I am very pleased to welcome you all to our country and to our wonderful city, which we hope you will get to know and enjoy.

Buenos Aires has been preparing to host this historical event that will greatly exceed all expectations regarding the numbers of participants. We are working hard to make this contest memorable, not just because it is the first one but also because of the great sporting fellowship we all hope to experience.

As President of the Argentine Deaf Sports Confederation, I cannot avoid saying how proud I am for being a part of this dream - your dream and our dream - to organize and participate in the first Deaf Volleyball World Championship.

It is an honor to see how our Confederation grows day by day, and within it all the disciplines practiced by our deaf athletes. This growth does not take place just in our country but around the world, too. The nineteen participating countries are examples of that growth: Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Peru, Poland, Russia, Turkey, United States of America, Ukraine and Venezuela.

One of my aims is that the athletes participating in this championship will enjoy sharing such an important contest with colleagues from all over the world and that they will leave aside the purely competitive feeling.

It is my greatest hope that each of you meets the expectations you have brought along with you.

This world championship will be a dream comes true for many of us and many of you. Volleyball players, who are the main participants in this event, will serve as an example of the recognition that deaf sports, in this case volleyball, are growing in our country and around the world.

Without further ado, welcome to the 1st Deaf Volleyball World Championship in Buenos Aires in August 2008.

Horacio Aleva
CADES President

It is always a pleasure to contact you and express our excitement for your team’s arrival.

Due to the effort and hard work of everyone, the dream of hosting the first Deaf Volleyball World Championship has become true.

We are currently working on a few remaining details to ensure that your team will have a positive experience in Buenos Aires. Your team will be treated with respect, courtesy and efficiency.

We would like to remind you that the Organizing Committee is willing to evaluate and consider any concern or suggestion you may have.

The people of Argentina and I are looking forward to having your team here in our country.

Daniel Laurence
Organizing Committee Director

Dear Friends,

When I was a volleyball athlete in past Summer Deaflympics, there were no world championships in the sport of volleyball for the deaf. I am delighted to report that Argentina has stepped forward and received the honor of hosting the inaugural world championships in Buenos Aires on August 1-10, 2008.

The world championships gives the athletes an opportunity to compete in a single-sport environment for the title "2008 Deaf Volleyball World Champions" in both men's and women's categories. The event also serves as an exciting tune-up for the 2009 Summer Deaflympics in Taiwan one year later.

Under the leadership of Director Daniel Laurence, the Organizing Committee and I have taken advantage of the Internet to communicate with each other using video conferencing technology. It is an amazing tool that renders the distance of approximately 9,150 kilometers (5,650 miles) between the committee's office and my desk irrelevant. We have been working together to ensure that the world championships event will be a memorable and fun experience for everyone.

If you are looking for news, names of participants, results, and photos, the official website is http://www.2008volleyball.org.

All of us should stand up, hand-wave, and applaud the Confederación Argentina Deportiva de Sordos (Confederation of Deaf Sports of Argentina – CADES) for its efforts to welcome the athletes, coaches, officials, and loyal volleyball fans from around the world to Buenos Aires.

Let's play volleyball!

John Knetzger
Volleyball Technical Director
International Committee of Sports for the Deaf