19th edition of Top! Volleyball Cup involves more than 4,100 pupils in Latvia
News
This past April 16, the annual School Volleyball Cup, now known as top! Volleyball Cup, concluded with a 128-team final, with matches played across as many as 16 courts at Skonto Hall in Riga, Latvia. The competition featured Latvian school volleyball teams from 28 counties and six state capitals across the Baltic country. Some 536 games were played in the seven-hour final.
The tournament was held in four age groups: Group 1 for High School boys (born 2003-2006), Group 2 for High School girls (2003-2006), Group 3 for Primary School boys (2007-2010), and Group 4 for Primary School girls (born 2007-2010). To qualify for the finals, from February to March a series of preliminary rounds were held thereby involving 199 schools accounting for more than 4,100 pupils and 502 teams!
At the opening ceremony of the finals, the participants of the event were addressed by the Chairman of the Saeima (Parliament of the Republic of Latvia) Sports Sub-Commission Dāvis Mārtiņs Daugavietis, the President of the Latvian Sports Federation Council Einārs Fogelis, Schools Cup founder Atis Sausnītis, the President of the Latvian Volleyball Federation Jānis Buks and the head coach of the Latvian women’s national team and RVS/LU, Daniele Capriotti. CEV Board of Administration member Lubomir Ganev – himself a legendary volleyball player who once played for top Italian clubs and the Bulgarian national team, competing at the 1988 and 1996 Olympics – attended the medal ceremony.
Arnis Tunte“It is a genuine pleasure to see so many young people here. My volleyball career started on one of these courts, and at the time those were my most important games. For the federation, the top! volleyball cup is certainly one of the key assets in promoting Volleyball. Every active young person must play at the top! Cup at least once in their life. As we go forward, let’s become even bigger!”
Secretary General of the Latvian Volleyball Federation
“We are extremely happy, and today was amazing. A well-organised event, and we have been very excited all day,” said Daniela Kadžule, an Āgenskalna State Gymnasium player, as she relished the team’s first place in the high school girls’ competition. “Our strongest side was the character. We really wanted to win and that got us the victory.”
In addition to the matches, people enjoyed other side events that the organisers delivered together with a variety of partners. Activities in the field of security were offered by the State Border Protection Collage, State Police, and the Latvian Safer Internet Centre. At the University of Latvia stand, pupils could also learn about studying to become a volleyball coach. There were creative workshops too.
Samanta Gleizupa“We experienced great emotion when we arrived. The finals were challenging, and we had strong opponents, but we got to finish in second place. The atmosphere was very good, there were a lot of people. We believed in ourselves and enjoyed every second of this cup.”
Aizpute High School player commenting on her achievement in the elementary school girls’ tournament
The School Cup is organised by the Latvian Volleyball Federation in cooperation with local governments, supported by the Latvian Sports Federation Council and the Ministry of Education and Science. For the 19th edition, Latvia’s largest local shop network “top!” was the main sponsor. The event is the largest and most anticipated youth volleyball competition in the country, and it has been organised by the Latvian Volleyball Federation since 2001, bringing together more than 60,000 pupils over the past two decades. This has also been the first major volleyball tournament for world-class players such as Anastasija Kravčenoka (now Samoilova), Jānis Šmēdins, Gundars Celitāns, Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Mārtins Pļaviņs, Toms Švans and many other elite athletes from Latvia.
