Bulgaria will host Balkan Championship in snow volleyball for the first time and it will be held in Rhodopes – on Mount Perelik (Bulgaria) from 17th until 19th of March.
Bulgaria, Turkiye and Romania will participate with their best players.
Bulgaria is one of the countries that first started to develop volleyball on snow and it is increasingly becoming a priority of the Bulgarian Federation. The main engine of the Balkan Championship is Todor Stoyanov, who is the president of the Technical Commission for Snow and Beach Volleyball of the Balkan Volleyball Association.
“Last year we held the first republican snow volleyball championship. This sport is developing most strongly in Europe, and we are among the countries that work the most together with Italy, France, Austria, Turkiye and Romania. First of all, snow volleyball must become an attractive sports product, and then competitors will be created”, said Stoyanov.
The first Republican Championship was organized according to all the requirements of the FIVB and CEV.
“This is how we set a high standard – continued Stoyanov. – In Europe, a working group is being organized for the development of snow volleyball, which we have five members. Thanks mainly to Italy and Austria, the sport is gaining momentum. The president of the Federation, Lubo Ganev, is extremely active and wants snow volleyball to be at a high level in Bulgaria. The group that CEV organizes, develops the rules, selects the most suitable resorts, and determines age groups.’
Since October, Ganev and Stoyanov have been developing the organization of the Balkan Championship. The two visited the same sponsor and place, because since last year Perelik’s people wanted to continue.
What are the requirements for the Balkan Championship?
At least four teams must participate. And they should be with men and women. It is also necessary to use one of the four formats that CEV offers. The tournament must be under the umbrella of the zonal organization, in this case – the Balkan Volleyball Association. To have international status, at least three countries must be involved. In addition, the tournament will be included in the platform of FIVB and CEV. It is necessary for all competitors to register 10 days before the start. All results are entered into the platform and can be followed live worldwide.
The sponsor also promised a prize fund that is yet to be announced. All competitors will receive ranking points. They are twice as many as in the Republican championship.
“Initially, we had determined that the Balkaniad would be from March 31st to April 2nd, but we did not know that then the elections would be held – continued Stoyanov. – We moved the tournament a week earlier. But there are four international snow volleyball competitions in Europe. Turkiye was supposed to host three of them, but they were postponed due to the earthquake. It remained so only in Austria between March 24th and 26th. We agreed with Lyubo Ganev that ours would be between March 17th and 19th. It’s not nice to end the whole European snow volleyball season in one weekend.”
Bulgaria will be represented by Varna and Pleven among the women, who finished in the first two places of the Republican Championship. In the men’s category, the champion is Smolyan 2, as well as Rudozem, who finished third.