BVF President shares CEV School Project success with European Parliament members

The President of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation (BVF), Mr Lubomir Ganev, recently addressed members of the European Parliament in conjunction with a conference revolving around ‘Youth and sport in the European Union’. Apart from Ganev, some of the most legendary Bulgarian athletes participated in the discussion – with names including the likes of soccer superstar Hristo Stoichkov, swimmer and 1988 Olympic champion Tanya Bogomilova, shooter Maria Grozdeva, chess player Antoaneta Stefanova, and gymnast Yordan Yovchev.

In his speech, which received a thunderous round of applause from the attendees, Ganev discussed ‘Strategic partnerships for promoting the development of sports’ thereby involving federations, businesses, and government institutions. In emphasising the need for a closer cooperation and coordination on a national and European level, Ganev said: “Our experience shows that only through deepening this sort of collaboration and coordination we can meet the challenges of our time and the extremely dynamic technological environment we live in today, and thus provide a better future for young people in Europe.”

“This way we can pool resources and combine expertise. Each of these three strategic partners possess valuable resources and know-how, which combined can lead to much more significant results than those that would be achieved when working separately. Sports federations need fresh ideas and solutions to further develop. Businesses can offer expertise and technologies, and the government and European institutions on their side can offer a regulatory environment conducive to innovations,” he stressed. “Only if we stay united, we can reach more people. Through their cooperation, the three strategic partners can make sure that sport is more accessible to people of all ages, social groups and with different interests.”

“Sport is one of the main tools for the development of soft skills, which are so increasingly sought after in the business world. It has been proven that playing sports leads to an increase in total productivity, and hence competitiveness, which on the other side is a very important thing for the position of Europe in a strong competitive environment!” he added. 

Ganev said the European Union shall provide financial support for projects which promote cooperation between sports federations, businesses, and government institutions. Moreover, the European Union may adopt laws and directives to facilitate this cooperation, and in this way encourage local legislative initiatives to support such virtuous processes. Finally, the EU could play the role of coordinator between the different partners for example by organising sports forums where all interested partners could meet, exchange ideas, and create partnerships.

Mr Ganev referenced the highly successful project run by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation to promote Volleyball at school and introduced in the Balkan country with the help and support of the CEV. “This initiative is co-financed by the Erasmus+ programme, and in Bulgaria we have managed to attract local business partners as well, this way making the programme even more encompassing and reaching a large number of schools and more children. The main goal of this initiative is for Volleyball to become more popular as a sport among the children and young people in Europe, through restoring and strengthening the partnership between volleyball clubs and local schools in areas where the respective clubs operate,” he said. “Volleyball sessions and matches are organised during PE classes, tournaments and inter-school championships are run as well as courses for coaches and teachers, and sports equipment is being provided too. The results are remarkable – a growth of interest in Volleyball among children and young people, and in their potential to pursue a professional career in the sport. And, of course, all this leads to a significant improvement of the general physical and health condition of young people, because many more of them start moving more, practice sports, and this leads to a healthy lifestyle.” 

Bulgaria is one of 28 countries involved in the CEV-run project. Currently in its second year of implementation, the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation has already visited more than 50 schools with plans to reach 100 upon completion of the third year. 

“I have always believed that education and sports go hand in hand together. Our children must be educated and be healthy. We want to find and reach out to the greatest talents, to develop them and one day they will make Bulgaria proud. The success of the programme is shown by the results achieved by our youth and junior national teams in the past few years. It is no coincidence that in 2024 we host two European and one age-group World Championships,” Ganev said. “I would like to use this platform to encourage you to keep supporting these collaborations involving federations, businesses, and government institutions, both on a national and European level. I would like to encourage you to think and create the prerequisites for such interactions and collaborations, especially when it comes to mass participation sport and sport for children and teenagers. Sports and an active way of life have always been important, but in the times that we live in and with the new challenges facing young people, we need to further encourage and stimulate them to live healthy and to play sport. I believe this is the key to a better future for the whole of our society!”