Primary school students will compete for the chance to meet the China women's volleyball team and free tickets to the 2006 FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Mini Soft Volleyball Challenge will be held over three weekends at the Harbour City and Olympian City II shopping malls.
The finals, on August 15 at Olympian City II, will be attended by the women's Olympic volleyball champions China, who will present prizes. Four-person teams from ten boys and ten girls schools have signed up for the event, which uses a specially designed, softer than normal ball.
The China team will be in Hong Kong for the first leg of the grand prix, which also includes Olympic silver medallists Russia, and Thailand and Azerbaijan.
'This will be an exciting tournament for the children, and as well as a warm-up event for the grand prix' said Yvonne Yip Fong of organisers, the Volleyball Association of Hong Kong, China (VBAHK). 'By holding it at the malls we hope it will attract some casual spectators.'
The four national teams will be fighting for a US$95,000 prize over three days of round-robin play at the Hong Kong Coliseum from August 18 to 20. Tickets, priced from $50 to $400, went on sale last week.
China's squad is expected to include their best players such as Feng Kun, Yang Hao, Zhou Suhong and Liu Yanan.