23/01/2020 23:13
Pëllumbi: Together, we can take Albanian Volleyball to new levels
News from the National Federations
Tirana, Albania, January 23, 2020. The Albanian Volleyball Federation (FSHV) will hold their General Assembly on January 25, 2020 and the current president, Erlind Pëllumbi, is running for a second consecutive term unchallenged. In fact, this comes as no surprise, as he and his team have raised the profile of Albanian Volleyball to a completely new level.
Only little more than four years ago, the Albanian Volleyball Federation was on the brink of bankruptcy with debts amounting to considerable figures. However, by combining his passion of the game with his business administration skills and supporting this with a small, but hardworking group of people he brought into the Federation’s structure, Pëllumbi began to turn things around what was one of the most successful sports of Albania on the international stage.
Furthermore, the Federation embraced the up-to-date technology offered by CEV and the FIVB and modernised the system of administering the games. Nowadays anybody from anywhere in the world, in any given Internet-based platform, can follow live and in real-time, the scores of each match of all Albanian Senior Championships, female or male.
In addition, the Albanian national teams started to improve their performance at different levels. Some examples include a bronze medal in the Women’s Silver European League in 2018. Meanwhile the men’s team has gone from strength to strength as well.
Moreover, in 2018, Albania hosted, for the first time, the finals of the Women’s European U19 Championship, an enormous achievement accomplished successfully, despite the lack of any previous experience. Such an event was praised as far as its organisation and quality of the games were concerned.
The return of the Albanian clubs to the European fold was a milestone everyone is proud of; in the current season, the Albanian champions, Partizani, fell just one little step short of securing a place in the group stage of the Women’s Champions League, while the men’s teams of Erzeni and Partizani have been playing in the Challenge Cup. These are modest steps, but steps forward nevertheless. Steps that make everyone hopeful and confident of making bigger strides ahead.
Consequently, the number of Albanian volleyball players (both male and female) that are part of other European teams has increased.
FSHV President Erlind Pëllumbi and Secretary General Albens Vokopola together with the CEV President after the signing of the agreement for the implementation of the CEV School Project in Albania
Last, but, not least, in mid-December, Albania joined the growing group of National Federations to have signed an agreement with the European Volleyball Confederation for the promotion of Volleyball at the grassroots level through the CEV’s School Project ‘Play Volleyball, grow with it’. There are serious efforts to involve as many children as possible, looking ahead and focusing on developing the next generation of Albanian Volleyball players in cooperation with the Albanian National Olympic Committee.
Looking ahead to a second term, Pëllumbi derives his creed from the sport he loves. “Volleyball is a team game and likewise, our success or our failure as a Federation is not the result of a single person, but of good team led by a clear vision,” says the President of the Albanian Volleyball Federation. “We have proved that, just as we turned things around during the last 4-5 years, we can build on everything good, however modest be it, to achieve greater things. Just as our game relies solely on passing the ball to one another, so will we score new achievements for Albanian volleyball and my humble appeal for our sports community in Albania is simple: Come and play with us as a team and we win together, for the good of our game.”
Pictured above: FSHV President Erlind Pëllumbi and Secretary General Albens Vokopola
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