Lauren McLeod, the former Australian player who has coached the team since 2009 and recently guided them to ninth at the FIVB World Championship in Poland, told insidethegames that the players' Olympic dream "will stay a dream" unless their programme gets "sustainable financial support."

Vanuatu, which benefited from an IOC Olympic Solidarity Team Grant, operates two teams with a squad of four young mothers - Miller Elwin, Henriette Iatika, Joyce Joshua and Linline Mansale - who spend eight months of the year away from their families as they travel on the World Tour and plan on qualifying for the Rio 2016 Games having narrowly missed out on reaching London 2012.

"This is our dream, this is our passion and this is our life right now," Elwin explained.

But McLeod fears the dream may end sooner rather than later.

"For the programme, as it stands we are unsustainable unfortunately," she said.

"The programme is operating at a loss in its entirety.

"We have no salary staffing, I'm operating an elite programme based on minimal contact time with the athletes and everyone involved including coaching, management and athletes are making below minimum wage.

"At this stage we have been lucky to see the year out with the funding available to us.

"The team was devastated when we failed to qualify for London 2012, falling just short of our goal at the continental final.

"There were tears and a huge feeling of loss.

Vanuatu's athletes at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony - the women's beach volleyball team narrowly failed to qualify for the Games despite having come ninth at the Olympic Test event

"The programme itself was unsure as to whether we would be able to continue.

"There is still the Olympic journey and dream ahead but it will stay a dream until the programme is able to find sufficient sustainable financial support.

"If things do not improve, then although it saddens me to say it, but I don't think there will be a Vanuatu national programme or international team representing the Pacific on tour next year.

"The flip side of this is we have been able to work hard enough and on the efforts of all involved we have pulled off some amazing results, our best coming this year at the World Championship.

"Being such an internationally based sport, very few people on Vanuatu really grasp just how well the team has done and how fantastic they are as ambassadors for their country and the Pacific around the world.

"The last Olympic cycle was built on a hope and prayer and very hard work, so that we could prepare four athletes, all of whom are mothers, all of whom had previously spent very little time, if any, outside of their islands.

"And all in less than three years.

"The cultural adjustments and personal triumphs for each girl have been huge, and it is a real testament to their strength and drive how well they developed from shy island girls to international elite athletes.

"Leaving young children behind and stepping outside the tradition female role in the family to become athletes has made great demands on each of the girl's family partners and children.

"We set out with a goal for the programme to change the way women in Vanuatu are perceived back in 2009.

"Now looking back I feel like this has been one of our greatest achievements - for the first time ever there is a female sports team which is nationally renowned."

Read the full exclusive interview here.

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