Lai Yawen Elected CVA President

Lai Yawen has been elected president of the new leadership of the China Volleyball Association.

Lai, born in 1970 in Dalian, Liaoning Province, joined the Liaoning provincial youth women’s volleyball team in 1982, entered China’s women’s youth national team in 1987, and was selected for the senior China women’s national team in 1989, serving as a starting middle blocker. From age 19 representing the China women’s national team to her retirement at 28, Lai won four world runner-up finishes, two third-place finishes at the FIVB World Grand Prix, five Asian Championship titles, three Asian Games titles, and five national championships.

After retiring, Lai transitioned into coaching and served as an assistant to head coaches including Hu Jin, Chen Zhonghe, Cai Bin, Wang Baoquan, and Lang Ping. In 2017, Lai became deputy director of the Volleyball Management Center under the General Administration of Sport of China, and in 2023 she was appointed director of the volleyball center of the General Administration of Sport of China.