The summer months are over, and with them the international tournaments for the national youth teams. At a time when the Yellow Tigers are making headlines and the Red Dragons showed some promising results in the friendly matches as preparation for the European Championship, many are asking about the next generation coming through the youth teams. Is there more talent on the way?

The answer is quite positive. “The girls’ teams have been performing better and better in recent years, but there is definitely talent in the boys’ teams as well and they also achieved good results,” states boys’ coach Wim De Boeck realistically.

It is very difficult to compare different youth teams with each other. “You must not forget that the U17 and the very youngest categories (U16/U17) no longer participate in international tournaments, but they do continue to train for a few weeks during the summer period in Leuven or Vilvoorde,” says De Boeck.

So we look at the boys U18. “They managed to qualify for the European Championship, but they were quite inconsistent there. They won three times, but honestly that was against the weaker teams. Against the better teams they lost four times. No shame, because the Bulgarians were all physically strong second-year players, while the French were technically very strong in all areas. So we finished eleventh.”

“There are a few talents in the squad. Some have already played in a higher team or are in the selection of a League team. A few French-speaking players are key at Waremme or Nivelles, but the problem was finding balance in our team, especially after a starter got injured.”

The U20 group also no longer participates in international tournaments. “But most of them did take part in the Rising Team, which sometimes trained together with the Red Dragons and also played a number of friendly matches. I certainly expect better results from this team, which competes this season in first national, than last season, because they have meanwhile gained more experience and most of them are no longer in the fifth, but in the sixth year of the top sports school. And with the boys you often also have to give them the chance to mature gradually. Look at Michiel Fransen, a boy who only came through late and is now already in the Red Dragons squad. So I am happy that some are gradually confirming. Thanks to our 11th place at the European Championship we will certainly take part in the EYOF and we will see whether they will be selected for the U18 World Championship via their world ranking.”

Girls U18 as the second-best team in Europe
A beaming face for girls’ coach Yorick Vande Velde, because on the European ranking his U18 team is in second place after the unreachable Italy. A brilliant performance, right?
Vande Velde: “Absolutely. Two excellent generations over the last few years, because you have to take into account that the ranking is calculated on the results of the last two years. In 2024 we even finished second at the European Championship after winning six of our seven pool matches, just like afterwards a thriller against Poland in the semi-final. Only in the final were the Bulgarians too strong for us.
This year we also finished third in the pool and sixth overall, after yet another brilliant win against Poland. That was simply the best possible result, because against Italy and Turkey in the pool we were not strong enough. Both teams actually played the final.”

“The structure and national team culture make the difference”
Do you have an explanation for these particularly strong performances of the national girls’ teams?
“I think it mainly lies in the structure in which we can work: in Topvolley Belgium and, through the federation, of course in the top sports school. Because of that we can train everything: sometimes technique, sometimes video, knowledge of volleyball and of course the technical and tactical exercises. Compared to other countries we have the advantage of not being so spread out, so that in the weeks before a tournament the players have to travel maximum one hour to come to training. That also allows us to work together a lot. Furthermore, we also have our national team culture, so that in our work and approach we are all writing the same story. And let’s not forget that we have a squad with a lot of talent. We can play hard, we have a tall team, we usually have good control of the game, we are technically strong in all areas and if we can sometimes still grow a tiny bit physically, we compensate that with other elements.”

Yorick also points to the success of the Rising Tigers. “These are girls who are either a bit older to play in the U18, or good but not yet in the Yellow Tigers. They trained this year from May to July and then in August under the guidance of Ugo Blairon and Bram Van den Hove. They played friendly matches against the Netherlands and Brazil, and it was also positive that they had physical training and ball training, so that they did not lie idle for three months. Some are blossoming in this way and Pauline Luyten, for example, has already been part of the Yellow Tigers.

Thanks to our sixth place at the European Championship we are also qualified for the World Championship and the EYOF next summer. Not bad, right?”

Text: Marcel Coppens
Photo: Topvolley Belgium