All eight NEVZA nations were supposed to come to the 2021 NEVZA U19 Championship in Rovaniemi, Finland. Unfortunately, some teams had to withdraw due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But the participating teams made it to Rovaniemi in north Finland and showed that they had made their homework and showed impressing skills.

England has been forced to cancel participation in all NEVZA tournaments this autumn as Covid-19 is still locking the country. Greenland was supposed to come, but has a similar situation. In the last minute, the Norwegian girls team also had to withdraw as one of their players got Covid-19 and the medical protocol does not allow participation. Luckily enough for the boys’ team and tournament, they had not been in contact with the girls team.

Rovaniemi, a medium-sized city in Lappland, in the far north of Finland, is mostly known for being the hometown of Santa Claus. It also has a reputation of being a sports’ centre. The Santasport Olympic center is the hub with volleyball clubs Wovo Rovaniemi womens’ and Lakkapää mens’ volleyball clubs.

On October 28^th, girls and boys from Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden gathered for the three-day 2021 NEVZA U19 Championships. The matches were played in two arenas, Santasport Olympic training center and Keltakangas Sports hall. With the short notice withdrawal of the Norwegian team, the schedule needed to be remade on the technical meeting.

With five teams, the the girls played in one pool where the first and second team were directly qualified for the final. The bronze match was played with the third team and the winner in the match between fourth and fifth teams. Sweden won a really tight five set game against Denmark and thus made it to the final. In the quarter final, Iceland got a revenge for the loss against Faroe Islands in the pool play. 3-1 and bronze match against Denmark. While fighting for the stands, Iceland didn’t get back to the standard in the previous matches. Denmark was determined to win the medals and did so, 3-0 and only losing 42 points. In the final, Sweden met pool winner host team of Finland.The first set went all the way to a 32-30 win for Finland. After that Sweden lost the good energy and Finland could win the two following sets easily with 25-13, 25-12.

The boys played in two pools, with three teams in each. In pool A, Finland won both matches against Iceland and Sweden with 3-0 rather comfortable and where directly qualified for the semifinal. Sweden made a good start game versus Iceland and took the second place. In pool B, Faroe Island started against Denmark. They lost the first set with big figures, but challenged in the second and third. The scenario was repeated in the second match against Norway. In the pool final, Denmark made an impressive game and won 3-0. Sweden won rather easily in the match against Faroe Island but and played well against Denmark in the semifinal. But Denmark was stronger and won the important last balls, thus advancing to the final. On the other half, Norway won a tough five-setter against Iceland and then challenged the hosts Finland with a similar match profile. Both matches ended 15-11 in the fifth set. Bronze match Norway – Sweden, final Finland – Denmark. Norway started the bronze match best but after the first won set, Sweden played better and better and winning the fourth set and the match 25-11. In the final, Denmark won the two first sets rather easy but was then hit by the classical third-set-syndrome. Finland came back with a 25-14 win taking the match to four sets. They almost made it to a fifth, but Denmark managed to close the set with a tight 26-24 win.

Games were streamed on YouTube and via lapinkangas.fi.

Medal matches and ranking, for all pole and qualification results see below.
Girls
Gold medal match: Finland– Sweden 3 – 0 (32-30, 25-13, 25-12)
Bronze medal match: Denmark – Iceland 3 – 0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-15)

Ranking

1. Finland
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Iceland
5. Faroe Islands

Boys
Gold medal match Denmark – Finland 3 – 1 (25-15, 25-13, 14-25, 26-24)
Bronze medal match Sweden – Norway 3 – 1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-11)
5th/6th boys Iceland ​- Faroe Islands 3 – 1 (20-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-17)

Ranking

1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Sweden
4. Norway
5. Iceland
6. Faroe Islands

A great thanks to the Finish Volleyball Federation for an excellent organisation. All participants look forward to come back next year, together with the teams that still couldn’t make it this year.

For further information and more pictures, visit the Facebook page.

Pool results

Girls
Iceland – Finland 0 – 3 (25-27, 21-25, 16-25)
Finland – Denmark ​3 – 0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-21)
Sweden – Iceland 3 – 1 (23-25, 25-23, 28-26, 25-22)
Denmark – Faroe Islands 3 – 1 (25-11, 15-25, 25-13, 25-10)
Faroe Islands – Sweden 0 – 3 ( 19-25, 12-25, 11-25)
Faroe Islands – Finland 0 – 3 (24-26, 9-25, 19-25)
Finland – Sweden 3 – 0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-16)
Sweden – Denmark 3 – 2 (25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 22-25, 16-14)
Denmark – Iceland 3 – 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19)
Iceland – Faroe Islands 1 – 3 (25-17, 23-25, 18-25, 22-25)

Quarterfinal Girls
​Faroe Islands – Iceland 1 – 3 (25-20, 22-25, 19-25, 21-25)

Boys Pool A
Iceland – Sweden 0 – 3 (20-25, 21-25, 15-25)
Finland – Iceland 3 – 0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-14)
Sweden – Finland 0 – 3 (14-25, 16-25, 16-25)

Boys Pool B
Denmark – Faroe Islands 3 – 0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-23)
Faroe Islands – Norway 0 – 3 (13-25, 20-25, 23-25)
Denmark – Norway 3 – 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-17)

Quarterfinals Boys
Sweden – Faroe Islands 3 – 0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-18)
Norway – Iceland 3 – 2 (25-13, 25-19, 17-25, 23-25, 15-11)

Semifinals Boys ​
Finland – Norway 3 – 2 (19-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 15-11)
Denmark – Sweden 3 – 0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-19)

All players are winners, but they also had the chance to select players that stood out a little bit extra through the tournament. The teams voted for the Dream Teams and MVP, Most Valuable Player, for both genders.

After two days with outstanding matches, the NEVZA U17 Volleyball teams are now ready for the medal matches. Host Denmark has managed to have both girls and boys fighting for the title.

Match comments and pictures on Facebook. Follow the matches streamed on Youtube, search for Nevza U17 2021.

The pandemic may still be there, but life start getting back in and between the NEVZA countries. A physical General Assembly was held in Katowice on September 17th and under-age volleyball tournaments will be arranged in October.

The NEVZA General Assembly 2021 was held in Katowice prior to the CEV Congress and the finals in EuroVolley Men. It was the first physical meeting for more than two years. All participating countries were very enthusiastic to come back after the pandemic. The meeting was presided by NEVZA President and CEV board member Lennart Neovius in pair with NEVZA General Secretary Jussi Jokinen.
CEV board members Eric Adler, DEN, and Michel Everaert, NED, were also participating in the meeting and contributed to the discussions. The upcoming events in the three disciplines was discussed, the two under-age volleyball starting this autumn. A special start-up deposit of 2,500 EUR was decided in order to encourage the members to participate in as many competitions as possible.
Lennart Neovius and Jussi Jokinen were re-elected for the coming two years.

After a long period with closed borders in the NEVZA countries, the first volleyball tournaments will now be played. First of all, four teams in age-group U17 boys and girls will compete in Ikast, Denmark. The host, Norway, Faroe Islands and Island will show their skills during three days, 18th-20th October.
Match schedule (G=girls, B=boys):
18/10 09:00 NOR – FAR G, 11:00 DEN – ISL G, 13:00 DEN – ISL B, 15:00 NOR – FAR B, 17:00 ISL – FAR G, 19:00 DEN – NOR G
19/10 09:00 FAR – ISL B, 11:00 DEN – NOR B, 13:00 DEN – FAR G, 15:00 NOR – ISL G, 17:00 NOR – ISL B, 19:00 DEN – FAR B
20/10 09:00 3rd place G, 11:00 3rd place B, 13:30 Final G, 15:30 Final B

The second post-pandemic tournament is the under-age U19 volleyball competition in Rovaniemi, Finland on October 29th-31st. As per today, all NEVZA members will participate in the girls’ tournament, and all but GRL in the boys’ tournament. So it will be a tough match schedule in during the three days of competition. Match schedule is still to be decided.

Moving on into 2022, we look forward to see the Nations Champions Cup in a new format, a beach volleyball tour and under-age tournaments, and homologated snow volleyball national championships leading to participation in the EuroVolley. Several other initiatives are in the planning phase, therefore we can look forward to an interesting volleyball year withing NEVZA and Europe.