Not only our seniors were active during the holidays, but our youth teams also had four interesting volleyball tournaments on their schedule.

U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – YOUNG YELLOW TIGERS: 14th place
As many as 24 countries took part in this tournament, divided into 4 pools of six. Belgium finished fourth in its pool behind Italy, China, and Japan. This allowed the Tigers to compete for places 1 to 16. They lost 0-3 to Brazil, sending them into the 9 to 16 bracket. After another 0-3 loss against Brazil and a 1-3 loss to Thailand, the Tigers finally secured 15th place with a 3-2 win over Serbia.

U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – YOUNG RED DRAGONS: 11th place
Here too, 24 nations were split into 4 pools of six. In this championship, held in Uzbekistan, Belgium did very well by finishing second behind Pakistan but ahead of Argentina and Uzbekistan, qualifying for the 1 to 16 bracket. However, they lost 1-3 to Iran in the next round and had to play for places 9 to 16. After a 3-2 win and a 1-3 loss to Brazil, followed by a 3-1 win against Argentina, Belgium finished in 11th place.

EYOF YOUNG RED DRAGONS: 6th place
This tournament, held in Skopje, featured eight mostly Western European countries divided into 2 pools of four. Belgium defeated Slovenia 3-1 and North Macedonia 3-0 but lost 0-3 to France. As a result, they finished third in their group and had to fight for places 5 to 8. After a 3-0 win over Finland, Belgium finished sixth following a 1-3 loss to the Czech Republic.

WEVZA YOUNG YELLOW TIGERS: 2nd place
This tournament, held in Romania and Greece, brought together 16 countries split into 2 pools of 8. Belgium played its pool in Romania. The team lost only to Italy but beat Slovenia, Spain, Serbia, the Netherlands, Romania, and Croatia. In the semifinal, they defeated Poland 3-1, but the final was lost 0-3 to Bulgaria. Winning silver was still a great result.

Text: Fernand Walder