The GB women’s squad will be shortly heading to Carole in Italy for the European Sitting Volleyball Championships 2023. The Paravolley Europe flagship event runs from 9 until 15 October at the resort town of Caorle, just east of Venice in Italy's Veneto Region with ten teams lined up to vie for the top continental honours.
The ten teams at Caorle are divided into two pools of six for the first phase of the competition.
Pool A: Italy, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Turkey.
Pool B: Slovenia, Ukraine, France, Poland, Great Britain.
The top four of each pool advance to the quarterfinals, followed by semifinals and the medals matches - though all ten teams remain in action until the very end for placement games.
The Women's European Championship runs in conjunction with the men's event over the same dates and at the same venue of Palamare Valter Vicentini in Caorle.
In addition to the coveted continental title, the winners of each gender also clinch a berth at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
GB match schedule:
9th October: 16.00 GB v Slovenia
11th October: 09.30 GB v France
12th October: 11.40 GB v Ukraine
13th October: 09.15 GB v Poland
Placing matches from 13th - 15th October
On GB’s prospects, performance lead Joanna Cook says “we are very much looking forward to competing at this level of sitting volleyball following the success of our bronze medal at the PVE Silver Nations League. Whilst some unfortunate situations means we cannot attend with a full cohort, I have no doubt that the GB squad is prepared and focused for this competition, and will compete at this competitive event with determination and intent”.
British Volleyball will also be attending the PVE Strategy Day and Congress during the competition aimed at looking at sitting volleyball across the European system and building on its strengths.