Federations receiving support from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program achieved significant success at recent European age-group beach volleyball zonal championships, securing all gold medals and several silver and bronze ones. The successful nations included the Netherlands, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
WEVZA U20 Beach Volleyball Championships in Lorca (Spain)
At the WEVZA U20 Beach Volleyball Championships in Lorca, Spain, Dutch pairs Nigella Negenman & Esmee Radstake (women) and Tom Sonneville & Bram van Der Wel (men) claimed the top honors. The women`s podium was completed by Germany`s Sophia Neuss & Clara Dressen (silver) and Belgium`s Lotte De Clercq & Lola Bombeke (bronze). In the men`s event, Italy`s Matteo Lurisci & Gabriel Marini Da Costa took silver, and Andrea Sanguanini & Matteo Marchesan won bronze.
The Netherlands Volleyball Federation (NEVOBO) has received substantial support (USD 217,600) from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment for national beach volleyball team coaches. The men`s teams are coached by Michiel van der Kuip (a former European champion) and his staff, while the women`s teams are guided by Cypriot coach Antreas Savvidis and Nina Lintel Hekkert.
Nigella Negenman & Esmee Radstake secured the women`s gold medal with a comeback victory (2-1: 15-21, 21-18, 15-10) over Germany`s Sophia Neuss & Clara Dressen. Belgium`s Lotte De Clercq & Lola Bombeke won the bronze medal match in a thrilling three-setter (2-1: 21-18, 18-21, 24-22) against Italy`s Carola Tesoro & Asia Aliotta.
In the women`s semifinals, the Dutch pair defeated Tesoro & Aliotta 2-0 (23-21, 21-12), while Neuss & Dressen overcame De Clercq & Bombeke 2-0 (21-18, 21-14).
Tom Sonneville & Bram van Der Wel clinched the men`s gold by defeating Italy`s Matteo Lurisci & Gabriel Marini Da Costa in a 2-1 match (21-19, 19-21, 15-10). Andrea Sanguanini & Matteo Marchesan ensured a second Italian medal by winning the bronze medal match 2-0 (21-9, 21-16) against Switzerland`s Daniel Allemann & Livio Friedli.
Sonneville & Van Der Wel remained undefeated throughout the tournament, winning their semifinal against Allemann & Friedli 2-1 (25-23, 14-21, 15-10). Iurisci & Marini Da Costa advanced to the final by beating their compatriots Sanguanini & Marchesan 2-1 (16-21, 21-17, 15-7).
The WEVZA U20 Beach Volleyball Championships in Lorca featured 13 women`s and 12 men`s teams from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland.
EEVZA U18 and U16 Beach Volleyball Championships in Cesis (Latvia)
At the EEVZA U18 and U16 Beach Volleyball Championships held in Cesis, Latvia, teams from federations supported by FIVB Volleyball Empowerment also dominated. Latvia`s Monika Mamaja & Alise Aleksane won the U18 women`s title, while Milana Tina Aleksejeva & Karlina Berzina secured gold in the U16 women`s event. Estonia`s Armin Kender & Patrik Parijogi claimed the U18 men`s crown, and Lithuania`s Tautvydas Galubickas & Rokas Lukosevicius were victorious in the U16 men`s category. Teams from these three Baltic nations and Ukraine (also Empowerment-supported) won another five medals across the events.
The FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program has significantly supported these federations. Latvia has received USD 210,000 for coach support and USD 5,500 for equipment; their youth coaches include Aleksandrs Solovejs, Sandris Andrejevs, and Inga Koklaca. Estonia`s beach volleyball program has been allocated USD 168,000 for coach support (under Olympian Rivo Vesik) and USD 11,500 for equipment. Lithuania`s program received USD 477,000 for coach support (with men`s pairs training under Aigars Birzulis) and USD 12,000 for coach development programs. Ukraine has received total funding of USD 670,000 since 2022 under a Memorandum of Understanding, supporting both volleyball and beach volleyball activities.
Home favorites Monika Mamaja & Alise Aleksane won all six of their matches to secure the U18 women`s title. They defeated Poland`s Emilia Skwierczynska & Aleksandra Wolny 2-0 (21-17, 21-12) in the semifinal and Estonia`s Marta-Mia Ploomipuu & Hannemai Hanimagi 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) in the final.
After losing their semifinal to Ploomipuu & Hanimagi, Ukraine`s Kateryna Nitsenko & Viktoriia Kachyoni won the bronze medal match 2-0 (21-15, 26-24) against Skwierczynska & Wolny.
Estonia`s Armin Kender & Patrik Parijogi also remained undefeated, winning the U18 men`s tournament. They beat Poland`s Igor Gliszczynski & Alan Robak 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) in the semifinal and Latvia`s Tomass Silavs & Bruno Liepins 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) in the final.
Silavs & Liepins secured their final spot with a close 2-1 (17-21, 23-21, 16-14) semifinal win over Ukraine`s Yehor Skrypnychenko & Andrii Lunkan. Skrypnychenko & Lunkan then won the bronze medal match 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) against Gliszczynski & Robak.
The EEVZA U18 Championships in Cesis featured 16 women`s and 16 men`s teams from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine.
In the U16 women`s final, Latvia`s Milana Tina Aleksejeva & Karlina Berzina came from a set down to win 2-1 (18-21, 21-16, 17-15) against Ukraine`s Diana Avramenko & Vira Hudz. Poland`s Natalia Lewandowska & Hanna Lesniewicz claimed bronze with a 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, 15-9) victory over Latvia`s Anna Kovalova & Marija Darta Jaundzeikare.
Aleksejeva & Berzina reached the final with a 2-1 (21-13, 15-21, 15-12) semifinal win over Lewandowska & Lesniewicz, while Avramenko & Hudz defeated Kovalova & Jaundzeikare 2-0 (24-22, 21-18) in the other semifinal.
Lithuania`s Tautvydas Galubickas & Rokas Lukosevicius triumphed in the U16 men`s competition, winning the final 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) against Poland`s Wojciech Witkowski & Antoni Czarnecki. The bronze medal went to another Polish pair, Hubert Ziajka & Karol Lunio, who won 2-0 (21-14, 22-20) against Estonia`s Martin Heinlaid & Jan Erik Praks.
Galubickas & Lukosevicius won their semifinal 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) against Heinlaid & Praks. The all-Polish semifinal was won by Witkowski & Czarnecki 2-1 (21-19, 12-21, 15-11).
The EEVZA U16 Championships in Cesis included 15 women`s and 12 men`s teams from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine.
Oliver Wrenwick 
Finley Blackwood