- Paulo de Tarso Milagres to Rebuild Women’s National Team
- To Prepare for the African Nations Championship and Olympic Hopes
The Cameroon Volleyball Federation has been given a tremendous boost in its efforts at continental supremacy and qualification to the Olympics. Paulo de Tarso Milagres, a veteran Brazilian coach with more than two decades of success, has been made available to the Cameroon volleyball federation by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).
The 47-year-old mentor is scheduled to arrive at Yaoundé Nsimalen Airport in the evening of Saturday, May 31st, with a charge to begin building a new generation of competitive Cameroonian female volleyball players.
A Coach Built for Success
Milagres boasts a rich history that is just so fitting for Cameroon’s high-flying ambitions. His fresh experience with Rwanda’s top teams shows us what he can do with African volleyball. Under his leadership, Rwanda’s women’s team finished fourth at the African Nations Cup in Cameroon—the country’s highest-ever finish. The men’s team also achieved their highest-ever ranking with a sixth-place finish in Egypt.
The Brazilian mentor’s recent European experience adds a new dimension to his expertise. In 2023, he pushed CSU Targu Mures to Romania’s top division for the first time. Earlier, he coached Poland’s competitive league side, SKS Jedinka Tarnów.
This combination of African experience and European standards could be precisely what Cameroon needs to challenge at the highest level.
Championship Pedigree
Milagres’ achievement at home in Brazil tells much about his ability to construct winning teams. In his eight years with Esporte Clube Pinheiros, he registered the following results:
Four São Paulo Cup titles (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
The club’s only Brazilian Cup title in 2015
Six junior championship titles
His earlier stint with ADC Finasa Osasco was also more impressive, guiding the senior team to three straight titles while developing junior players who won a host of junior and youth titles.
Building the Next Generation
Building young players is also an area close to the Federation’s heart, and it is ideally in keeping with Milagres’ proven track record. His record with junior and youth teams shows he can build long-term programmes that pay dividends in the long run.
Olympic Dreams Within Reach
Cameroon’s ultimate goal is no longer in question: win the African Women’s Volleyball Championship and earn Olympic qualification. Milagres’ history suggests those dreams are feasible.
His academic qualifications support his experiential success. The coach has multiple postgraduate degrees, such as an MBA in behaviour management and advanced training in high-performance volleyball from São Paulo University. He is even top-ranked by Brazil’s volleyball confederation.
As Milagres is scheduled to land in Cameroon this weekend, the volleyball community is electric with expectation. His arrival is the initial step of what is expected to be another revolutionary phase for women’s volleyball in the country.
His English fluency will make it easy for him to talk to players and staff from day one. His extensive experience at the international level means he is familiar with the challenge of working within foreign cultural settings.
All eyes will be on how quickly this seasoned coach can implement his winning formula with Cameroon’s female national volleyball team.
