With content about sport engagements on the Faroe Islands events we want to demonstrate how passion and strong involvement help to bring in sport events and to boost visitor numbers.

One example is Volleyball on the Faroe Islands. The Faroese Volleyball Federation has done a massive job — all volunteering — hosting international cups and sending teams abroad to international cups as well as with introducing volleyball to the kids.

The Faroese Volleyball Federation is a member of FIVB, the International Federation of Volleyball, of CEV, the Confédération Européene de Volleyball, plus a member of Nevza, The North European Volleyball Zonal Association.

Magnus Tausen, the president of the Faroese Volleyball Association, was appointed as 2019 Ambassador of the Year by Visit Faroe Islands Meetings. In their reasoning for naming Magnus Tausen, Visit Faroe Islands said that the Faroese Volleyball Association has organized for several years major international tournaments in the Faroe Islands, for example the U20 Men’s Small Countries Division Championship last year, while in January 2019 they hosted the NEVZA qualifier for the 2019 U16 Women’s European Championship.

Magnus Tausen is a truly compassionate activist for Volleyball in the Faroe Islands

the statement read and continued:

Together with Niclas Joensen, he has developed the sport on all levels from local kids Volleyball to international competitions at different age-groups. This way he has developed the sport in every aspect, and international competitions are providing the Faroese players with inspiration and challenges to lift the level of Volleyball even more.

In his speech at the ceremony, Magnus Tausen pointed out, that this honour was for the whole Volleyball family in the Faroe Islands. “I am one player in this big team of amazing people. We are all volunteers and all loving Volleyball“ He further told the audience how effective Volleyball events can be to showcase both the sport and the islands. When they hosted the NEVZA qualifier for the 2019 U16 Women’s European Championship, the attending girls brought lots of extra guests and spectators with them. All guests were particularly impressed by the “no problem” attitude on the Faroe Islands — their flexibility and the relaxed atmosphere. A warm welcome was extended to everyone. So — like a stone thrown into the water, the circles grow bigger: it is not only the participating athletes, but the added numbers of visitors of family and friends, that made this particular tournament so successful.

Importance for the community:

Another interesting project of the association is ‘flogbørn’ (Kidsvolley) — a school project supported by CEV — which has won the Faroese sports campaign of the year 2018.

The ‘Kidsvolley’ project that has run for a couple of years promoting and introducing Volleyball to kids in schools in the Faroe Islands. The idea with Kidsvolley is that the youngest kids start with some very basic and altered Volleyball rules, which then evolve as the kids grow and according to their improved motor skills.

In his acceptance speech for the award, Magnus Tausen mentioned the importance of the broader aspects of the sport as it contains so much more than the game itself: “It is also about making good friendships, helpfulness, respect for each other and solidarity across gender, abilities and age. A Volleyball-kid shall learn all of this and have the feeling of being important and being a part of something greater. That is what we try to achieve in addition to having the world’s best ball-game for all children,” Mr Tausen added.

The Faroese Volleyball Association has been organizing school tournaments throughout the country, and in the spring a final round took place for regional winners to find a national school volley champion. There is no doubt that this action — which runs under the umbrella of the CEV Schools Project — has paid dividends as there are numerous examples of children who have been introduced to Volleyball in the schools and who have later joined a Volleyball club. Often it has been children who had not practised any other sports prior to their introduction to ‘Kidsvolley’.

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This story is part of the 2019 Ambassador Initiative of Visit Faroe Islands Meetings to share information about leading knowledge clusters on the Islands that can be relevant for international event and meeting planners and business communities.

Visit Faroe Islands Meetings

… supported by a  profile on LinkedIn and a separate twitter account for meeting planners to follow the carefully curated and focused narratives.

Please join the new channels and share the excitement of inspirational nature, people, ideas and stories!

Make sure you don’t miss upcoming stories about initiatives across the knowledge clusters available on the Faroe Islands:

–         Health

–         Sport

–         Marine

–         Connectivity

–         Various others like fashion, literature and language, food and more