England squad for Men's U22 Euros announced

Their qualifying matches will take place in Cisterna di Latina, Italy from 11th to 13th July. 

England Senior Men’s Head Coach, Simon Loftus, will lead the team into action, assisted by Jefferson Williams and Phil Crawford, with Chris Jones supporting as Team Manager, Hai-Beinh Ly as Analyst and Misa Kalinova as Physio. 

The team has been placed in Pool A, along with Denmark, Ukraine and Italy. 

The top team from each pool will advance to the finals in Portugal, plus the two runners-up with the best records.  

“The U22 European Championships marks a significant milestone for volleyball in England as we are undertaking qualification for the first time at this age group,” said Loftus. 

“As part of the preparation and selection for this tournament we have been fortunate enough to blood many of the potential players in both the Five Nations and Novotel tournaments and several training camps. 

“We have worked with around 40 players, with the quality of athlete and depth of talent highlighting the good work that the club and university programmes across the country are doing to develop the next generation of players. 

“From a philosophical point of view, the coaching staff have decided to select a relatively young squad for the qualification campaign in order that these players gain vital experience against the best players in the world. 

“This approach means that the players will not only have a couple of opportunities at this age group but will graduate into the senior squad with a significant number of international matches under their belt. 

“We are under no illusions that the qualification group is extremely difficult, but this baptism of fire will hopefully reframe the aspirations of the players and encourage them to work even harder to continue to develop the profile and quality of the game in England. 

“I am extremely proud of the work the players have put into getting selected.” 

The England team will travel to the Netherlands to play against their U20 and U22 teams as part of the preparation and learning process. 

England squad 

Luke Atkinson (Setter, University of Charleston), Kelechi Bell (Opposite, Newcastle Uni), Albert Biryukov-Wang (Libero, Newcastle Staffs), Finley Bullivant (Middle Blocker, University of Nottingham), Finn Chalkley-Beales (Middle Blocker, Newcastle Staffs), Torin Cole (Libero, Pacific Coast), Lisle Costard (Middle Blocker, Uni of Nottingham), James Cox (Setter, Newcastle Staffs), Oscar Curzon-Hall (Opposite, Essex Rebels), Mickey Hawney (Outside, Kent Invicta), Jacob Lloyd-Williams (Middle Blocker, Essex Rebels), Rob Morgan (Outside, Uni of Nottingham), Josh Sturland (Outside, Newcastle Staffs), Oliver Tuck (Outside, Newcastle Uni).  

Reserves – Nathan Hampshire (Setter, Leeds Gorse), Harry Hebard (Libero, Exeter Storm), Cayde Keates (Middle Blocker, Northampton/Newcastle Staffs), Oscar Smith (Outside, Urmston Grammar).