The 53rd edition of the Volleyball New Zealand Club Championships begins on Wednesday across two venues in Tauranga.

The 2022 event will see action on courts across both the Trust Power Baypark Arena and Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre from Wednesday through to Saturday.

A total of 82 teams from 42 clubs around the country have gathered for the championships which were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19.

The Division 1 competition has 12 teams in the men's and women's grades with teams earning their place via the recently completed Zone competitions around the country.

Christchurch club Shirley will be looking to repeat their 2019 men's Division 1 victory while in the women's competition, Tauranga Volleyball Club will be looking for a repeat of their 2018 championship victory.

Five of the teams in Division 1 come from the Northern Zone (Northland and Auckland), two each from Midlands Zone (Waikato and Bay of Plenty) and Central Zone (Central/Lower North Island) with three clubs from the South Island Zone completing the mix.

The Division 2 competition is open entry with 31 women's teams and 27 men's teams from around New Zealand competing.

Volleyball NZ Events Manager Amanda Isada is excited to have the tournament back up and running after Covid-19 impacted the previous two events.

'Covid-19 has postponed our last two Club Championships events so it's great to finally be back on the court with so many teams participating.

'We're looking forward to seeing the players and teams do what they do best on the court and best of luck to all teams participating.

You can follow the action from Division 1 via livestream from Trust Baypark Arena here.

Click here for the online home of the 53rd Volleyball New Zealand Club Championships.