In January 2019, a 12-strong Girls U16 squad will head to the Faroe Islands to compete against Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and the hosts for a place in the main draw of the prestigious Confederation of European Volleyball (CEV) Championships. This is the first time in history an Irish youth team has entered an International Governing Body event – and is testament to the strides Volleyball Ireland are making in youth development.
The National Squad programme was the brainchild of coaches Gianni Massa and Jenny King – a former Irish International herself – who setup the programme three years ago to develop the next generation of International players.
King said, “There’s a great history of Volleyball in Ireland, and there is lots of activity happening in schools. This programme was a way of developing and inspiring the girls to keep playing, training and leading an active healthy lifestyle. It’s a great opportunity for the girls to live everyone’s dream and play for their country.”
The team have been training in all corners of Ireland with full day training camps on a regular basis. Some of the group are also off to Sardinia to hone their technical skills in the hometown of Head Coach Massa, alongside world class Italian Volleyball coaches and players.
One barrier to International Competition is the cost of competing – participation in the Championships is expected to cost in the region of €20,000. With parents and players fundraising within their local areas. The group have even setup a Crowdfunding page with Irish company PledgeSports – this allows anyone to make a donation to offset the costs of flights, accommodation and training equipment.
https://www.pledgesports.org/projects/get-our-girls-to-faroe/
There are a range of partnership opportunities for business to become involved in sponsoring the team including a Main Team Sponsorship package and Team Partners.
For more information on Sponsorship packages please contact Gary Stewart, General Manager, Volleyball Ireland. gm@volleyballireland.com
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Further Info:
Globally, Volleyball is one of the world’s most popular sports with an estimated 998 million players across six continents.
Volleyball Ireland is the National Governing Body of Volleyball in the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland.
Over 12,000 children participate in the Volleyball Ireland National Schools Programme.
951 school teams entered the 2017-18 National Cup competition.
61 different nationalities make up the registered adult playing pool within Ireland – making Volleyball one of the most diverse sports in Ireland.
Volleyball is a key recipient of Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport grant programme.
Volleyball is one of the few sports where more women participate than men in Ireland (ratio: 43-57).
