School Project activities go from strength to strength in Bulgaria

In the cosy, warm, and spacious gymnasium of the primary school no. 16 named after St. Cyril and Methodius, dozens of children have taken their first steps in Volleyball. It was there that the latest stop of the campaign ‘With Volleyball at school’ run by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation (BVF) and organised under the auspices of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) was held.

The hall was renovated less than a year ago (in May 2022) upon the initiative of one of the local teachers, Tsvetelin Dragomirov. The director of the school, Elena Lozanova embraced the idea and did everything possible to make it happen. They christened the hall after the former and now deceased director Hristo Angelov, under whose leadership the hall was built as one of the most modern sports facilities in the city.

“Every Thursday, he gathered the teachers here, and they played Volleyball. A person who loved sports very much, and that is why we named the hall after him,” says Lozanova and adds that one of the biggest donors was Angelov’s own daughter. The opening of the gymnasium coincides with the revival of the children’s and youth school Metallurg volleyball club. In just one year, the president and coach of the club, Miroslav Iliev, has managed to gather nearly 110 children from the area, and one of his groups has trained in this sports hall.

“Our goal is to deepen the interest in Volleyball among the local children, and specifically here, at the school, to have many more kids involved,” says Iliev.

Miroslav Iliev and coaches from his school - Adela Rosinova and Aleksandar Mladenov, took part in a demonstration training. Dozens of children were involved, and the event sparked interest among other children from the school, who had come to the hall simply to watch. Former Volleyball stars Evgeni Ivanov and Nikolay Ivanov told the children how important education is and how it can be successfully combined with sports, giving as an example the young ambassadors of the initiative - Aleksandar Nikolov and Nikol Dankinova, who study in elite universities in the USA and have been able to do so thanks to their sporting achievements.

Ruse and Dimitrovgrad host coaching seminars

A record attendance was reported in Ruse for the traditional coaching seminar organised by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation. The Danube city hosted the event for the Dobruja region on Sunday, April 23. As many as 30 coaches took part, which is the largest group since the start of the programme. Nikola Dimitrov introduced the attendees to the topic ‘The role of the coach in adolescents’, and together with him was Evgeni Ivanov - chairman of the Committee for Children and Youth Volleyball at the BVF.

The programme, which presents the latest trends and modern practices for the role of the coach and the educational/training process for adolescents, featured a theoretical and a practical part. They took place in the ‘Arena’ hall with the assistance of VC Lyubo Ganev - Autosvyat. During the event, it became clear that the ‘Major Atanas Uzunov’ sports school in Ruse has started an initiative to resume the admission of students for specialised training in Volleyball.

On Saturday, April 22, a Coaching Seminar was also held for the Strandzha region. The city of Dimitrovgrad was the host, with participation of 15 coaches and children from VK Rakovski - Dimitrovgrad as well. The event lasted for three hours, and here too it was divided into two main parts.