San Marino poised to host SCA women’s championship

San Marino will host in a few weeks the 2024 edition of the CEV Small Countries Association (SCA) women’s championship. In addition to the home team, Malta, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland will be playing for gold as well. The Republic of San Marino returns to welcome an international volleyball competition, some ten years after hosting the 2014 edition of the SCA Women’s Junior Championship. Three years later, San Marino did also deliver – and with much success – the 2017 edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE), with Volleyball and Beach Volleyball competitions among the major highlights on the programme. The SCA women’s ‘senior’ event is scheduled for May 30 to June 2 at the Pala Casadei. 

“This is a very important undertaking for us,” says Gian Luigi Lazzarini, President of the San Marino Volleyball Federation (FSPAV). “I want to thank the National Olympic Committee and the Secretariat of State for Sport for making financial resources available to us and for helping us with the organisation. Much praise should be given to the Beach & Park Volley company whose managers and athletes, from the oldest to the youngest, will provide service and assistance as volunteers. Fortunately, we will also be able to count on the support of many parents and volleyball friends. We will all be fully engaged; it will be a challenging endeavour but an incredibly stimulating one as well.” 

Marco Gatti, FSPAV Vice-President, and Secretary General Federico Valentini add: “The San Marino Volleyball Federation strongly wanted to organise this event to give further impetus to our programme, which, in recent seasons, has been constantly growing in terms of the number of athletes and through the involvement of families and enthusiasts of all ages. The tournament will see the participation of five countries: Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and obviously San Marino. All matches will be played in the Alessandro Casadei sports hall in Serravalle, as a single round robin, and the Blue-and-White team will make its debut on Friday, May 31. The San Marino team is placed under the guidance of head coach Cristiano Lucchi, assisted by his deputy Stefano Sarti who, together with the coaches of the youth division, are responsible for the growth of a very young national team. Year after year, they are expected to improve their technical level and gain international experience. The national team, compatibly with the commitments of the clubs to which the girls belong, started with training sessions and friendly matches as early as last November and wants to make it to the SCA event in top condition. Playing the tournament in your own arena and in front of your own audience will be a further stimulus, but already with an eye towards the Andorra 2025 Games of the Small States of Europe, where Volleyball will return to the programme after six years, i.e. since the last appearance at Montenegro 2019.” 

To best prepare for the SCA Championship, the women’s national team did play two matches in the days leading up to Easter. Those at the end of May / beginning of June will be very hectic and important days for the Sammarinese Federation. In fact, the senior men’s national team will also be involved in another SCA Championship with an eye always turned towards Andorra 2025. From May 29 to June 2, the group led by coach Stefano Mascetti will play in Liechtenstein and will face Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland as well as the hosts. Marco Rondelli and his teammates will prepare with training sessions interspersed between the various commitments that the players eligible for the national team have with their respective clubs and speed up their preparation in the last days of May before leaving for Liechtenstein.