Luxembourg, October 22, 2013. The 2014 and 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championships – Small Countries Division is breaking all records at the end of a registration process where 12 out of 15 SCD members entered their teams for the competitions coming up in 2014 (U19 Women and U20 Men) and 2015 (Final Round of the Men’s and Women’s Championships). Two SCD members – Luxembourg and Scotland – are entering all four competitions; the U19 Women and U20 Men will see Wales debut on the international stage after this country registered for participation in these Championships for the very first time ever.
“These are great news” says CEV President André Meyer “that confirm the positive trend we had already seen earlier this year as many of the SCD members had registered to enter the qualification process for the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championships. The international debut of two Welsh national teams makes me particularly happy after their Federation re-joined our Volleyball family only a few years ago. They are going to compete with their junior teams, so this means that Volleyball has a bright future there too” he continues.
With Monaco, Gibraltar and Greenland not registering at all for the 2014 and 2015 SCD Championships, the men’s competition whose preliminary rounds will take place next year in Cyprus and Iceland is joined by seven teams; Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, and Andorra were assigned to Pool A while Iceland will host Pool B starring also the national teams of Scotland and Luxembourg. The final round scheduled for 2015 will be held in Luxembourg.
9 teams will participate in the women’s competition; Scotland will host preliminary Pool A and get to test the likes of Cyprus (winners of the 2013 edition, see picture), Malta, Ireland, and Northern Ireland; Iceland will welcome the teams assigned to Pool B, i.e. Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Faroe Islands. Liechtenstein will host the final round in 2015.
As for the U19 Women and U20 Men (formerly known as Junior European Championships), five and four teams respectively will be competing next year. With no prelims, there will be a single-round robin with Luxembourg hosting the men’s U20 tournament – the other participants being Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales – while San Marino is the host country of the U19 Women Championship. The local heroines will be playing Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Scotland, and Wales as they attempt to go for home gold.
