CEV School Project reaches additional kids and schools across Croatia

The Croatian Volleyball Federation is working extensively to spread the reach of the CEV School Project ‘Play Volleyball – Grow with it’ across their country. Back in March, many visits were organised to schools in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County as well as in Istria and Primorje Gora.

Project Coordinator Zina Urlić and Professor Karmela Nikolić visited Ivan Gundulić Elementary School in Dubrovnik. They implemented the project with two classes from the fifth grade. The session was attended by 32 pupils (19 boys and 13 girls), of which five girls actively play Volleyball already as members of the Dubrovnik Volleyball Club. The session focussed on basic volleyball elements and various games in which the students developed a sense of teamwork. To make the training even more interesting and dynamic, the project leaders used various props such as hoops, racks, and cones.

At the end of the training, Zina and Karmela asked the students to evaluate the training by themselves. They did this by jumping over one of the two cones with emoticons on them, just before going to the locker room. Those who had liked the training should have jumped over the cone with the smiley emoticon, and those who did not should have leaped over the cone with the sad emoji. All the students jumped over the cone with the smiley emoticon! 

The second school to receive the same delegation was Montovjerna Elementary School in Dubrovnik where students from the fourth grade were involved. There were 47 students (29 boys and 18 girls), of which seven girls are already members of the local Dubrovnik Volleyball Club. The pupils played various games to develop a timely reaction to the auditory stimulus. In the main part of the training, they practiced basic volleyball elements, attack movements, and various games in which the students developed a strong sense of teamwork and mutual communication. As in the previous school, an evaluation of the session was done and again all students jumped over the cone with the smiley emoticon! 

The counties of Istria and Primorje Gora have been very active as well, with as many as six schools organising such sessions. The first visit was paid to the Italian Elementary School Bernardo Benussi in Rovinj where about thirty students from the first and second grades together with physical education teachers Arabela Gašpić, Suzana Benussi and Samuel Benussi participated in the demonstration training. 
 
Moreover, the Project Coordinator for this area, Dragan Salapura, ran a training at the Vladimir Nazor Elementary School, where students from the fifth and sixth grades performed motor and coordination movements and a demonstration of volleyball elements. With a lot of help from local physical education professors Bojana Bolkovič and Sanje Đunisić, the atmosphere and engagement of the children were remarkable. 

Students from the fifth grade of Rikard Katalinić Jeretov Elementary school in Opatija participated in the project as well. It is interesting to note that there were many students from this school who watched the demonstration training. Physical education professors Petra Filipović and Maja Kutija attended the training too. Since the arrival of the Project Coordinator caused great interest, Marko Crnković (coordinator of the Primorsko Goran County Association), principal of the school Milana Međimorec, and the president of volleyball club Opatija, Vlado Brnečić, joined as well. Considering the large number of participants in the project, the coach decided to go for a session where different technique exercises and coordination with balloons were shown and executed.

At Elementary School Petar Studenac in Kanfanar, physical education professor Marin Ivanić participated in the session with students from the sixth and seventh grades together with school director Marko Jelenić and Aldo Krelja, president of the women’s Volleyball club Rovinj. Professor Marinić was a player and captain of the men’s volleyball team in Rovinj under coach Salapura. They achieved significant success that season as they qualified for the 1st league, and Mr Salapura was declared the best coach in the city of Rovinj. Professor Marinić, although he is a physical education teacher and teaches children all sports, does not hide that his favourite thing remains Volleyball. In the first part of the demonstration training, children warmed up with specific movements with the balls, and subsequently worked on elementary volleyball techniques. In the end, they did the fun part through a series of entertaining games.

As part of the CEV School Project, Mr Salapura also visited the Nikola Tesla Elementary School in the very centre of the city of Rijeka, which has some 600 students. Along with the physical education teacher Nataša Pavić, Alen Pavačić who is coach of AOK Petica and holds training sessions with younger age groups in this school, joined the session as well. The kids did exercises with a focus on motor movements and coordination with the ball and later worked on the basic elements of Volleyball, with exercises in pairs among other things. 

Finally, a training session was held at Brajda Elementary School in Rijeka, with the assistance of physical education professor Alen Pavačić. The pupils there warmed up with balls doing specific movements, all distinctive of Volleyball. They focused on coordination and speed. The main part of the training included exercises to work on elementary volleyball technique, before games and fun competitions concluded the programme.