SATISFACTION AFTER THE INSPECTION VISIT OF THE TOURNAMENT FACILITIES IN VOLLEYBALL

Preparations for the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) 2022, which will take place on 24-30 July in and around Banská Bystrica, are in full swing. In November, an inspection visit of the tournament facilities in volleyball took place in the presence of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) representative Igor Dolinšek, who is also one of the two technical delegates for volleyball at EYOF and the competition director for the Slovak Volleyball Federation (SVF) Marek Prokeš.

“The visit went according to plan. Both halls are basically more or less ready for the competition. There are certain shortcomings that we need to address and improve. Specifically, they relate to the Rates arena in Zvolen, which is a little narrower than it should be according to the set dimensions. We will need an exemption approval to make this right. The hall in Slovenská Ľupča meets all the necessary parameters, as a European Cup competition match was recently played there. The facilities in both arenas are very well prepared, there were no reservations,” informed the sports manager of the organising committee of the youth festival Martin Škarba, who also took part in the inspection and added to its content: “We also went through the training halls. In Zvolen, it will be on the premises of the Technical University for boys, for girls, at the primary school on Magurská Street in Banská Bystrica. Both halls are without any reservations and meet the necessary parameters. This was followed by a tour of the accommodation facilities, specifically the Barina Student Home in Zvolen, where the volleyball players-boys will live. Accommodation and meals also passed without any comments. We also went through the entire zoning within the EYOF Sports Park in Banská Bystrica, the catering tent and the fan zone, where no reservations also arose.”

However, despite the satisfaction, the organisers take the preparations with the utmost seriousness. “We have some tasks that need to be implemented. We will solve them gradually so that we are ready to organise the event at the highest possible level, because we expect a very large and quality participation. Players belonging to senior national teams will also come to EYOF. We are very happy that the spectators will be satisfied and see quality girls volleyball matches (born in 2004-2005) in Slovenská Ľupča and boys (2003-2004) in Zvolen. Eight teams will start in both categories. There will also be Slovak selections, and especially for girls there is a chance for a good result,” continued Škarba.

Before EYOF 2022 itself, test events in individual sports are planned. Volleyball is scheduled for January 6-9, 2021. “However, we know the current situation in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. We are negotiating with the relevant authorities whether we could organise the tournament in a bubble or whether we will finally have to postpone it to the spring date. The original intention was to test both halls at the same time, but we’ll see, because the more sports facilities we have, the bigger the problems. As a priority, we want a test event in the Rates arena in Zvolen, where competitive volleyball is not played. That’s why we’re going to make it play there. I believe that it will be possible,” added Martin Škarba at the end.