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.