School Project activities continue to go from strength to strength

Many children across Europe are just about to return to school after their well-deserved summer break and with this, Volleyball activities run in conjunction with the CEV School Project ‘Play Volleyball – Grow with it’ will soon resume as well. The 2025/2026 school year broke all participation records, as the number of people involved in the programme continues to increase from year to year. 

Since its inception in 2017, the CEV School Project has now mobilised almost 1.2 million people – a figure that includes schoolchildren, teachers, coaches, families, and many more stakeholders. What is most impressive is that by reversing a trend that had lasted for many years, boys now outnumber the girls involved in the project, with a truly impressive increase (+47%) registered year on year. This is an area the National Federations were expected to work on to bridge a gap traditionally existing at the grassroots level and the key now will be to find ways to retain these young boys in the game even though there is tough competition coming from other sports as well. 

The number of primary schools reached across Europe stands now at 6,780 and the project obviously helps local clubs recruit young players as well – who transition from discovering and playing Volleyball during PE classes to the more structured and organised activities run by clubs from the surrounding areas. To this extent, while PE teachers and coaches continue to play a leading role in running the project and spreading its reach even further, much credit goes also to the many community and capacity building events organised in association with the programme.  

With almost 176,000 children involved this far, the CEV School Project remains a key tool to spread the love for the game and introduce kids to Volleyball at a young age in a variety of countries in an engaging and effective way. At this stage, 32 National Federations have joined forces with the CEV to deliver it across their respective countries and activities will continue to grow as kids return to school in the coming weeks to further nurture their love for the game as well.