EuroVolley 2013 – An event that broke new ground in European Volleyball

There have been many milestones in 50 years of European Volleyball history. The sport has grown tremendously across the continent and at times, organisers of elite competitions have experimented in their efforts to raise the profile of the game to a higher level. To this end, the 2013 edition of CEV EuroVolley Men was quite ground-breaking.

Denmark, a country where Volleyball is unfortunately not (yet) among the mainstream sports, joined forces with Volleyball-mad Poland to deliver the continental championship. A year earlier, to lay the foundations for the work they would have had to undertake for the ‘senior’ event, these same countries co-hosted the men’s U20 competition.

For the hosts, the event on home soil coincided with their return to the EuroVolley stage for the first time since 1971. The local organisers, together with title sponsor VELUX, a well-known Danish brand, embarked on a very extensive programme of activities aimed at promoting the sport and change its perception across the citizens, including through what at the time was a very innovative use of social media networks. On the court, the hosts achieved a major goal when they progressed through the pool stage following a hard-fought and dramatic 3-2 victory over Belarus.

With this, they made sure they would move from Odense to Aarhus where the competition continued – and where they eventually lost in straight sets to reigning European champions Serbia. They finished the competition in 12th place, still a remarkable achievement for the players coached by American Fred Sturm.

What made the plans of the organisers especially ambitious was the idea to deliver the semis and medal matches in a rather unconventional environment – Parken national stadium, where the Danish football national team play all their home matches. With little time to turn a section of the stadium into a Volleyball court, Volleyball Denmark eventually delivered on their promise and in late September of 2013, the top four teams in Europe came together at Parken to play for continental honours.

This is where reigning Olympic champions Russia, fresh from their dramatic success at London 2012, further cemented their supremacy by conceding only one set in their semi-final with Serbia before edging Italy by the same score in the gold medal match. The man responsible for the unforgettable turnaround of the London 2012 final with Brazil, Dmitriy Muserskiy, was again instrumental to Russia’s success and eventually received the award for the Most Valuable Player of the championship.

Some 7,000 fans witnessed the EuroVolley final at Parken, the first time a football stadium was used for such a purpose, at least in a competition run by the CEV in modern times. Later this year, Team Denmark will return to the EuroVolley stage for the first time since that 2013 edition. The experience at Parken certainly broke new ground and inspired others to follow – only four years later, more than 65,000 people came together at PGE National Stadium in Warsaw for the opening match of the 2017 edition of EuroVolley Men between hosts Poland and Serbia. But this is a story that we will tell separately…