Bulgaria women’s team dream of Los Angeles 2028 through Volleyball Empowerment programme

The Bulgaria women's national volleyball team has set its sights on the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28), fueled by the support of the FIVB’s revolutionary Volleyball Empowerment programme.

It is worth noting that none of the current national team players were born when the country clinched bronze at the Olympic Games Moscow 1980. That remains their only appearance at the Olympic Games volleyball competition to date, in stark contrast to the men’s team, which has participated in the Games eight times.

However, Bulgarian Volleyball Federation (BVF) President Lubomir Ganev remains optimistic that the women’s team’s long wait for a return to the Games may soon be over. This renewed hope comes after the FIVB approved a CHF 72,000 coach support project via Volleyball Empowerment for the team.

The BVF have entrusted Italian coach Lorenzo Micelli with the task of rebuilding the national team, setting the long-term goal of qualifying for the Olympic Games LA28.

Micelli, who led Bulgaria at last year’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL), is once again guiding the young team at this year’s edition. This competition serves as a valuable learning opportunity for the players who will also take part in the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier 2023.

Italian Coach Lorenzo Micelli (centre) has been tasked with rebuilding the Bulgarian women’s national team with the long-term goal of qualifying for LA28

“We have a fairly young team after almost all our senior players retired. We started rebuilding last year and we are glad that we managed to remain in the VNL. Micelli’s experience is very important to us at this stage because he is helping us to build a team for the future.

“He has instilled discipline in the team and also introduced modern technology and training methods. We want to ensure we maintain our VNL status this year as well so that the girls can continue developing at a high-level competition,” said Ganev.

Bulgaria’s Elena Becheva (centre) in action against Japan during the VNL 2023

Bulgaria’s women’s national team finished 13th in the VNL 2023 with two victories in the matches against Croatia (3-0) and Korea (3-1), one position up from the 2022 edition where they finished 14th. The team will remain in the tournament for 2024.

Bulgaria is in Pool B of the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier 2023 alongside hosts Japan, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Peru, Puerto Rico and Türkiye. Pool B will be played in Tokyo, Japan from 16 to 24 September with the top two teams qualifying for Paris 2024. But before that Bulgaria will play at the 2023 CEV Euro Volley from 15 August to 3 September.

“It is a tough group for the Olympic qualifiers, but we are determined to go out there, enjoy the experience and give it our best. We want to finish among the top eight teams in the Euro Volley so that we can approach the Paris Olympic qualifiers with confidence.

“We have five years to expose this young team to high level competitions such as the Euro Volley, World Championship and VNL, and they will then be ready to qualify LA28. This is our long-term target,” underlined Ganev.