Skopje, FYR of Macedonia, June 16, 2018.  Over 100 children from eight different countries took part in the Balkan Kids Volleyball Festival on Thursday and Friday to get the 2018 CEV Volleyball Silver European League - Men's Final Four weekend underway in the Macedonian capital Skopje.

This was the fifth edition of the now traditional annual Balkan Kids Volleyball Festival under the auspices of the Balkan Volleyball Association after Serbia, Turkey (twice) and Montenegro hosted the event in previous years.

Each of the eight countries, which took part in the Festival in Skopje – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia – was represented by two mixed teams of girls born in 2006 or after and boys born in 2005 or after.

While the kids from these 16 selections enjoyed playing their competitive international Volleyball matches, the main idea of the event is not the competition itself, so eventually all participating children received medals and commemorative t-shirts from the organisers of the Macedonian national federation and the Skopje municipality.



Under the motto Choose Volleyball – Одбери одбоjка, the event started on Thursday with an official evening, in which the kids got to meet each other and even represent the culture of their country in a way of their own choosing. Friday’s matches were planned to take place outdoors, at the city’s main square, but the weather forecast prompted the organisers to move them to the Forza sports centre, where several courts were set up next to each other.



After the closing ceremony, during which the Mayor of Skopje, Petre Shilegov, handed the participating kids their awards, the young Volleyball hopefuls went to the Kale sports centre and enjoyed the spectacular five-set battle in the second semifinal of the Silver European League between Croatia and hosts FYR of Macedonia.