The European U20 Women’s Volleyball Championships have been taking place in Dublin over the past ten days. Volleyball Ireland made an ambitious and brave move, but it has also shown the potential of reaching beyond one’s comfort zone and finding wins.
The Irish team is ranked well below the best of the best from Italy, Poland, Czechia, and the other countries that gathered, but the players will only get better by playing against better opposition. Having taken 37 points from Serbia, 32 points from Poland and Czechia, 31 points from Portugal, the same from Ukraine, 30 from Finland, and 15 from the winners, Italy, they are now a stronger group of players.
The best game took place in front of a full crowd at the Sport Ireland Campus when Italy beat Poland in a five-set thriller on Monday night. The Italians clinched the top spot and gave a great night out to an audience of largely Irish-based Poles and Italians.
“The arena was hopping, and what a great game to put on,” said Volleyball Ireland CEO Gary Stewart, who admitted to sleepless nights along the road but was a happy man to have delivered as a small nation hosting one of the continent’s most popular sports.
Eleven Volleyball clubs from around the country provided the court crews, one on each day. Apart from exposing their teenage members to the best of the sport, each club emerged with ten top-class Volleyballs, worth around €900 each.
“It was a long day but a great experience,” said Michelle Tanner, Head of Sport at Trinity, who also coaches at Ballymun Patriots, who were providing the team for yesterday’s games.
The hi-tech court on which the games were played was gifted to Volleyball Ireland and will now be available to be rolled out for key events during the domestic season, another legacy win from the hosting.
Building relationships with sponsors has also been important with Searing Point Wealth Management on board as team sponsors and the likes of DHL and others attracted by LED boards, which were part of the mix put on by Stewart and his team.
The hope now is that the sport has moved to another level and will be able to extend the partnerships formed in the longer term.
This was also the first major sporting event to be billed as period positive, with period products available to all the players. This story caught on internationally and was another win for the sport here.
In the coming weeks, Volleyball Ireland President Clodagh NicAnna will stand for election to the Board of Volleyball Europe, further fastening Ireland’s position as one of the leading small nations in the sport.
It would have been easier to let this opportunity go elsewhere, to lean back and enjoy the brilliant volleyball competitions at the Olympics, but Volleyball Ireland stepped forward and stepped up. Well done to them.
The next major championship to be hosted at the campus will be the Northern European Gymnastics Championships, which will take place in September. It will be well worth getting a ticket and attending what will be another special occasion.
Sport for Business will host its inaugural Children and Sport Conference in Dublin on Thursday morning, September 19th. This is one of many events planned for the remainder of 2024.
Register your interest to attend a Sport for Business event here.
Volleyball Ireland and the Sport Ireland Campus are among the 300 organisations, which include all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies, that are members of the Sport for Business community.
Find out more about joining us today.
Check out our upcoming events to discover ways of connecting in person with our membership.
