1st CSIT Single Championships in Rovinj

Very high sporting level, many happy faces, fair play, professional organization and referees, prepared trainings, activities of the international federation, women power, party, sea and new friendships. These were the first ICSBF Catch'n Serve World Championships in Croatia.

Two United Mix teams with players from the USA, Finland, Germany, Austria, Bosnia, Ukraine, Latvia and Cyprus battled for three days against teams from Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Italy, Cyprus and Latvia.

"It was a great experience for all of us to play in a team with women from other countries and with very different playing experience. Many thanks at this point to Anne Danenberg for making this possible!” said Christina Thomas from Austria.

Several training sessions were also held for the participants as part of the EU Erasmus+ Mobility project. The trainers Tatjana Gerber (GER) and Christina Gschweidl (AUT) supported the less experienced teams in particular.

The event was officially opened on Thursday afternoon. Among the guests were the deputy mayor of Rovinj, David Modrsuan, the host HLA President Petra Maras, HLA General Secretary Dario Jagic, Milan Cupic and ICSBF President Elisabeth Speiser-Havel.

CSIT was represented by Sports Director Georges Michel, General Secretary Wolfgang Burghardt and Valeria Gherardini. An ExCom meeting of the International Catch'n Serve Ball Federation, chaired by ICSBF President Elisabeth Speiser-Havel, also took place as part of the tournament.

The first edition of the tournament was already well attended with a total of 100 participants. Wonderful conditions were created, with good sports facilities and nice accommodation for the delegations. Many thanks to the HLA and the entire organization team under the leadership of Dario Jagic. Rovinj is a beautiful town, perfect for a tournament of this size and not without reason one of the tourist hotspots in Croatia.

After many exciting matches based on a well-thought-out game mode by the technical committee headed by Monica Zibellini and Anne Danenberg, the final matches were played on Saturday.

The match for third place was very close, with unbelievable and long balls, with the Cypriots from Omonia-Ormidias ultimately prevailing against Italy - Aics Lecce.

In the final, the victory against Latvia-LTSA was well deserved by the Italian team Pianeta Volley Aprilia - Sharks. Congratulations to the winners!

Of course, the Fair Play Awards were also presented. The one for the entire team with the most green cards went to the players of the home team Croatia. The individual award also went to a Croatian player who stepped in for CSIT and ICSBF Vice President Anu Rajajärvi, who had to travel back to Finland before the final day.

A special highlight were the referees from the local volleyball club MOK Rovinj. So much professionalism and correctness combined with friendliness, thank you!

Back to the United Mixed team - that's a very special thing. United Mixed is for women from all over the world who don't (yet) have their own teams. Everyone can play, even if they lack experience. The concept comes from ICSBF ambassador Anne Danenberg, who has been bringing special people together in this way for some time.

Well, and then there were the parties, which are not covered in detail here. But this much can be revealed. Dario Jagic, who is fully engaged during the day as the organizer of the sports activities, is also a passionate MC, who also brought the girls to top performances in karaoke..........

Source: https://www.csit.sport/currently/news
Photos: Catch'n Serve Ball Austria