Norway to host NEVZA Beach

Norway will host the first NEVZA Beach tournament after the pandemic. It will be played in Oddanesand 150 km southwest of Oslo. 32 teams of each gender fight for the 2,500 EUR price money.

Dates: June 22-24, 2022
Venue: KNA Oddanesand Sand Camping
Number of courts: Centercourt and 5 sidecourts, 1 warm-up court
Number of teams Main draw: 32 teams per gender, minimum 3 per National Federation (Norway minimum 6 teams). Qualified according to CEV ranking. 2 wild-cards for main draw.
Match form: Double elimination.
Ranking points: 1st: 120; 2nd: 108; 3rd: 96; 4th: 84; 5th: 72; 9th: 54;, 13th: 42; 17th: 30.

Match schedules all matches
Men: FIVB.12ndr.at – Tournament
Women: FIVB.12ndr.at – Tournament

Match schedules day by day (pdf)
Match Schedule Women_20220623 (Day 2) | Match Schedule Men_20220623 (Day 2)
Match Schedule Women_20220622 (Day 1) | Match Schedule Men_20220622 (Day 1)

Match results are also presented at NEVZA Beach Oddanesand at CEV homepage.

For the players:
Entry fee: 100 EUR/team.
Last entry date: Extended to June 6th.
Registration: In VIS by your National Federation

Documents
Mandatory usage of CEV/FIVB online registration system and:
– CEV BV-01 Players Commitment
– FIVB BVB -10
– Health Certificate formsAnti-doping Certificate & Prevention of Manipulation Course, follow this link.

 

NEVZA Technical Meeting in Faroe Islands


Hotel Føroyar

The annual NEVZA Technical Meeting took place in beutiful Faroe Islands on April 23-24, 2022. It was an intensive program during the two days’ sessions, but also some time to get to know this interesting country consisting of small islands in the middle of the North Sea. England and Greenland was unfortunately not able to send delegates, but all other countries were well represented. The participants were:

NEVZA: Lennart Neovius, President; Jussi Jokinen, General Secretary
DEN: Sven Brix, Technical Director and National Team Manager
FAR: Peter Holm, President; Beinir Kristiansen, General Secretary
FIN: Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, General Secretary; Tapio Kangasniemi, Sports Director
ISL: Grétar Eggertsson, President; Pálmi Blængsson, General Secretary; Burhard Disch, High Performance Manager
NOR: Kristian Gjerstadberget, General Secretary; Matt van Wezel, Sports Director; David Cox, Competition Director, NEVZA Beach Coordinator
SWE: Simon Dahl, General Secreetary

The meeting was opened with welcoming speeches from Peter Holm, Flogbóltssamband Føroya President and Lennart Neovius, NEVZA President. Some formalities was handled, approval of the agenda, last year’s meetings and accounts. Then the NEVZA President presented some development within the FIVB and CEV, followed by initiatives for developing information handling and visibility. The initiatives were well received and a working group will be established for taking the next steps.

 

After lunch, the meeting continued with Norwegian General Secretary Kristian Gjerstadberget discussing on-going projects for “Young Leaders” and “How to empower clubs and organizations”, inviting the other member countries to be part of the processes. The following day this work was discussed with other important projects, in order to achieve goals set up for Vision 2030. We summarized that it had been two very inspiring and productive days, and everybody is now going home to continue in each national federation. But also work hard for continuing the work in collaboration with the other members in different working groups.

 

The hosting federation, Flogbóltssamband Føroya, had made arrangements to introduce the NEVZA representatives to the Faroeic fine dining at Hotel Føroyar and tasting beer at the old brewery Føroya Bjór, established 1888.

We thank the Flogbóltssamband Føroya for their well planned and executed arrangements. For many participants this was the first but definitively not the last visit here.

Make the refugee situation better in NEVZA countries

Due to the current situation in Ukraine, many refugees are now trying to get established in their new environments. The sports federations and clubs can contribute to their situation and also benefit with new players and leaders. Volleyball has always been a global arena of friendship and cooperation. The rules for players’ transfers to their current country is simplified, in order to allow them and the clubs an easy and open process. The process is the same as in 2015, when millions of refugees arrived from Syria and Afghanistan. The rules for transfer exeptions can be downloaded here.

A good example from 2015-16 was when Lidingö SK could make comeback in the national series, with a team that in the beginning consisted of afghanian players only. It included some work, especially communication with authorities and the local government. But it gave so much more back, a context for the boys and great attention and support.


Lidingö Volley awarded for integration work

Volleyball Ireland is a good example on how a national volleyball federation really can make a difference. They have have made a number of strategic decisions to get the best outcome:

  • The indefinite waiving of player, coach and referee license fees for Ukrainian refugees to participate and officiate in the sport, including both Volleyball and Beach Volleyball competition.
  • Ukrainian refugees will be exempt from the National League registration deadline of March 17 and can register and play in league games after this point.
  • Volleyball Ireland will cover the cost of associated club registration and participation fees for Ukrainian refugees.
  • Volleyball Ireland will provide any required training wear and other Volleyball equipment to support Ukrainian refugees participate in Volleyball club programmes.

“We pride ourselves on our cultural diversity, inclusion and sense of community within Irish Volleyball, and I know our clubs will be a welcoming, supportive and kind environment during such a traumatic time”, comments General Manager Gary Stewart. Read more on CEV’s homepage about Volleyball Ireland.

Photo: CEV, Lidingö Tidning.

 

Sweden: Nyköping and IKSU Swedish Snow Volleyball Champions 2022

In parallel to the first CEV European Tour event in Turkey, Sweden organized the national Championships in Snow Volleyball. The reigning Men’s Champion team IKSU from Umeå did not manage to defend their previous two titles. Nyköping with three top players won a well played and entertaining final. Instead, IKSU took over the Women’s title after a similarly well played and thrilling final against Danderyd.

Snow Volleyball Swedish Championships 2022 Men, Östersund Snowheart Arena, February 19th, 2022
Final: Nyköping FK – IKSU 2 – 0 (15-10, 15-12)
Match 3/4: Östersund – Malmö 2 – 0 (15-9, 15-11)

Snow Volleyball Swedish Championships 2022 Women, Östersund Snowheart Arena, February 19th, 2022
Final: IKSU – Danderyd 2 – 1 (15-11, 11-15, 15-7)
Match 3/4: Göteborg – Östersund 2 – 0 (15-9, 15-11)

Östersund hosted the Swedish Snow Volleyball Championships for the third time this weekend. Two courts were nicely prepared on the centre of Stortorget under the name of Östersund Snowheart Arena. A number of activities are taking place on the arena, where the successful Snow Volleyball Championships fitted well. It was optimal weather conditions for playing and watching the games. After a little chilly morning, the temperature went up to some degrees below zero. Some lighter snow falls passed by, otherwise it was mostly cloudy. When the finals started, the sun broke through the clouds and warmed the players, volunteers and the spectators.

Six Men’s and four Women’s teams from Umeå up north to Malmö in the south fought for the title. In the Men’s tournament, the semi-finals were tight even if the two finalists had an extra gear to use when closing the sets. The final was on the highest level experienced in the short history of Swedish Snow Volleyball Championships. Strong attacks were met with a number of spectacular defence actions. The head-to-head fight was if Philip Franzon in IKSU should take a third consecutive title or if three of the players in Nyköping would join the exclusive club of players with Gold in all three volleyball disciplines. Up to this point, only Hanna Hellvig now playing volleyball in Germany, was the only member. Nyköping won the final, relying on experience and force from both volleyball and beach volleyball.

The Swedish Champions Nyköping FK with the players Linus Tholse, Peter Lundgren, Viktor Jonsson and Mattias Haaparanta. Click here for interview by Volleykanalen.

Four women’s teams fought for the three medals and the title. The teams were from all over Sweden, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Östersund and Umeå. After the pool play, the two top teams played the final, while the teams place 3rd and 4th played a decisive bronze medal match. IKSU kept their playing level throughout the final. After a strong start and 8-2 lead at the second side switch, they lost momentum. Danderyd from Stockholm started to catch up, and they won the second set. But in the last set, IKSU came back with aggressive serves, focus on attack angles and where to place the balls. With this strategy, they won rather comfortable.

The Swedish Champions IKSU with the players Alice Arnberg, Agnes Linderholm, Emma Sehlstedt och Matilda Granberg. Click here for interview by Volleykanalen.

Next year, the Championships is planned to be part of the Swedish Winter Games in Skövde. Östersund has shown that they have a great interest for the sport and are good at organizing. Therefore, we have started to discuss the possibility to host a NEVZA tour event next year, together with Östersund’s event company and the local organizer. We thank them both for this year’s great event and look forward to come back.

Ranking Men

  1. Nyköpings FK
  2. IKSU, Umeå
  3. Östersund Volley
  4. Malmö BC
  5. Hästhagens IF, Stockholm
  6. Lindesbergs VK

Alla resultat

Ranking Women

  1. IKSU, Umeå
  2. Danderyd, Stockholm
  3. Göteborgs BC
  4. Östersund Volley

Alla resultat

 

Snow Volleyball in Östersund – Festival and Swedish Championships

The beautiful city of Östersund, which lies at the very centre of Sweden and close to famous ski resorts such as Åre and Duved, is slowly but surely becoming the country’s Snow Volleyball hotspot. It did host the very first edition of the national championships in 2019 – and the local Volleyball club, together with the city, have shown much interest in developing the sport. After a break in 2021 due to the pandemic, the city returned to host a Snow Volleyball festival this past weekend, and the Swedish Championships will be taking place this coming Saturday, February 19.

Östersund Winter Park is situated by and on Lake Storsjön. It is the perfect environment for the annual Snow Volley Festival. Organized by Östersund Volleyball Club, four courts were set up together with a hot dog barbeque. The day started with heavy snow, luckily enough not to windy. During the day the sun came out and provided for perfect playing conditions so it was full activity on all courts until dawn.

 

Matches were played with selected teams but also mixed teams with experienced players and a number of persons introduced to the sport. The players and spectators added energy with hot dogs from the grill and soft drinks. The Snow Volley Festival was a great success and will for sure be back!

 

On Saturday, the Swedish Championships will be played in central Östersund. Pool matches start in the morning, with six Men’s and four Women’s teams. Finals are played at 14:00 and 15:00.

In 2022, Sweden will be the only Championships organizer within NEVZA. The pandemic and the resulting constraints still represent a major challenge for organisers and promoters alike. In coming years, we hope that the “snow countries” of NEVZA will both stage their Championships but also one or more zonal events. The sport develops and four European Tour stops are announced. Kahramanmaraş (TUR) and Truskavets (UKR) in February, Kayseri-Erciyes (TUR) and Wagrain (AUT) in March are hosting the events. The February tournaments are now closed for registrations, but we hope that NEVZA teams will challenge the European top teams in the March tournaments.

A good NEVZA representative – Kristian Lund

Born in Norway, former player and now living in Sweden, awarded Danish Beach Volleyball referee 2021. Kristian Lund is a true representative for NEVZA and the strength of member countries working together.

Volleyball Denmark couldn’t stage an Award ceremony previous weekend due to Covid-19 restrictions, so the award winners of volleyball and beach volleyball were presented during the last week instead. Three categories was awarded for both volleyball and beach volleyball, Referee, Male and Female player. This year the beach volleyball referee award went to Kristian Lund, Norwegian citizen living in Helsingborg in Sweden.

“I have been to 7-8 Danish tournaments for the last five years”, Kristian says. “The Swedish Tour has been rather limited last year and in Denmark I have had the chance to blow the whistle at around one hundred matches every year”.

Kristian is an International Referee Candidate. Hopefully the pandemic goes into a more controlled state. Kristian hope he will be able to get more appointments and reach the official International Referee level within the coming seasons.


The other awards went to:
Beachvolley players: Clara Bernberg Windeleff, Kristoffer Abell
Volleyball players: Helena Elbæk, Mads Kyed Jensen
Volleyball referee: Michael Andersen

 

 

Four new NEVZA International Referee Candidates

CEV referee commission organised an international referee course in Caorle, Italy, on December 12- 20. Twentysix new referees from 23 countries participated, four of them came from NEVZA countries.

Picture from left: Niklas Kjaer Thomsen, Helena Persson, SWEDEN, Thomas André Transeth, NOR, and Marko Oravainen, FIN.

Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden each have a new international referee candidate, after their participation in the EIRCC in Caorle close to Venezia in Italy. Niklas Kjaer Thomsen, Marko Oravainen, Thomas André Transeth, and Helena Persson, are the names of the new generation young referees within NEVZA. After passing their theoretical and practical examinations on site in Caorle, the 26 referees involved in this year’s EIRCC now have three years to achieve the full status of international referees. We wish them all luck in their important contribution to the development of volleyball.

For more information, see the CEV homepage.

Double Finnish victory in U17W and U18M 1st Round Qualifiers

This weekend, Denmark hosted two 1st Round Qualifiers for U17W and U18M in the NEVZA zone. In both tournaments, Finland proved to be the strongest of the Nordic nations and thus qualified directly to the Final Rounds of the European Championship. Norway’s U17 girls and Denmark’s U18 boys came second, and continue to the second round of the qualification.

In Spar Nord Arena Køge near Copenhagen, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands and hosting nation Denmark participated in the U17W 1st Round Qualifier. Throughout the weekend, Finland delivered a strong performance, winning all their pool games 3-0. In the final game against Norway, who had only lost to Finland in the pool games, Finland managed to take yet another 3-0 win and thus won the tournament and the golden ticket to the U17W European Championship Final Round to be held in July 2022 in Czech Republic. Norway moves on to the second round of the qualification, which will be held in April 2022.

In the other side of the country, the exact same nations were competing in the U18M tournament. On the boy’s side, Finland was also strongest in the pool play, followed closely by Denmark. The two nations fought a nerve wrecking tie break match in the first day of the tournament and faced each other again in the final match Sunday afternoon. The final was a constant close race, where both teams had momentum. In the end, Finland however stayed calm and closed the game 3-1 in their favor. Thus, the Finnish boys also qualified directly to the Final round of the competition, played in July in Georgia. Denmark moves on to the second round of the qualification which will be held in April 2022.

All games can be watched on Volleyball Danmark’s YouTube

Girls 1st Round (Zonal), Köge, Denmark 17th-19th of December 2021
Final: Finland – Norway 3 – 0 (25-22, 25-18, 26-24)

Ranking

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

The girls tournament on Facebook.
For further information, see CEV tournament page.

Boys 1st Round (Zonal), Årre, Denmark 17th–19th of December 2021
Final Finland – Denmark 3 – 1 (25-22, 22-25, 29-27, 25-23)

Ranking

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

Follow the boys tournament on Facebook.
For further information, see CEV tournament page.

Pool results
Girls
Faroe Islands – Finland 0 – 3 (16-25, 11-25, 8-25)
Iceland – Norway 0 – 3 (17-25, 14-25, 12-25)
Finland – Denmark 3 – 0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-13)
Norway – Faroe Islands 3 – 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-14)
Denmark – Iceland 3 – 0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-17)
Norway – Finland 0 – 3 (21-25, 17-25, 19-25)
Faroe Islands – Denmark 0 – 3 (19-25, 19-25, 21-25)
Finland – Iceland (25-15, 25-15, 25-16)
Denmark – Norway 0 – 3 (22-25, 11-25, 20-25)
Iceland – Faroe Islands 0 – 3 (19-25, 9-25, 22-25)

Boys
Iceland – Finland 0 – 3 (9-25, 7-25, 8-25)
Norway – Faroe Islands 3 – 0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-17)
Finland – Denmark 3 – 2 (27-25, 25-19, 15-25, 24-26, 15-11)
Faroe Islands – Iceland 3 – 0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-13)
Denmark – Norway 3 – 1 (25-13, 22-25, 27-25, 25-18)
Faroe Islands – Finland 0 – 3 (17-25, 19-25, 15-25)
Iceland – Denmark 0 – 3 (2-25, 5-25, 14-25)
Finland – Norway 3 – 0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-14)
Denmark – Faroe Islands 3 – 0 (25-9, 25-16, 25-13)
Norway – Iceland 3 – 0 (25-11, 25-10, 25-9)

 

CEV U17/U18 Volleyball EuroVolley 2022 1st round

Denmark will organize the first round of the 2022 CEV Youth Volleyball European Championships. The first round is organized by the Zonal Associations, and the NEVZA countries participating are the host Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland and Norway. Girls U17 will gather in Køge and boys U18 in Årre i Varde for matches 17th-19th of December.

All matches from both boys and girls will be streamed on Volleyball Denmark YouTube.

Girls’ tournament
1st Round (Zonal) – Girls in Køge, Denmark 17th-19th of December 2021

Day 1 17th of December
13:00 Faroe Islands – Finland
15:00 Iceland – Norway
18:00 Finland – Denmark
20:00 Norway – Faroe Islands
Day 2 18th of December
10:00 Denmark – Iceland
12:00 Norway – Finland
16:00 Faroe Islands – Denmark
18:00 Finland – Iceland
Day 3 19th of December
10:00 Denmark – Norway
12:00 Iceland – Faroe Islands
17:00 FINAL Rank 1 – Rank 2

Name of Hall: Spar Nord Arena Address: Ved Stadion 2B, 4600 Køge

Follow the girls tournament on Facebook.
For further information, see CEV tournament page.

Boys’ Tournament
1st Round (Zonal) – Boys in Årre i Varde, Nordenskov, Denmark 17th–19th of December 2021

Day 1 17th of December
10:00 Iceland – Finland
12:00 Norway – Faroe Islands
16:00 Finland – Denmark
18:00 Faroe Islands – Iceland
Day 2 18th of December
10:00 Denmark – Norway
12:00 Faroe Islands – Finland
16:00 Iceland – Denmark
18:00 Finland – Norway
Day 3 19th of December
10:00 Denmark – Faroe Islands
12:00 Norway – Iceland
17:00 FINAL Rank 1 – Rank 2

Name of Hall: Hellehallen Address: Vrenderupvej 40C, 6818 Årre

Follow the boys tournament on Facebook.
For further information, see CEV tournament page.

NEVZA U19 Volleyball Championships: Dream Teams and MVP’s

As usual, the tournament is closed when the the participating teams vote for the All Star teams and Most Valuable Players. In the NEVZA 2021 Volleyball Championships in Rovaniemi, the following players were honoured:

Dream Team, girls:
Setter: Moona Tarkiainen, FIN
Middle blockers: Miia-Maria Mäkikyrö FIN and Ella Peltomaa FIN
Spikers: Caroline Krogh DEN and Elin Larsson SWE
Opposite: Neea-Maria Joki FIN
Libero: Juulia Jäppinen FIN
Dream Team, boys:
Setter: Anton Jeppesen DEN
Middle blockers: Miika Haapaniemi FIN and Oskar Pontoppidan DEN
Spikers: Marius Hansen DEN and Hampus Ekstrand SWE
Opposite: Simon Uhrenholt DEN
Libero: Joonatan Salpakari FIN
Most valuable players, girls:
Finland: Neea-Maria Joki
Sweden: Elin Larsson
Denmark: Caroline Krogh
Iceland: Jóna Arnarsdóttir
Faroe Islands: Jakobina Joensen
Most valueable players, boys:
Denmark: Simon Uhrenholt
Finland: Nico Mäki-Valtari
Sweden: Hugo Morency
Norway: Jo Gladøy Sunde
Iceland: Valens Ingimundarsson
Faroe Islands: Mattias Isakssen