No space in halls

Hundreds of children even had to be turned away!

Volleyball in Styria continues to soar - the infrastructure is lagging behind.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Styria is the clear number one in volleyball. However, the lack of infrastructure in particular is becoming an ever-increasing problem. Many children and young people have even had to be turned away because there is simply no space. There is no improvement in sight. A column by Michael Gratzer.

Volleyball is still booming in Styria! 5 out of 19 teams in the men's and women's national leagues come from our province, in the second league there are even 13 out of 40 - meaning that the Green Mark has the most representatives of all provinces in the top two leagues. The Styrian association also reported a record year: 83 teams in operation is a new record. "We are the strongest regional association and have a broad base. We win several junior titles every year," says Michael Horvath, Vice President of both the Austrian and Styrian associations, proudly. "But we have a massive problem: the infrastructure!"

ÖVV Vice-Presidents Fred Laure (left) and Michael Horvath (right) are just as concerned as the Styrian association around President Uwe Stark.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Their hats are on fire! And it's burning hard! "Last year, we had to turn down over 100 girls because we simply didn't have any hall time," said ATSE Graz. "We had over 20," say the Hausmannstätten team and get straight to the point: "There is no positive development in sight." UVC Graz, Weizern and HIB Liebenau - to name just a few examples - have also halted admissions and rejected young people. A situation that should not exist! After all, you will probably never get children rejected from sport back.

No new hall planned
Money is tight. This is nothing new in the city of Graz. Just think of the tiresome stadium debate. "The situation is dramatic! All sports and clubs in the greater Graz area need at least ten new halls in order to be able to continue operations to some extent. None are planned," warns volleyball regional coordinator Florian Stöckl. "Something has to happen."

State volleyball coordinator Florian Stöckl (right) believes politicians have a role to play.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Unbelievable detail in passing: politicians always emphasize the importance of sport for children. And then the Graz city government wants to cut the sports budget by a double-digit percentage. After two years without an increase - despite horrendous inflation.