar, as the international competition year gets fully underway, while the latter is the outcome of the strong focus on Youth Development of the past 12-18 months by the federation.
National Women
Sherysyn Toko and Majabelle Lawac took to the sands in Coolangatta last Thursday, the first day of the FIVB Beach Pro Tour Futures event as part of Volleyball Australiaâs summer series.
Over the two days of Pool play, Team Vanuatu started with a straight sets win, but went down in a hard fought two sets to the American pair of Crews and Brok in their second match. This moved them into the Round of 12 on Saturday, where they faced a familiar Aussie pair in Johnson & Du Plessis, taking this match also in straight sets to put them into the Quarter Finals.
Unfortunately, the Aussie rivalry continued with regular opponents Fejes & Raynor just too strong, ending the tournament for Toko and Lawac.
Team Vanuatu are scheduled to head next to Thailand in April, all with a focus on building their competitive edge towards the 2026 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships in September.
Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships 
The Australian Youth Championships were played out over the four days in the lead-up to the senior competition. VVF sent FOUR pairs (8 young athletes), from the youth development program, to Australia this year to test their skills and competition readiness against some strong regional opposition.
The four pairs, across three age groups, all played well over an intense four days of competition, something only a few of them have previously experienced. With a mix of wins and losses, the girls â aged from 13 to 17 years – gained great experience at an overseas competition and from playing a range of opponents.
RESULTS:
U16 Girls – Esther ATNELO & Camrine OBED – finished 8th from 27 teams.
U17 Girls – Rihana SHEM/ Karol SUVTEKMAG – finished between 17th-24th from 30 teams
Esther Atnelo (L) & Camrine Obed (R)
U18 Girls: Monick JOHN / Jennifer TOM & Amelie GILTON (Teherehia) / Julineth NOMOKINA â both pairs finishing in the 13-24th place bracket from 24 teams
With that, a special mention goes to the U16 team, Esther and Camrine, who placed 8th from 27 teams in the U16 age group.
The week underlined the importance and value of the Youth program, and the work being done to develop young athletes for future success. Plus, the additional support and mentoring of the senior players throughout the youth competition, while preparing and training for their own event, highlighted the importance of national role models for these young girls. All of which bodes very well for the future of Vanuatu Volleyball.
Huge congratulations to assistant national coach Manu Maki and the Team Vanuatu support crew at the tournament.
Vanuatu Volleyball would also like to acknowledge both its major sponsor Titan FX Vanuatu, and Pacific Aus Sports, whose ongoing support of the VVF national team and the athlete development program is very much appreciated.
ENDS
