The highly motivated and qualified members of the newly established European Volleyball Commission (EVC) came together on Tuesday at the home of European Volleyball in Luxembourg for the first plenary meeting of the 2024-2028 term – a truly historic get-together for a commission that has inherited the legacy of the former European Cups Commission (ECC) and European Sports Organising Commission (ESOC).
All equally driven by their immense passion for Volleyball and their desire to work for the good of the sport, the EVC members identified measures to streamline and optimise the CEV’s competition portfolio, thereby exchanging ideas and views on how to best revamp the CEV Champions League Volley, which remains a truly unique and valuable asset for the whole European Volleyball family.
At the same time, the EVC analysed proposals to improve the competition pathway for the younger players to facilitate their smooth transition to the senior ranks and to provide opportunities whereby the rising stars of European Volleyball can hone their skills and slowly but surely pursue and achieve their goal of a professional career in the sport.
As far as national team competitions for ‘senior’ teams are concerned, the discussions revolved around ideas on how to optimise the current Volleyball ecosystem with a focus on the CEV EuroVolley qualifiers and the CEV European League.
“Our meeting has been very productive, and I am especially happy with the varied profile of our members, all bringing to the table a tremendous wealth of knowledge and expertise from their experiences with clubs and / or National Federations,” said EVC President Libenzio Conti. “Obviously, some ideas and projects will take more time to be further refined and implemented, but this was a good start, and we are on the right track. Our work will now continue through various working groups, as members have been divided into smaller units, each one with a well-defined focus and specific areas to work on. I am confident that the future of European Volleyball is bright.”
The members of the EVC commission from the Balkan countries are Ivan Bošković (MNE), Gabriela Bulgariu (ROU), Simon Djines (MKD), Danilo Mrdja (SRB), Valentin Pomakov (BUL) and Nilufer Basak Shimonsky (TUR).