SIT2PLAY: plenty of activities spark enthusiasm in Slovenia

Sitting volleyball in Slovenia has definitely got the wind in their sails in the last months. As a part of the European Union Erasmus+ Sit2Play project the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia (together with Italian Volleyball Federation, Turkish Volleyball Federation, Estonian Volleyball Federation, Finnish Sport Association of persons with disabilities and Bulgarian Ministry of Youth and Sports) tries to raise awareness and give the marginalized and underprivileged groups, due to their disabilities, a chance for social inclusion trough this wonderful sport.

​The numerous achievements of this young country in sitting volleyball speak for themselves. The Slovenian women national team claimed nine medals in their twelve appearances at European Championships. They won three podiums at the World Championships and made it to the Paralympic Games three times, always finishing among top 6 teams, while Slovenia’s men are still waiting for their time to shine. However, in 2018 they returned on the international scene after long 17 years and made it to the Qualifiers for the Europeans Championship.

Although the sitting volleyball is being played mostly by people with disabilities it has much greater potential. Confirming this, some of the volleyball clubs around the whole country started collaborating on their own initiative. Both senior teams of Calcit Volleyball participated in a friendly match in URI Soča in Ljubljana, where they tested their skills versus Slovenian sitting volleyball national team players. OK Maribor invited two national team players to join the practice of their U17 team and introduce them to the basics of this sport. The youngsters learned that it’s a beautiful and interesting game; however it’s still quite challenging to play.

In the upcoming months Slovenia will host two major events connected with Sit2Play project. The first one will take place in Braslovče on 16th June and the other one in Ljubljana during the 2019 CEV EuroVolley- Men. The activities for both of them have already started and organizers hope to successfully promote the inclusion of everyone through the sport.

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