Challenger Cup podiums packed with Volleyball Empowerment teams

Five of the six medallists in the women’s and the men’s Volleyball Challenger Cup 2023 tournaments are beneficiaries of the FIVB’s Volleyball Empowerment programme, aimed at empowering national teams and athletes to reach their full potential.

The entire top three in the women’s final standings have received Volleyball Empowerment support. France, who competed in the Challenger Cup for only the second time, made history by winning the trophy and a ticket to next year’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL). The national team is receiving ongoing coach support totalling CHF 72,000.

Head coach Emile Rousseaux guided the team through their three victories at the tournament held at home in Laval to help secure the team’s right to participate in the VNL for the first time, which will be staged prior to the country hosting the women’s volleyball tournament at next year’s Olympic Games Paris 2024. In Thursday’s quarterfinal, France mastered a 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-17) win over Vietnam. In Saturday’s semifinal, the home team delivered a 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-22) upset of Ukraine, one of the pre-favourites to win the competition, and then, in Sunday’s crucial final (pictured in the main photo), Rousseaux’s squad downed Swedish top star Isabelle Haak and her teammates by 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 25-15) to celebrate a historic success.

“This is the first time in the history of French women's volleyball that we have reached such a level. As another Rousseau, much more famous than me, said, you have to do what you don't know how to do to learn how to do it. We will have to learn to play 10 or 12 games in 25 days, we will have to learn from our victories and our defeats,” coach Emile Rousseaux said after the final in Laval.

Runners-up Sweden are also receiving Volleyball Empowerment coach support from the FIVB this summer on a three-month CHF 18,000 project. Their Finnish head coach Lauri Hakala steered the team to the Challenger Cup final on the bumpy road of the quarterfinals and the semifinals. Sweden started with an impressive comeback from two sets down against Mexico to claim a 3-2 (20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-5) quarterfinal victory. In the semis, the northern Europeans defeated Colombia in four sets, 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 22-25, 25-17), to secure a spot among the medallists at their rookie participation in the competition.

“It's obviously disappointing that we didn't win, but we should be proud and hold our heads high,” said Hakala. “We gave it our all and learned a lot that we can use going forward. Now we have a week off and then ten more camp days to get ready for the European Championship. We know exactly what we need to work on. I am very proud of the team and the management staff.”

Colombia bounced back from their semifinal loss to Sweden with a 3-1 (25-23, 12-25, 26-24, 25-22) upset of Ukraine in the third-place match to complete the top-three line-up with yet another team supported by coach support via Volleyball Empowerment. Half of the CHF 288,000 funds allocated to the Colombian Volleyball Federation so far was targeted to their women’s national team, which Brazilian coach Antonio Rizola Neto guided to the podium at their third Challenger Cup participation. To reach the semifinals in Laval, the South Americans took a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19) quarterfinal victory over Kenya.

In the men’s competition, Türkiye claimed a ticket to the VNL 2024 after a 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 24-26, 25-19) quarterfinal win over the Dominican Republic, a 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 25-17, 19-25, 15-13) semifinal win over Ukraine and a 3-2 (25-13, 21-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-9) success over hosts Qatar in the final. It was Türkiye’s third Challenger Cup appearance. Last year they stopped just short of qualifying for the VNL, after reaching the Challenger Cup 2022 final.

The team of Qatar, who put up a great battle in the final and were close to upsetting the European favourites, were mentored by Argentinean coach Camilo Andres Soto, whose work in the Asian country has been assisted through Volleyball Empowerment coach support with a total of CHF 118,000 in four projects over the last three years. Also enjoying the support of the home crowd at home in Doha, Qatar started the tournament with a hard-fought 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 26-24) straight-setter against Thailand in the quarterfinals and followed up with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 27-25) sweep of their semifinal against Chile. Reaching the final was already an improvement for the team from last year, when they were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage.

Ukraine, the only country that qualified both its national teams (men’s and women’s) to the Challenger Cup 2023, receives targeted support from Volleyball Empowerment. The FIVB has been supporting the Ukraine Volleyball Federation in continuing its volleyball activities since 2022 as part of MoUs signed in 2022 and 2023. In total, the FIVB provided financial support up to USD 210,000 in 2022 across the men’s, women’s, U21 women’s and U22 men’s national volleyball teams, as well as Ukraine’s senior and U19 national beach volleyball teams, while the 2023 MoU covers further support up to USD 210,000 to support all of Ukraine’s volleyball and beach volleyball national teams with a focus on the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

The men’s team achieved a 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19) quarterfinal victory over China and, after losing to Türkiye in a tight five-set semifinal duel, recovered to finish third in the final standings with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-18) sweep of the bronze medal match against Chile.