Elite players inspire children to play the game in Estonia

May was a very busy School Volleyball month in Estonia. The Estonian Volleyball Federation (EVF) participated in the Virumaa’s Volleyball Days in Rakvere and Jõhvi where more than 200 children were taught Volleyball by Estonian national team member Valentin Kordas and EVF Sports Director, former national team captain Kert Toobal.

As usual, the EVF brought volleyballs to the schools as a gift. In total, more than 200 children from ten different schools participated across two days. In Rakvere, children from Rakvere Real School, Rakvere Private Gymnasium, Kadrina High School and Näpi School, and children from the local elementary school and Kohtla-Järve School in Jõhvi, came under the demanding eyes of Virumaa volleyball masters Mati Merirand and Jaan Rummi.

Among the coaches, a local former player Jarmo Neuhaus from Rakvere and Kristjan Palm and Mehis Täpp from Jõhvi helped with the delivery of the Volleyball sessions as well. In the lessons run by Valentin Kordas and Kert Toobal, the children were taught overhead and underpass techniques, and Toobal also demonstrated his ability to touch the school ceiling with an overhead pass.

In addition to signing autographs, the lessons ended with a Q&A session, where the children learned, among other things, how Valentin started his training by driving from Sillamäe to Narva from the age of nine, and what victories Kert Toobal considers the most important ones in his career. Local hero Kordas was positively surprised by the children’s active participation and admitted that he had not given so many autographs to schoolchildren in a long time. “I will be happy to participate in such initiatives in the future,” he said.

Kert Toobal emphasised the necessity of school visits and stated that if the EVF manage to take even a few children to Volleyball or sports in general following such a visit, the task will be fulfilled. “In Rakvere and Jõhvi, I experienced a lot of sincere joy of movement,” Toobal praised what he saw.

Kert Rang, the main organiser of the Virumaa Volleyball Days, added that the children saw the bright side of Volleyball through the skills of the top players. “We gave the young people their first touches, and local physical education teachers were also able to participate. We hope that the little ones will stick around and in Virumaa Volleyball will become even more popular both in schools and sports halls,” said Rang and added: “Big thanks also to the representatives of schools in Lääne and Ida-Virumaa, Rakvere Sports Centre and Jõhvi Sports Hall.”

EVF’s school visits continued with a two-day tour in Virumaa, when the top players visited Võsu elementary school, Vinni-Pajusti high school, Näpi school, Aser school, Kohtla-Nõmme school and Iisaku high school. Ragne Rahuoja and Anu Talvar, who were crowned this year’s Estonian champions with TalTech/Tradehouse and shared their wisdom with the kids on the opening day of the visits, were positively surprised by the children’s active participation. The yellow tulips given at Näpi school also warmed the hearts of the players. “A very cool experience,” they say in unison.

According to Talvar, it was obvious that the children enjoyed their visit. “Everyone participated eagerly, no one had to be forced,” she rejoiced. Rahuoja agreed and added that it was a good feeling to see the bright eyes of children everywhere. Mehis Täpp, the head coach of Rakvere VK’s first league team, helped conduct the opening day as a coach. Täpp has already participated in such an event several times and says that providing children with an intense exercise experience is a vital task.

Rakvere’s young setter Andris Vahula, who also visited Aseri, Kohtla-Nõmme and Iisaku on the second day, and Alar Ploom, the more experienced middle blocker of the first league team, were very satisfied with their experience. Ploom hopes that with their small example, they were able to influence children to play Volleyball in the future, and even just to move more.

“We fulfilled our small role to the fullest, hopefully the goal has been given to the children,” Ploom praised the experience. Vahula, the liaison player of the Estonian youth national team, confirmed that introducing the area close to his heart to the children was a very nice experience. “Hopefully, a little bit of Volleyball was given to some of the kids today.”

Vahula, an 11th grade student at Vinni-Pajusti school who is thinking about becoming a coach in the future, also got to try his hand at the role and coped with the task perfectly. The classes ended with signing autographs and group photos. The players and the coach confirmed in unison that signing hundreds of pictures of the national team made the wrist quite painful, but the mind happy.

The EVF delivered volleyballs and volleyball textbooks to the schools as gifts.

EVF’s school visits continued with a two-day tour of Saaremaa, where top players Karli Allik, Johan Vahter, Helar Jalg, and Siim Põlluäär shared volleyball lessons with the students of their home island settlements of Orissaare, Leisi, Aste, Kihelkonna, Salme, Kärla, and Muhu. This year’s Finnish champion Karli Allik and Estonian champion Johan Vahter confirmed as if from one voice that the enthusiastic participation of more than a hundred children gave extra energy to the busy day.

The visits of elite players were a big event, especially for small schools, for example, Kihelkonna and Aste had suspended the classes of the whole school, and the children gathered in the hall to see with their own eyes the national team members from Saaremaa. “When Karli went to serve or hit the ball to the ceiling in Kihelkonna, for example, it was such a wow moment for the children that they will remember it for a long time,” said Johan Vahter, whose mother is still a physical education teacher at the Aste school.

What was it like to go through the lesson under the watchful eye of your own mother? “There was no tension, a bit of a more relaxed feeling than in the game. In the days of Saaremaa, I trained the children there, and some of the boys were familiar even now,” said Estonian national team libero Vahter. Among other things, the children learned that Johan and Karli first went to tennis practice, that Karli can play the guitar a little, and that both men wear about a dozen pairs of sneakers in two seasons.

On the second day, former Saaremaa VK players Helar Jalg and Siim Põlluäär, who attended primary schools in Salme, Kärla and Muhu, also enjoyed teaching the basics of Volleyball to children from their hometown. “It was a very cheerful and busy day. It was nice to see that the children were very interested in the game,” said Põlluäär, who also played in Italy during his career.

“The children were good and wanted to do all the things we proposed. It was surprising that one school did not even have proper balls, but now we were able to leave several new volleyballs for the children to practice with. If even a few of today’s children get to Volleyball or sports in general, such a day has been successful,” said Jalg.

The EVF also had several promotional events like Mikroliiga Festival in Kohila for about 150 kids - it was the first outdoor event of the season. There was a huge fun volleyball day in Tartu for more than 200 kids aged 7-9. Moreover, a youth referee course was run on Hiiumaa island, where more than 15 kids expressed their wish to become referees.

The indoor season is now over, and classes will finish in the beginning of June. School visits and events run by the Estonian Volleyball Federation will resume in September.