The men's team "Barkom-National team of Ukraine U-18" is actively preparing for the VII round of the Super League-Budinvest, which will start on January 18. The boys not only practice but also take part in competitions in order not to lose their skills and gain even more game experience. Moreover, this year the boys are expected to participate in the championship of the Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA).

For the purpose of a good quality game for the youth national team, the team accepted the invitation of neighboring Romania to the Eduard Gazda Memorial international volleyball tournament. The traditional annual competition dedicated to the outstanding Romanian volleyball player was held this year on January 11-12 in Suceava.

As Volodymyr Romantsov, the head coach of the "Barkom-National team of Ukraine U-18" said, he did not even hesitate to accept the invitation: "I pursued two goals - to replenish the boys' assets with experience of playing on international courts and, as they say, to "warm up" before the next round of the Championship of Ukraine".

Despite the small difficulties due to the trip, on January 11, the national team successfully played against the team of the Municipal Sports Club of the University of Cluj and reached the finals, and already on January 12, in a fierce match, they defeated the Suceava team. The fate of the winner was decided on a tie-break, and the Ukrainians defeated the opponent with a score of 15:7 and with a total score of 3:2.

Mr. Volodymyr thanks his Romanian colleagues for the invitation and warm welcome and notes: "In general, I am satisfied with the boys' performance. Despite the fact that we arrived for the first match less than an hour before the start of the game, so we did not have time to prepare and set up properly, they coped with my instructions. I made it possible for all team members to play so that everyone could feel the atmosphere of foreign tournaments." 

Even earlier, on January 8, again as part of preparations for the Super League, the national team played a friendly match with the youth team of Kharkiv Law Academy. Then the young "lawyers" defeated the "Barkom-National team of Ukraine U-18".

According to Volodymyr Romantsov's words, the team is fully prepared for the VII round of the Super League-Budinvest, the team has not undergone any changes during the New Year holidays. Both the mentor and his team hope that rest and active practices will bear fruits and help improve the performance of the young team.