MANILA — Officials of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) was on a working holiday on Monday by forging a Training Exchange Program with the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA).

PNVF president Ramon “Tats” Suzara met with JVA head Shunichi Kawai at the JVA headquarters in Tokyo to seal the program that involves the national indoor and beach volleyball teams of both nations.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be working alongside such a strong federation with a grand tradition and rich history in the sport,” said Suzara, who was accompanied in Tokyo by PNVF executive director Marie Louise Principe and executive assistant Antonio Carlos Jr.

“This collaborative partnership of PNVF with JVA helps underline the FIVB’s initiatives under its Empowerment Commission, to strengthen national training programs of different federations through knowledge transfer and sharing of best practices,” added Suzara, who was appointed by the International Volleyball Federation or FIVB as secretary of its Empowerment Commission.

Under the general terms of reference of the program, Japan’s men’s volleyball team will arrive ahead of the Volleyball Nations League that the country is again hosting in June next year for friendly exhibition matches with their Philippine counterpart on top of promotional efforts for the event.

Japan’s national beach volleyball teams will also hold a winter training camp at Club Laiya in Batangas in January and February.

The Philippine indoor squads, on the other hand, will hold training camps with Japanese university or club teams for two weeks in April, while the beach volleyball teams will have theirs at Japan’s national volleyball training center at the Toyota Center in Hekinan City in Aichi Prefecture in February and March.