Cardiff University were host to the inaugural Celtic Student Nations volleyball tournament, a competition enabling students to represent their country and offering the opportunity to compete at international level.
Men’s and women’s teams representing Scotland and Wales were joined by Northern Ireland, Oxford, Cambridge and TSW at the university sports training village on Saturday the 12th and Sunday, the 13th of April 2025.
An impressive Scotland opened the tournament with their Women taking a 2-0 win over a strong Welsh side, while there men edged a strong Oxford team by the same score.
The Welsh men followed with a 2–0 Victory over QUB/N.Ireland while invitation team, team South Wales, were beaten by Oxford.
Games over the two days were fiercely contested, only Scotland’s men remaining unbeaten after clawing back a 7 point deficit against Wales to win 25-23 and run out winners with Cambridge University runners up.
The women’s competition went to the final game between the Welsh students and TSW with four of the five teams in the running for the top three positions. With a Welsh win Cambridge University were crowned women’s champions with Scotland in second and Wales third.
The entire weekend was hailed as a huge success for Student Volleyball, not just in Wales but across all those teams who attended. Thanks in particular go to the hard work from the refs – Jane Jones and Giulia Bellan together with Will Connors from Cardiff Uni for managing the courts and, remarkably, ensuring the tournament didn’t overrun.
Already everyone has indicated their intention to return for next year’s tournament which will be increased to 8 men’s and women’s teams with the addition of the Republic of Ireland, a Dutch University (Rotterdam or Utrecht) plus, our invitation/wildcard team over three days from Friday the 20th to Sunday, the 22nd of March 2026.
Media links:
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCizyHJceBNNkoZwC9yA9EaA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpqsbY7372M
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCptj3CBEYNVhl0CQAC4ZJvA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Jwz4eKTOiI0
Bernie Bond andyw07@msn.com
