#TO25 Snow Volleyball festival combines sport and fun in Bardonecchia

The #TO25 Snow Volleyball Festival run this past weekend in Bardonecchia by the Organising Committee of the Torino 2025 World University Games Winter, with the technical support of Snow Volley Italia, was a major success. The event took Snow Volleyball to the pearl of Valsusa, which in less than two years will be one of the venues for the World University Games.

From January 13 to 23, 2025, Bardonecchia will host alpine skiing, snowboarding as well as freestyle and freeski. This weekend, the popular ski resort began to prepare for this major multi-sport event with a Snow Volleyball festival.

Dunks, dives on the white surface, spectacular saves and loud music accounted for a show that gathered many curious people at Campo Smith on both Saturday and Sunday, including for the après-ski event held at the neighbouring Harald’s Ski Restaurant. The men’s tournament of the #TO25 Snow Volleyball Festival ended with the triumph in two sets (15-12, 21-19) for Poles Piotr Groszek, Karol Szczepanik and Michal Matyia against the Czech team consisting of Jan Mrkous, Filip Stastny, and Frantisek Pihera. The latter, however, consoled themselves with success in the King of the Court event, a very captivating format taken from Beach Volleyball with continuous rotations on the court.

Among the women, there was double success for Sara Breidenbach, home hero Anna Dalmazzo and Sofia Arcaini, winners in three sets (15-8, 6-15, 15-10) in the final of the #TO25 Snow Volley Festival against Andrea Giudici, Monica Pastorino and Cristiana Parenzan, shortly after winning the Queen of the Court event too.

Snow Volleyball, which has become increasingly popular in recent years thanks to the actions run by FIVB, CEV, the Italian Volleyball Federation and Snow Volley Italia, dreams of carving out a space for itself as an optional discipline of the FISU Games in 2025. This weekend’s #TO25 Snow Volley Festival was the first step to assess its potential.

Alessandro Ciro Sciretti, President of Torino 2025 and Edisu Piemonte: “The #TO25 Snow Volleyball Festival was the first sports event organised by the Torino 2025 Committee in view of the Games that await us in less than two years, and we are enthusiastic about the response we received both in terms of participation of international athletes and the public, who were able to discover a new discipline on the snow. Bardonecchia has responded to our call in a big way and I am convinced that Pinerolo, Pragelato and Torre Pellice will do the same, as they, together with Torino, want to enrich the offer of events, both sporting and cultural, on the path towards the 2025 World University Games Winter.”

Chiara Rossetti, Mayor of Bardonecchia: “Two beautiful days of sport, fun and sharing. Two years ahead of the event, Bardonecchia enters more than ever into the atmosphere of Torino 2025. Between now and January 2025, when Bardonecchia will once again be in the spotlight all over the world, eighteen years after the 2007 Universiade, there will be a number of sporting and cultural events that we will be hosting and organising to prepare ourselves in the best possible way to welcome the many young people and sportsmen and women who will be taking part in the next World University Games. Sport and culture are an indispensable combination for Bardonecchia, we are more ready than ever for 2025 and the success of these two days, which saw Snow Volleyball play a leading role, prove this and are certainly an excellent starting point.”

Dr Ary S. Graça F°, FIVB President: “The FIVB is committed to developing the sport of Snow Volleyball around the world, and we are always behind initiatives that provide opportunities for people to engage with the sport. The festival of Snow Volleyball in Bardonecchia has truly embraced the universality of our sport, as well as the fun and unique spirit of Snow Volleyball”.

Aleksandar Boričić, CEV President: “We always welcome any action that helps promote Snow Volleyball and draw attention to the youngest and coolest version of the Volleyball game. Since its introduction in 2016, Snow Volleyball has helped us take Volleyball to truly iconic locations and provided an experience to enjoy for players and fans alike. I am confident that the event in Bardonecchia will contribute to the further development of Snow Volleyball in Italy, and across Europe as well, laying the groundwork for the organisation of more such competitions in the near future.”

Giuseppe Manfredi, President of the Italian Volleyball Federation: “We are very happy that such an important international Snow Volleyball event was staged in Bardonecchia. I am convinced that it will be an excellent showcase for this discipline, in which the Federation is investing significant resources. After last season, in fact, during which the first edition of the Italian Championship, consisting of two stages, was held, this year the national circuit on the snow has increased to four events. I know that all participants had a lot of fun and I extend my thanks to the organisers of the festival.”

Pictures courtesy of the Torino 2025 Organising Committee