A great one has gone.
A man who lived for and for Peru and who will leave a huge void in Peruvian volleyball. Man Bok Park passed away at the age of 83 without being able to see the Peruvian team at the Olympic Games one last time, something he longed for and shared with Spanish coach Francisco Hervas in his last interview.
In February of this year, Man Bok Park gave a final interview about Peruvian volleyball to the Andina agency and revealed the reasons why the sport of high net is in decline in the country.
"The level of Peruvian volleyball has significantly decreased. And we can see that in the world ranking: we are far from the top positions. For years, we remained in fourth place in the world, never dropping out of the top 10. That is now just a memory," said 'Mister' Park at the time.
"Before, when we asked to play against powerful European teams, they fought to play with us. Now, we simply don't exist in the world circuit. Obviously, when we don't have results, sponsors are not abundant either, causing another problem: the lack of economic resources to work with tranquility," he stated.
However, for 'Manbo', the goal of the Peruvian team should be to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. "From there, we could talk about a resurgence of Peruvian volleyball. That should be the main objective. I shared this with coach Hervas (current senior coach)," he assured.
Man Bok Park passed away this Thursday after being hospitalized for several days in the Intensive Care Unit. At 83 years old, his legacy will endure and he will always be remembered as one of the most important coaches in Peruvian sports.