School champions crowned in Scotland

When it comes to the delivery of the CEV School Project in Scotland, April saw the much-awaited National Cup Finals weekend taking place at the Pleasance Sports Complex in Edinburgh. While a regular season occurrence for senior and junior teams, this was be the first time that schools’ competition had made an appearance at the event since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Friday saw both the girls’ and boys’ finals take place, with CEV affiliated schools involved. Schools had participated in a round-robin style qualifier, with the top two teams in each gender progressing to the final event. All four qualifying teams (from four different schools) thoroughly enjoyed their matches, with two schools eventually taking home the schools’ trophies for the 2022-2023 season. Quite remarkably, one of the head coaches for the boys’ school teams participated in last year’s CEV Coaches Convention in North Macedonia, and he credited some of the learnings to the success of the team this year.

Additionally, the West of Scotland saw an end-of-year schools’ festival, with more than 120 pupils in attendance. The festival was organised alongside the yearly transition events for Primary 7 pupils as they make the move to high school. While some of the involved schools are already part of the CEV Project, this event was a great way to showcase Volleyball to new pupils, as well as to develop the sporting link between primary and high schools.

Scotland were also excited to confirm the five participants heading to this year’s CEV Coaches Convention taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria. After the success of last year’s convention, and the rave reviews from participants, Scottish Volleyball are looking forward to attending with a new selection of teachers.

Pictures courtesy of http://volleyballphotos.co.uk/