Italian Volleyball League

The Italian Male Volleyball League is structured in several levels of importance; the highest of them is Serie A1. Many of the best volleyball players in the world playing in the A1 and the overall level of competition is considerably higher.

Structure

As of 2009-10 season, the Italian volleyball championships are parted in this way:

• Serie A1 (highest level, 15 teams, two relegations);
• Serie A2 (second level, 15 teams, one promotion and three relegations);
• Serie B1 (third level, 48 teams separated in three divisions, four promotions, twelve relegations)
• Serie B2 (fourth level, 112 teams separated in eight divisions, twelve promotions, 32 relegations)
• Serie C, organized by regional committees
• Serie D, organized by regional committees
• Campionati provinciali, organized by provincial committees.

Serie A1

Serie A1 is the highest level club competition in Italian professional male volleyball. It is organized by Federazione Italiana Pallavolo (FIPAV) and Lega Pallavolo Serie A.

Since 1982, the championship consists of two phases:

• a round-robin tournament (regular season) which picks out the clubs admitted to the second phase and the teams destined to relegation;
• a playoff tournament, which assigned the trophy.

Just in few occasions relegation playouts were disputed.

History

Volleyball did its first appearances in Italy after the end of World War I. In 1929 a Federazione Italiana Palla a Volo (FIPV) was founded. During the 1930s several tournaments were organized by young or workers fascist associations like GIL and OND.^[1]

After the end of World War II and the overthrow of fascist regime, a new association, called Federazione Italiana Pallavolo, were founded in 1946. Later that year the city of Genoa hosted the first official male championship.^[1]

Quickly volleyball became popular in northern regions like Piedmont, Lombardy and especially Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany: clubs based on Ravenna, Modena, Parma, Bologna and Florence won regularly all the championships for more than thirty years. Just in the 1970s outsider clubs from centre-south cities (Rome, Catania) could get to the top.

In the 1980s the growth of Italy men's national volleyball team led volleyball to a peak of a popularity. After a period in which Turin's CUS and Parma's Santal dominated, great entrepreneurial companies (like Fininvest in Milan, Montedison in Ravenna and Benetton in Treviso) decided to support and invest in volleyball, equipping strong teams which often won European and Intercontinental trophys.^[2][3]

Today volleyball is diffused all over the country but, as a consequence of the enormous popularity of other disciplines (football above all) in big cities, it finds its ideal dimension in medium-to-large cities.^[4]

Champions

1936–1941 (OND tournaments)

These tournaments were organized by the National Recreational Club (Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro)^[5].

• 1936: Azogeno Vado Ligure
• 1937: Azogeno Vado Ligure
• 1938: Torti Alessandria
• 1939: Azogeno Vado Ligure
• 1940: not holded
• 1941: Lanerossi Schio

1946–today (FIPAV tournaments)

References

Sources

• Almanacco Illustrato del Volley - 1987, Panini Edizioni, Modena, 1986

External links

• FIPAV
• Lega Pallavolo Serie A