The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the Eczacıbaşı Sports Club the 2018 World Trophy for its success in becoming one of the world’s leading clubs in women’s volleyball, providing opportunities for thousands of young girls to play volleyball, and striving to increase the presence of women in sports. This is the first time ever since the award’s launch in 2000 that a sports club receives this trophy, the most prestigious worldwide in the field of women and sports.
Eczacıbaşı Sports Club Former Team Captain and President Faruk Eczacıbaşı receive the World Trophy on 5 October 2018 in Buenos Aires, Photo Credit: IOC Media, Mine Kasapoğlu
"We’re thrilled to receive this award because it’s not about trophies or international achievements; it’s about the Eczacıbaşı Sports Club’s decision to reorient its journey, which began with men’s basketball, to women’s volleyball. By allocating all our resources and investments to this field, we made sports more accessible to women and increased the participation of women and young girls in Turkish volleyball. This IOC award is a tribute to these efforts."
Faruk Eczacıbaşı
Founded in 1966 to support the development of Turkish sports, the Eczacıbaşı Sports Club has contributed significantly to the training of world-class sportsmen and sportswomen and to the Turkish public’s interest in sports. Since the second half of the 1990s, our Club has focused exclusively on women’s volleyball.
In addition to training professional women athletes, our Club is committed to training coaches who will ensure the best development of new generations of volleyball players.
While encouraging thousands of young girls to play volleyball, the Eczacıbaşı Sports Club also aims to increase the representation of women in sports management. Currently, nine of the Club’s 19 managerial positions are held by women (47%), and 25 of its training and campus coordinating positions (45%).
Future Spike currently has 10 campuses around Turkey training 3,000 girls annually, and the goal is to have 30 campuses in 11 cities training 5,000 girls annually by 2021.
In 2016, in collaboration with ES Volleyball, the Eczacıbaşı Sports Club launched “Future Spike”, a new program to greatly expand its training program for young girls. Through this program, the Club aims to introduce thousands of 6 to 13-year-olds every year to the culture, spirit and discipline of sports and create opportunities for discovering and developing the future stars among them.
We believe in the power of women
and support them wholeheartedly
You can visit the website of the IOC Women and Sport Awards to have more information about this precious award, which is delivered each year.
olympic.org
