Regional teams claim top honours in Azerbaijan age-group competitions

With the Caucasus country slowly but surely preparing to welcome a good share of Europe’s Volleyball elite later this year for the CEV EuroVolley 2026 Women, this past month was filled with Volleyball events specifically designed for children in Azerbaijan. It was time for the annual spring holidays at schools, so the Development Centre planned and delivered playoffs, semi-finals, as well as finals for the U14 and U16 age groups – all in conjunction with the CEV School Project ‘Play Volleyball – Grow with it’. Some  play off matches were held at the AVF and Absheron Sport Complex whereas the finals were contested at the Darnagul Volleyball Centre in Baku.  

16 and 14 teams participated for girls and boys, respectively. In an impressive development for the country, Nakhchivan RVC and Turan RVC emerged victorious from the U16 and U14 girls’ tournaments. Among the boys, Nakhchivan and Oguz RVC claimed first place in the U14 and U16 categories, respectively. It means the strategy developed by the Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation (AVF) to grow the game across the country is paying dividends. AVF President Mr Shahin Bagirov was there during the final matches and presented medals and certificates to the winners. 

The play-off and semi-final as well as final matches for the U18 categories (both boys and girls) will start this coming April 3 at the Darnagul Volleyball Centre in Baku.