Paola Hibernians will re-write the history books of local volleyball tomorrow when they host Azerbaijan’s Azzerail Baku in the preliminary round, first leg of the Challenge Cup at the Corradino Pavilion.
This will be the first time that a Maltese volleyball club will be competing in a CEV competition and the Paolites are aware of the difficult task they have in hand as they face a Baku team full of professional players.
The first leg tomorrow starts at 6 p.m and the return match will be played in Baku on October 17.
Carmen Gauci, the Paola Hibs president, told a news conference that the main reason behind the club’s decision to compete in a continental competition was to give the team a new challenge.
“After seven successive seasons in which Hibs won all domestic honours at stake, we felt the time was right for us to go for something different,” Gauci said.
“We know that the standard of play in the Challenge Cup is by far higher than what we are used to here but we feel these matches will serve our players in good stead and this experience will come useful in the team’s development structure.”
Contrary to what happens in football, participation in Euro club competitions does not yield any financial benefits and that, inevitably, will leave Hibs with a huge financial burden.
“The European governing body, the CEV, does not award bonuses to participating clubs and that means we have to fork out all the expenses incurred,” Gauci said.
“Obviously, the sum involved is considerable but we want to make this financial sacrifice because we feel that participation in Europe is the only way forward to see the team progress. We are also hopeful that other entities will give us their backing in all this.”
Gauci’s plea for assistance did not go unnoticed with Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport Clyde Puli. Yesterday, on behalf of the government, he pledged to help the Paola club.
“Paola Hibs deserve all praise they can get for taking such a bold step to compete against much stronger opposition in Europe,” Puli said.
“We have been following all that was happening and I can assure Paola Hibs that government intends to give its assistance through the Kunsill Malti għall-Isport. This is something we look forward to do and I hope that more clubs will follow Hibs’ example.”
Hibs coach Mark Hili praised his players for showing sheer dedication and commitment.
“If you had to compare the strength of our opponents in football terms, Azzerail Baku can be likened with top teams like Barcelona or Milan,” Hili said.
“It’s a very daunting prospect but the players trained really hard in summer. We want to produce a serious challenge and hope this experience will instill a huge desire in my players to work harder to achieve our goals.”