The candidacies for the new head coaches in three of Bulgaria's national teams have been finalized, and the selection will be made tomorrow (April 3) at an online meeting of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation.
As already reported byvolleyweek.bg, the interest in the positions is significant, and established names from Bulgarian volleyball are entering the competition.
For the Bulgarian national team U17 (born 2010/2011), there are two candidates – Ivan Stanev and Svetlozar Ivanov.
Stanev, who currently coaches Neftochimic, is among the leading names in our club volleyball. On the other side is Ivanov, who already has experience with national teams:

• 2024–2025 – Head coach of Bulgaria U16 (men)

• 2022–2024 – Assistant coach of the Bulgarian women's national team

For men U20 (born 2008/2009), the most likely choice is Ventsislav Simeonov, who has already worked with junior national players:

• 2025 – Head coach of Bulgaria U21 (men)

His experience with this age group makes him a logical candidate to lead the team.

For the Bulgarian national team U20 (women), the candidates are Denislav Dimitrov and Anton Vasilev, with Dimitrov currently being the head coach of Levski's women's team and having accumulated international experience as an assistant in clubs in France, Turkey, and the USA, as well as in the staff of the Bulgarian women's national team in the period 2019–2023.

The new head coaches will have to start working immediately, as key competitions are scheduled for this summer:

• Men U17 – Balkan Championship in Albania (August 4–8) and World Championship in Doha (August 19–29)

• Men U20 – European Championship qualification in Bulgaria (August 25–29)

• Women U20 – European Championship qualification in Bosnia and Herzegovina (August 19–23)

The decisions are expected to be announced immediately after the online meeting of the Management Board, which will determine the coaches entrusted with the development of the next generation of national players.