Taking the first step of the new cycle, the new season of the Volleyball Super League has undergone major changes
2024-08-28
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
The 2024-2025 Chinese Volleyball Super League will kick off in October this year. Compared with the past, the new season of the Volleyball Super League will undergo drastic reforms in many aspects, such as the competition system and the use of foreign players. There is reason to believe that these reforms will not only further enhance the viewing and competitiveness of the Volleyball Super League and the training of young players, but also choose to launch reform measures in the first season of the new Olympic cycle, which also shows that Chinese volleyball is making every effort to seek change.
Substantial expansion of the army, more young athletes are expected to debut
Compared with the past few seasons, the substantial increase in the number of participating teams will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the new season of the Volleyball Super League. Moreover, this expansion is not a blind invitation to more clubs to participate in the league, but a large-scale division of the league into levels, through the introduction of multiple youth teams.
According to the "Notice on Organizing the 2024-2025 Chinese Volleyball Super League" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") issued by the Chinese Volleyball Association, all participating teams in the new season of the Volleyball Super League will be divided into two levels, A and B, for the league competition. Among them, the top eight men's and women's teams in the previous season will participate in the A-level group competition in the new season; the teams that ranked ninth or later in the previous season, the newly applied and approved club teams, and the youth teams of the A-level teams will all participate in the B-level group competition.
Under the new regulations, in the new season of the Men's Volleyball League, teams from Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang, Baoding, Tianjin, Shandong, Nanjing and Fujian will participate in the A-level events, and teams from Sichuan, Guangdong, Hubei, Henan, Liaoning, Yunnan and other teams plus the youth teams and college teams of 8 A-level teams, a total of 15 teams will participate in the Group B level events; in the new season of the Women's Volleyball League, teams from Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Beijing, Fujian, Shandong, Liaoning and Shenzhen are A-level teams, and teams from Henan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hebei and other teams as well as the youth teams of all A-level teams, a total of 15 teams will participate in the Group B level events.
It is not difficult to see that with the start of a new Olympic cycle, the national team needs to face the transition from the old to the new, and more outstanding reserve talents have quickly emerged through U-series competitions at all levels. In the context of the Chinese Volleyball Association implementing a youth-oriented expansion reform for the new season league, it is obvious that it hopes to create a platform and environment with higher confrontation intensity and more game matches for young athletes. It hopes that with the help of the league, it can help outstanding volleyball reserve talents to truly grow and progress from actual combat, thus laying the foundation for China's volleyball preparations for a new cycle.
Jiangsu Volleyball will have four teams participating in the Volleyball Super League in the new season, including two adult club teams and two youth teams.
Competition system reform, "Golden Game" system to decide the winner and restore promotion and relegation
The new classification and more participating teams mean that the existing league system and rules will no longer apply. According to the "Notice" issued by the Chinese Volleyball Association, the Chinese Volleyball Association does not want to stop at the league reform in terms of expansion.
On the one hand, according to the new season game time announced in the "Notice", the total duration of the Volleyball Super League will be significantly longer than in the past in this new season just after the Olympic Games. Among them, the men's volleyball league will start on October 27, 2024 and end on March 9, 2025; the women's volleyball league will start on October 26, 2024 and end on March 8, 2025. Excluding holidays during the league, the actual time spent on the game is expected to exceed 4 months.
On the other hand, the new season's league will resume the promotion and relegation system to further strengthen the competition between teams. The "Notice" clearly states that after the first phase of the regular season of the new season, the two teams ranked lower in Class A and the two teams ranked higher in Class B will first compete in the promotion and relegation match to confirm the status of the teams in Class A and Class B in the playoff stage. At the same time, after all the league games are over, according to the final ranking, the eighth place in Class A will be relegated to the top of Group B next season, and the first place in Class B (except for the youth team) will be promoted to the eighth place in Class A next season.
It is worth mentioning that in order to further enhance the viewing experience of the competition, the new season league will also introduce the "golden game system" in the semi-finals and ranking matches of the third stage of the A-level competition (except for the finals, which adopt a best-of-three system). At the same time, in order to encourage more clubs to release players to train in high-level overseas leagues, the new season league has also adjusted the corresponding foreign aid policy. Regardless of men's or women's volleyball, each team can play up to 2 foreign players at the same time (youth teams cannot play foreign players). Among them, if the men's volleyball club sends the main players of the national team to the Italian, Polish, Russian, and Turkish Super League, it can add 1 foreign player to the field, but the total number of foreign players on the field shall not exceed 3.
Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Huang Xiyin
Proofread by Tao Shangong
