Formation of national volleyball teams: the impact of player migration

Abstract

Problem statement: The evolution of team sports is closely tied to the migration of highly skilled players and their concentration in the world's top leagues. Approach: The formation of national volleyball teams is influenced by the migration of leading players to premier international leagues, considering their global rankings. This migration enhances the teams' competitive performance in major international tournaments. Results. The results of the study show that today, there is a migration of volleyball players, members of national teams to the national championships of Italy and Poland, for women in Turkey and Italy, which can be traced to the migration of legionnaires of the national teams of the USA, Serbia, France, and Brazil. It is confirmed that migration processes in volleyball increase after a successful performance at the Olympic Games, manifested in the transition of leading players to the world's major leagues. The analysis of the migration of players of the Olympic Games and World Championships winners shows that a significant increase in migration processes in world volleyball has been observed since 2012 (48.3% for men, 39.2% for women) and will reach its maximum value in 2022 (53.0% and 46.8%, respectively). The analysis of the relationship between migration rates and the ranking based on the results of the 2020 Olympic Games showed a positive correlation (r = 0.587) in the formation of men's national teams and a negative correlation (r = -0.373) in women's teams. There are also strong correlations between migration rates and the country's economic development level, highlighting the significant economic impact of volleyball (r = 0.287 for men, r = -0.368 for women). Conclusions. The analysis of the development of modern volleyball has made it possible to establish that today, its further professionalization is taking place through the formation of professional structures in the Olympic system of competitions. The use of modern international experience in the formation of national teams, considering the factors of globalization, can be used in other team sports.