What the generations of Volleyball Forever players who have already taken the National Assessment have shown us
Every September we get the same messages from the parents of girls starting 8th grade: “This year we’re stopping. It’s an exam year.” It’s a decision made out of care, not indifference – and that’s exactly why it deserves a serious discussion.
Our answer, after several generations of players who have gone through the National Assessment, is simple: don’t stop sport. Adapt it.
What our girls’ results show
Since we created the club and then the performance groups, our players who reached 8th grade have achieved:
- A 100% pass rate in the National Assessment, for all the girls in the club.
- Admission averages above 9.20 – all the players who kept up their training.
- Places at top high schools in Cluj-Napoca: “Avram Iancu” Theoretical High School, “Emil Racoviță” National College, “Gheorghe Șincai” National College, “Nicolae Bălcescu” Theoretical High School.
What’s more, some of them were key players in the performance squads, with 5 practices a week, official matches at weekends and maths and Romanian tutoring during the week. Others simply kept playing the sport at training level (2 a week). They didn’t choose between the two. They did both.
Why does it work? The direct benefits of sport in an exam year
This is neither a coincidence nor a nice story told by a sports club. Research on physical activity in teenagers consistently shows positive effects on attention, executive functions and processing speed – exactly the mechanisms learning relies on. The direct effect on grades is more modest and varies between studies, but the direction is clear: regular exercise doesn’t take away from school performance, it supports it.
In practice, here is what we see in our girls.
Time becomes structured, not shorter. Counter-intuitively, a student with practice at 17:00 organises her day better than one with “the whole afternoon free”. The practice slot creates a framework, and the rest of the time falls into place around it. Unlimited time is the easiest to waste.
Stress has an outlet. The National Assessment year comes with constant pressure. Intense exercise is one of the most effective outlets for built-up tension. A girl who lets out her frustration on court comes back to her textbook with a clear head – she doesn’t take it to bed with her at 11 at night.
A brain tired from sitting no longer learns. After six to eight hours of school, plus homework, concentration drops visibly. Two hours of movement aren’t time taken from studying; they are the condition for the next hour of study to really count.
The exam is, in essence, a match under pressure. A girl who has played at 22–24 in the deciding set already knows what it means to keep calm when the stakes are high. The exam room won’t be the first place she meets that feeling. It’s an advantage you won’t find in any workbook.
What we are not saying
To be fair: we are not saying that the 8th-grade year should look exactly like all the others. Some players will need a reduced schedule during busy periods – around the mock exam and in the last weeks before the tests. Others will miss a tournament for an important tutoring session. That’s normal and it’s fine.
The distinction we make is between adapting and stopping. Adapting keeps the routine, the team and the outlet. Stopping cuts all three at once, in exactly the year when the child needs them most.
What do we do? Balance is the key to success
At Volleyball Forever we treat the National Assessment year as a partnership with the family:
- We follow each player’s school progress and talk openly with parents when something isn’t going well.
- We adapt the individual schedule in critical periods, without the girl losing her place in the team.
- We never put a player in the position of choosing between an exam and a match.
School remains the number one priority. Volleyball remains the reason the day has a rhythm.
Key dates of the year
According to the Ministry of Education’s draft calendar, the 2027 National Assessment mock exam is scheduled for 16–18 March 2027, and the written tests for 22 June (Romanian language and literature) and 24 June (maths). The calendar is still under public consultation and will be confirmed by ministerial order.
Don’t cut one of your child’s healthiest outlets in exactly the year they need it most. Sport and study go hand in hand – and our generations have proved it on both fields.
