Moroccan girls keen on playing well and without fear against the big teams

Ghita Melalka & Hafsa Bouysfi are only 15 years old, but they are in the Hague representing Morocco at the 2026 FIVB Beach Volleyball U18 World Championship. Not only that, they have already achieved their first victory in the pool stage, which also happened to be the first success for any African duo of either gender at the tournament. Elated, the Moroccan talents are already looking forward to the next matches in the Netherlands without fear of the strong opponents they are about to meet.

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In their opening Pool B match on Thursday, Ghita Melalka & Hafsa Bouysfi had a dream start, producing a convincing 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) win over Gambia’s Fatou Bah & Mariam Sanyang, a victory that allows them a great opportunity to earn their place in the knockout rounds of the tournament.

“This was my first win at a World Championship and I am so grateful for the team, the coaches and everyone, who helped me,” Ghita Melalka told FIVB.com. “I am very happy to be here. I worked hard to be here. I am enjoying my time in the Netherlands very much.”

Later on Thursday, Melalka & Bouysfi will face USA’s Lauren Leach & Janie McCanna for their second pool match, and on Friday, they will finish the pool stage with a game against Austrian “lucky losers” from the qualifications Helena Ferstl-Schmid & Emily Grusch.

“It’s my second World Championship, so I am not scared to play against the big teams,” said Hafsa Bouysfi. “We are very young and just beginning to play beach volleyball, but we are going to do our best to play well against the big teams.”

The Moroccan teams’ participation in the U18 World Championship is also an important part the development aimed at by their federation’s involvement in the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program. The Federation Royale Marocaine de Volley-Ball has been allocated USD 63,000 in coach support for their national beach volleyball teams, who are working under the management and the supervision of Italian expert Ezio Goia. Morocco’s beach volleyball has also been funded with USD 18,000 in knowledge transfer programs and with USD 11,500 in beach volleyball equipment.

“The FIVB asked me to begin this project to help Morocco improve the level of its beach volleyball,” said Ezio Goia, who is in the team manager role within the Moroccan delegation in the Hague. “I have been in Morocco for one year now, beginning with the senior teams and now also working with the age-group teams. It’s quite a complicated project, because Morocco doesn’t have a lot of volleyball players, so finding someone to play beach volleyball is not so easy. But these two girls are working hard. One was born in 2010 and the other in 2011, so I hope they will improve their level in the future. The international level is so high, and we know that our level is different, but in Africa, Morocco is one of the best teams at the moment. This World Championship is very positive for the players. This is an experience they must have – their first tournament at this level. They can discover what the outside level is, and I think they can also learn something by looking at the others. I keep telling them that…”

Both Melalka & Bouysfi are very excited to compete at this World Championship, knowing that it will be a great experience helping their growth in the future.

“I am so happy to be here in the Netherlands. I want to represent Morocco in the best possible way, by playing well,” said Bouysfi. “This is a game. There are always a winner and a loser. So, it doesn’t matter – we have all the future to become the best in beach volleyball.”

“We have many goals here: first, to play well; second, to play without fear against the best teams in the world; and then, to advance to the next stage,” Melalka added.

The Moroccan girls’ immediate coach Rahma Bahhou was very excited too – not only about the win, but also about the opportunity for these young talents to represent Morocco at such a high stage.

“You know, the level in Africa is not very high, but we train hard all the time and we are lucky that our federation and its president provide everything that we need. So, we are going to try our best to represent Moroccan beach volleyball to the world. Our dream is to be a good beach volleyball team,” coach Bahhou said. “The girls are very impressed. They want to be good players and they give everything to train hard. I am very satisfied that they did everything that we do in training. I am so happy to be here with them. The organization here is very good. We wish good luck for everyone here!”

2026 FIVB Beach Volleyball U18 World Championship: schedule and results

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