02/02/2021 15:00
Snow Volleyball provides much-needed playing opportunity in pandemic times
News from the National Federations
Stockholm, Sweden, February 2, 2021. The restrictions imposed by national authorities on indoor sports in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic could somehow provide an opportunity for up-and-coming sports played outdoors, such as Snow Volleyball, to grow and enjoy more popularity especially among the youngsters.
That is what is happening for instance in Sweden, a traditional powerhouse in winter sports, where recently a number of clubs bought a large quantity of volleyballs specifically designed for Snow Volleyball competitions.
The FIVB and CEV developed, together with their partners at Mikasa, the SV335 ball in an effort to provide Snow Volleyball players with something that is resistant to challenging weather conditions, such as those you may find in the iconic alpine locations where Snow Volleyball competitions take place.
“We quickly ran out of snow volleyballs,” says Gunnar Kärrbrant, CEO of Base Sport. Since many cannot play Volleyball indoors, they have resorted to doing so outdoors, on snow. The Swedish company did not expect such an effect by the global health crisis. “This is obviously a positive surprise and it is fun to see that several clubs now activate their members outdoors while the halls are closed. Clubs like Habo, Hästhagen, Västerås, and Stöcke have all bought snow volleyballs. My feeling is that the members want to find ways to play Volleyball. Since it happens to be in the snow right now, this is less important,” he continues.
Sweden sent a team to play at a World Tour event in Bariloche, Argentina in the summer of 2019 and the National Federation has hold national championships as well. “I saw some games, and of course it is a sport that is still at the beginning of its development. It will certainly get a lot better over time. Only time will tell if people at ski resorts around the world will eventually pick up Snow Volleyball,” Kärrbrant concludes.
The interesting thing is that even kids having the opportunity to play indoors opted to play Snow Volleyball instead. That bodes well for the future of the sport in the Scandinavian country, even after we will finally leave the coronavirus pandemic behind us.
|