192 children celebrate launch of Ireland’s CEV School Project
News
A mammoth 16-court celebration of Volleyball took place in Ireland on Monday, December 2. Gormanston Park, Co. Meath held the biggest Primary School Volleyball event in Irish history as 192 excited youngsters played the new SmashVolley format, while teachers and coaches were trained by expert Educator Dr Jimmy Czimek.
The event, which is part of the CEV School Project ‘Play Volleyball – Grow with it’ 2.0, was the national launchpad for a new way to teach Volleyball to children. Volleyball Ireland will now roll out regional workshops for coaches and PE teachers, as well as local and national tournaments for schools and clubs. In partnership with CEV, a range of educational videos, PDF resources and an online training course are available for Irish coaches via the CEV Campus: https://campus.cev.eu/#/public-dashboard
German Coach Educator Dr Jimmy Czimek, alongside PhD researcher Tonya Blickhauser delivered an inspiring theoretical explanation, followed by a practical demonstration for 35 selected coaches from Ireland’s club network. These coaches will now deliver the new way of coaching across the Volleyball Ireland community. Jimmy and Tonya authored the programme handbook, CEV School Project 2.0 - a New Guide for Teachers and Coaches, which provides a step-by-step approach for teaching our favourite sport to children and beginners.
Volleyball Ireland Development Manager Conor Flood was ecstatic to receive feedback from the players and teachers.
“This new format with various levels means every child can enjoy the sport, play long rallies and get as many touches of the ball as possible. The kids really loved the games, the coaches and teachers found this method simple to understand and suitable for the mixed levels they often have in their class. SmashVolley really promotes our principles as simple as possible, as often as possible, as fast as possible. We can’t wait to roll it out nationwide.”
Interested schools or clubs that wish to take part in SmashVolley can find out more here: https://www.volleyballireland.com/schools/programmes/cev-schools-project/
