Development

Hundreds of kids join in latest School Project activities in Estonia

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Article Thu, Oct 27 2022

In their efforts to grow the game with the help of the CEV School Project ‘Play Volleyball – Grow with it’, the Estonian Volleyball Federation organised earlier this month school visits together with Pärnu Volleyball School coaches and Pärnu Volleyball Club players Markus Kohtla, Kristofer Rünt and Jörgen Vanamõisa.

The group visited as many as three schools in two days – namely Ülejõe Gymnasium, Paikuse School and Kuninga street Middle School. At each school, some 80 students joined in classes designed to introduce the participants to the Volleyball game. School teachers commented that they were very happy to see different exercises specifically developed for each grade, as they would have never come up with something like that on their own. Kids got club flyers to ask autographs, with the schools receiving balls and bands to make sure that Volleyball activities will continue in the weeks and months that lie ahead. Pärnu Volleyball School coaches said that their phones have been ringing since the visits and that kids are looking for practices to attend – which is testament to the overwhelming success of the masterclasses that they have delivered.

On October 17-18, the Estonian Volleyball Federation organised similar actions in the southern section of the country. This year, a new professional men’s club is playing in the Baltic League – Barrus Võru – and it was a pleasure to visit schools with their assistant coach Priit Tigane and players Cris-Karlis Lepp and Garrett Zolg. The action, lasting for two days, involved three schools – Keeni and Pühajärve Middle Schools and Otepää Gymnasium. The first two are quite small schools in the countryside and as a result, the visit of elite Volleyball players was a major event. The masterclasses involved more than 100 students at each school – basically all of those attending classes there. On the other hand, the Otepää Gymnasium had a little older students involved. PE teachers were a bit sad that there are no Volleyball clubs nearby, but they got lots of new ideas to start introducing Volleyball at school during their PE classes.

Player Garrett Zolg, who is originally from California, USA, was especially happy to attend the visits because in America, clubs and schools work a lot differently, so he got a whole new perspective on the Estonian school system and sports in general. This means that school visits are good and beneficial for all parties involved! All schools received volleyballs and bands as a present to continue and level up their work.

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