Schwul-Lesbische Volleyball-Liga e.V.

History

Originally under the auspices of the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) as a whole-European league intended, in 1992 the preparations started for a gay volleyball league. Due to the lack of whole-European interest four gay sport clubs in Germany started the initiative to form a gay German volleyball league (Bonner Hupfdohlen, Phönix Düsseldorf, Frankfurter Volleyball Verein (FVV), Janus Köln).

The fun of playing volleyball was the motor to form this league. It is a loose organisation without bureaucratic structures. However, we have agreed upon self-imposed rules to guarantee a sensible going.

After the start of the Gay German Volleyball League a Dutch-Belgian League was founded. The winners of both comparable levels meet once a year to determine the best gay European league team. For more information please look at the EGLSF-homepage.

In 1993 the league consisted of 17 teams from 11 clubs in three groups. The best gay team in that year was "Bonner Hupfdohlen".
1994 "AufRuhr I" won the cup. That year 23 teams competed from 14 gay sport clubs.
1995 (22 teams from 13 clubs) the first team of "Vorspiel Berlin" was successful in winning the highest level.
1996 for the first time a non-German team participated in this league: Basel's "Pink Chocolate". All in all 27 teams competed in 5 groups. Again "Vorspiel Berlin I" won in the highest group.
During the team captains' annual meeting in November 1996 it was decided to change the name into "Gay-Lesbian Volleyball League" to reflect the participation of women from the very beginning of the league. "Aufschlag Wien" joined as the first Austrian team, showing the increasing interest of volleyball teams in the league: 32 teams took part in 5 groups.
In 1997 the winner of the highest level was "AufRuhr" after beeing second the two seasons before.
Finally in November 1997 the "Captain's Dinner" (the annual captains' meeting) decided to found the gay-lesbian volleyball association in the german speaking area.
In 1998 the league consisted of 34 teams. In one A-, two B- and three C-Categories all teams fighted for the first place and against the last place. For the first time the Frankfurt team FVV I won in the highest group.

If you are interested in more information, feel free to contact us through the Email address.

The highest group is the A-level, the B-level stands for intermediate teams and the C-level is recreational/beginners. The B- and the C-groups are devided into a northern and southern part. But not only gays participate in this league. Also lesbians as well as straight people are welcome to join. We ask for your understanding that the rest of this homepage is in German.