26/03/2018 12:00
First-ever #EuroSnowVolley goes down in history
2018 CEV Snow Volleyball European Championship
Luxembourg, March 26, 2018. It was a truly historic weekend in the Austrian Alps where a scenic backdrop with many snowy peaks and the iconic Salzburg Snow Space Arena provided the ideal stage for the delivery of the first-ever CEV Snow Volleyball European Championship. The competition featuring 24 teams per gender from as many as 18 countries ended on Sunday in ideal weather conditions as teams from Russia and Lithuania claimed the top honours from the men’s and women’s competition before a raucous, record-breaking crowd for this still young, yet extremely fresh and energetic sport.
The CEV, the Austrian Volleyball Federation and promoter Chaka 2 can proudly look back at three days that will literally go down in history – and there was no better place to achieve this goal than the real birthplace of Snow Volleyball. Wagrain played host to the very first Snow Volleyball exhibition matches ten years ago and after the CEV ratified a European Tour for the first time in 2016, a dream has eventually come true.
“Snow Volleyball helps us provide more opportunities for players and National Federations,” CEV President Aleksandar Boričić commented. “We have been working on Volleyball and Beach Volleyball for many years and we have now added Snow Volleyball to our offer, so that people of all ages and backgrounds can potentially play Volleyball 365 days a year. The event in Wagrain is a role model to look up to in many ways and I hope other National Federations will follow this example.”
The numbers are truly impressive, with hundreds of thousands of views for the live streaming and #SnowTime daily show run by the CEV on their social media, while TV stations provided coverage of the competition across as many as 19 European countries and across the globe as well via the partnership established with Eurosport Asia Pacific.
The level of the competition was incredibly high – and this became evident on Sunday with the medal matches providing the audience with many exciting rallies, thus energising all those in attendance and inspiring the ones watching a Volleyball game played on snow for the very first time.
The 2018 Snow Volleyball season has ended with a highlight that will go down in history – but players and fans can start looking forward to the 2019 campaign with many of the stars who competed in Wagrain, including the newly crowned European champions Daianov/Myskiv and Dumbauskaite/Povilaityte ready to come back to the snow after completing their beach season.
Click here for further information or visit www.snowvolleyball.com
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