Estonia joins the ParaVolley family

Back in December 2019, president Branko Mihorko met with Helen Veermäe, Secretary General of Estonian Volleyball Federation to officially welcome the country to the ParaVolley family.

“As Estonian volleyball is on the rise, we believe it is the right time to give a strong boost for our sitting volleyball as well. Being a member of World Paravolley gives us an opportunity to do so and expand the footprint of sitting volleyball. All sitting volleyball projects have been great success for us and we would like to contribute even more in the future,” said Helen Veermäe, Secretary General of Estonian Volleyball Federation.

“I would also like to thank those who have contributed to sitting volleyball in Estonia so far, I admire their willpower and enthusiasm while developing the sport all over the country and bringing sittting volleyball back to the international stage again,” Veermäe added.

 

Signe Falkenberg, Secretary General of Estonian Paralympic Committee added: „Being a member of World Paravolley gives motivation for our sitting volleyball players to reach international level again as it once was. My experience confirms this membership creates possibility for our teams to participate in qualification tournaments to fight for a place in final tournaments. Now everything is in our own hands.“

Estonia has remarkable history in sitting volleyball which has been played since 1984. Estonia has won several medals in Soviet Union Championships, has participated in European Championships and even qualified to the Olympic Games in Barcelona but was not able to play due to political situation.

In 1997 European Championships was held in Tallinn, Estonia. In the past years sitting volleyball has been in the spotlight mainly thanks to our veterans successfully participating in Invictus Games.