The nation’s best Sitting Volleyball teams battled it out in Kettering last weekend

Last Saturday (22 April) saw reigning Sitting Volleyball National Champions ‘Sitting Bucks’ retain their title as the beat ‘Help for Heroes’ 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-16), showcasing the best of Sitting Volleyball to the Kettering crowd at the National Volleyball Centre.

In a tightly fought match, ‘Sitting Bucks’ once again showed their experience as they took the win in a match which was the culmination of the highest level domestic Sitting Volleyball competition and part of Volleyball England’s end of season volleyball showcase.

Sitting Volleyball is a fast and exciting sport, played sitting on the floor by men and women of all ages. It is a perfect team sport for amputees and individuals with limb difference. It is played without a prosthetic which makes the game a great leveller for people with different types and levels of impairment.

To find out more about Sitting Volleyball and learn how to get involved with the sport or find a local club, visit www.britishvolleyball.org or www.volleyballengland.org

For more information contact Betony Garner, PR Consultant for British Volleyball – betony@betonygarner.co.uk / 07779 801 691

Picture credit: Nina Farooqi

The country’s best Sitting Volleyball teams showcase their sport in Kettering this weekend

The country’s best Sitting Volleyball teams showcase their sport in Kettering this weekend

End of season Cup Finals taking place at the National Volleyball Centre in

Kettering on 22 & 23 April

This Saturday (22 April) sees reigning Sitting Volleyball National Champions ‘Sitting Bucks’ take on one of the country’s longest running teams, ‘Help for Heroes’, in what will be an electrifying Grand Prix Final – the culmination of the highest level domestic Sitting Volleyball competition.

Taking place at the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering, the Sitting Volleyball final is part of Volleyball England’s end of season volleyball showcase. Spectators can enjoy top level volleyball and an electric atmosphere over the weekend of 22 & 23 April, with the Sitting Volleyball Final one of the first matches of the weekend, taking place at 12.30 on Saturday.

Sitting Volleyball is a fast and exciting sport, played sitting on the floor by men and women of all ages. It is a perfect team sport for amputees and individuals with limb difference. It is played without a prosthetic which makes the game a great leveller for people with different types and levels of impairment.

“We are delighted to be able to showcase Sitting Volleyball to a wider audience at the Cup Finals in Kettering and hope that for those watching this exhilarating sport they will be inspired and maybe even consider taking it up,” said Joanna Cook, Performance Manager at British Volleyball. “We have an active domestic scene but are keen to grow it further and would encourage anyone with a disability or not, to find their local Sitting Volleyball club and give it a go!”

Tickets for the Volleyball Cup Finals cost £16 per adult for an allocated seat or £12 for an open seat, per day, with discounts for concessions and family bundles. Adult weekend tickets can also be purchased for £24 for an allocated seat or £18 for an open seat. To find out more or to buy tickets visit www.volleyballengland.org

To find out more about Sitting Volleyball and learn how to get involved with the sport or find a local club, visit www.britishvolleyball.org or www.volleyballengland.org

For more information contact Betony Garner, PR Consultant for British Volleyball – betony@betonygarner.co.uk / 07779 801 691

GB Senior Women's Squad Heads to the Stavanger Cup

The BVF are delighted to be supporting our women’s squad as they head out to KFUM Stavanger international Sit Cup 2023.

The team will fly out to Stavanger, Norway for this two day event which is being held by KFUM in cooperation with the Norwegian Volleyball Federation on Friday 17th March. The two days of competition will see Great Britain play against some quality opposition from Norway and Denmark, providing a great readiness test for the upcoming Silver league.

Head Coach Ian Legrand will be assisted by team manger Amanda Pollard, physio, and assistant coach Bobbi Clarke.

Ian has selected a strong group with a mix of experience and youth which includes Stacey Byrne, Paige Clarke, Nicole Jodi Hill, Jeannette Adu-Bobi, Jessica Frezza, Claire Harvey, Andrea Green and Jessica Dowdeswell.

We wish the squad all the best of luck, we are hoping matches will be lived streamed on the KFUM facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/sittevolleyballcup

The BVF are hosting the PVE Silver Nations League in Nottingham between 19-21st May 2023. This will see both our men and women teams take on a host of top European countries. We will shortly be opening out applications for interested parties to volunteer at the event, make sure you follow the BVF facebook page for all the information. www.facebook.com/BritishVolleyball

UK Sport increases Beach Volleyball Funding with a coaching project

Monday 13 February 2023 - UK Sport confirmed an additional £4m of funding into summer Olympic and Paralympic sport as preparations gear up for the Paris 2024 Games.

The increased investment across 33 sports will support athletes in their preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including allowing athletes to attend extra competitions that have been added to the international calendar and are essential to qualification for the Paris Games, in addition to training camps.

Following last year’s significant uplifts of £11.2m of additional investment in summer sports on top of the original Paris cycle awards the latest round of investments prioritised support on activities and requirements that will have a direct impact on Paris 2024 qualification.

The British Volleyball Federation are delighted to receive an uplift of investment for the two men’s beach pairs of £26,000 to cover a specific coaching project outlined to enhance and assist in the qualification aspirations of the two men’s pairs for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Performance manager Joanna Cook says, “This is a significant, and much appreciated uplift for the men’s pairs allowing their coaches to travel with them to international competitions. It is thanks to UK Sport and the National Lottery that this focused effort on our athletes’ aspirations will be strengthened.”

British Volleyball Federation completes UK Anti-Doping Assurance Framework

The British Volleyball Federation (BVF) is delighted to announce its completion of the Assurance Framework, which National Governing Bodies (NGBs) must fulfil to certify to UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) that they are meeting their anti-doping responsibilities.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published the updated 2021 UK National Anti-Doping Policy (Policy) in April 2021, which all NGBs must be compliant with. This was the first update of the Policy since its implementation in 2009.

UKAD, which is responsible for ensuring that sports bodies comply with the World Anti-Doping Code through its implementation and management of the Policy, introduced the Assurance Framework for NGBs to be able to evidence their compliance with the Policy.

The introduction of the Assurance Framework is the most significant change in the Policy. It outlines a series of mandatory requirements which all NGBs must fulfil. These requirements include the creation of an education strategy and plan, the implementation of anti-doping rules and increased involvement of an NGB’s Board with clean sport.

Upon completion of the Assurance Framework Richard Callicott from the BVF, said: “It is key that British Volleyball have completed this necessary and important framework to ensure the organisation is fully supporting safe, clean sport.”

UKAD’s Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Nisha Dutt, said: “At UKAD we work tirelessly to protect clean sport, but we can’t do it alone. This Assurance Framework supports NGBs with the delivery of their anti-doping responsibilities and will help the BVF to embed clean sport values into volleyball going forward. It is brilliant to see that the BVF has completed the UKAD Assurance Framework after working closely with our dedicated Assurance and Education teams over recent months.”

For more information on the Policy and Assurance Framework, visit the UKAD website.

About UK Anti-Doping

UK Anti-Doping is responsible for ensuring sports bodies in the UK are compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code through implementation and management of the UK National Anti-Doping Policy. UK Anti-Doping’s functions include an education and information programme, athlete testing across more than 40 Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports, intelligence management and exclusive results management authority for the determination of anti-doping rule violations. For more information on UKAD, please click here.

Scottish Volleyball - vacancies

Scottish Volleyball is looking to grow the staff team.

They are currently looking for three different roles, administrative officer, workfore and wellbeing officer and they are looking for a full time indoor performance coach and manager. The coaching position is funded in cooperation with the FIVB empowerment funding.

To know more on how to apply, please visit their page here.

Athlete Spotlight Lynne Beattie - social impact within Scotland

On the court, Lynne has competed at 3 Multi-Sport Games, Captaining the Great Britain Indoor team at the London 2012 Olympic Games before transitioning to beach volleyball and representing Team Scotland at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Lynne also played professional indoor volleyball in 5 different countries across Europe (Slovenia, Italy, Germany, Spain and Switzerland) and continues to compete for Scotland on the FIVB Beach Pro Tour.

Off the court, Lynne has been involved in a variety of roles in healthcare and sport, starting off as a Community Pharmacist, before moving to the sport sector in roles including Strength and Conditioning coach and volleyball development officer. Lynne is now working in a national role with sportscotland as a Partnership Manager in Community sport. We are exceptionally happy that Lynne has agreed to be part of our social impact steering group.

Lynne told us a little bit about her involvement in sport and social impact…

It was through my role as Regional Development Officer with Scottish Volleyball, that my passion for sport and social impact bubbled to the surface after enrolling on a sportscotland workforce development programme called Changing Lives Champions.  The Changing Lives programme is an in-depth training programme aimed at supporting the sportscotland professional workforce to effectively utilise sport to drive positive change in society and champion equality, diversity, and inclusion across sport.

I have always believed in the positive impact that sport can have on peoples’ lives, but it was through my involvement with this programme, that my curiosity around the impact sport can have on individuals, communities and society as a whole grew, and I started to explore my own role in contributing to that impact both as an athlete and through my full-time role with Scottish Volleyball.

We all know about the inherent benefits of sport in supporting our physical and mental health and wellbeing and we all know that sport has the power to change people’s lives, but quite often, the life changing examples, are just a by-product of that person being involved in a traditional sport setting rather than a club or programme designing and delivering their offer with real intention to have a positive impact on the lives of the people that take part or the community that they operate within.  This is Changing Lives…

As my understanding of the Changing Lives through sport approach grew, I began to plan and deliver my work more intentionally.  I stopped making assumptions about what schools, and communities wanted, and started to invest more time in having purposeful conversations with schools, communities and local authorities about their needs and priorities and how volleyball could help contribute to these priorities.

Suddenly I wasn’t talking to schools and clubs about membership numbers and event entries, but instead I was talking with schools about how we could work together to support positive destinations of young people leaving school in an area where the youth unemployment rate was the highest in the city.  Instead of talking to clubs about membership growth and hall lets, I was talking with clubs about inclusive, person-centred approaches to their offer and making their club environment more relevant and welcoming to those who are not currently involved.

Sand for Schools

During my time on the Changing Lives programme, I was involved with the BVF Aspiration Fund application to UK Sport, which invited governing bodies to outline their commitment to social impact as well as their performance outcomes.

Prior to the launch of the Aspiration Fund, I had been working closely with Liberton High School in Edinburgh as part of the CEV Schools Project. Liberton HS is based in an area with pockets of deprivation and high rates of youth unemployment and other social challenges.

My initial work with the school was focussed around young people as coaches as part of a wider skills development and employability project.  This project also connected to the school performance pathways programme that provides the opportunity for pupils to choose volleyball as a subject, supporting them to develop their volleyball performance and progress to our regional and national team pathways.  The newly trained young coaches would then give back to their school by coaching within this curriculum programme, gaining experience in a coaching role and further supporting their employability prospects.

I started to have conversations around proactively connecting this work to a local club to ensure these young people had a pathway into both coaching and participating in our sport outwith school.  With these aims connecting well with those of Edinburgh Beach Volleyball Club (EBVC), who had the capacity to help drive this forward due to existing Direct Club Investment (DCI) from sportscotland in the area of building capacity, workforce development and reducing inequality in sport - a partnership was built around a shared purpose.

Through my conversations with teaching staff and active school coordinators, it also became apparent that despite only being a few miles from the beach, some of the pupils had never been to the beach before, and so was born the concept of Sand for Schools - bringing the beach to the local community through a facility build on the school site.  This would not only be Scotland’s first ever permanent inland beach volleyball facility, and an additional space for the high school to deliver sport and physical activity, but also a platform for skills development with the potential to boost the employability and career prospects of young people at Liberton High School, contributing to a positive destination for school leavers and a wider societal impact within their local community.

The facility would also be connected to the Scottish Beach Volleyball Performance Pathway, as a key training venue for athletes based in Edinburgh, which would also provide the opportunity to connect young people to performance sport and help inspire and build ambition for the young aspiring athletes at Liberton HS.

This was the vision for the project – we now had to work together to make it happen both logistically and financially.

With the support of the BVF we submitted this project plan to UK Sport as part of the Aspiration Fund bid and were successful in this bid.  The build was completed in January 2021 amidst the pandemic, and despite some initial challenges with COVID and restricted access to the school site, we are looking forward to making a difference to the lives of Liberton HS pupils and local people, using volleyball as a vehicle to do this.  Watch the video for an insight into the build and for more detail about the project, please visit the following article:  Sand for Schools.

The strength of this project was in the collaboration between sports organisations, education and local authority partners – each bringing their own experiences and expertise to the project.  There is also a great deal of learning that we will be able to use to do even better next time.  Sports clubs and organisations cannot possibly have all the answers to difficult community or societal issues, but they can certainly play their part in contributing to being part of the solution.

When you start to collaborate in this way over an outcome that is wider than just sport, the greater the opportunity becomes, to create meaningful partnerships, life changing opportunities and increased diversity within our sport.

As a result of my involvement with the Changing Lives programme, I feel more equipped to contribute to work that helps remove barriers for people to take part in sport and believe that sport – when delivered intentionally - has an unrivalled ability to drive positive change in people, families, and communities, leading to wider social benefits.

I am looking forward to joining the conversation on the BVF Social Impact working group and am excited to share my experiences and learn from others about how we can do more as an organisation and a sport to facilitate connections, support communities and better the lives of others.

Success at the Copenhagan Sit Cup 2022

Both Great Britain Men & Women’s teams travelled to the Copenhagen Sit Cup which took place on 5th & 6th November. This has been an annual event for the Great Britain teams for many years, although this was the first time, post pandemic that the teams have been able to complete. This is an open tournament played over a men’s height net which gives the GB Women’s team a positive challenge.

Great Britain Men

Following the recent successful training camp with Italy the GB Men were looking to implement the lessons learnt during the scrimmages with Italy. A number of key athletes were unavailable due to injuries, so it was also an opportunity to increase the competitive experience across the squad.

The team won all three pool matches on Saturday and started the play-off matches with a match vs Great Britain Women. The two top teams, GB Men & Pinneberg had already qualified for the final when they met in the last play-off match. The GB Men won both the play-off match and the final 2-0.

Results

Pool match vs Pinneberg (Germany) W2-0

Pool match vs Norway 2 W2-0

Pool match vs Copenhagen (Denmark) W2-0

Play Off Pool (1st to 4th Places)

Play Off Match 1 vs Great Britain Women W2-0

Play Off Match 2 vs Norway 1 W2-0

Play Off Match 3 vs Pinneberg (Germany) W2-0

Final vs Pinneberg (Germany) W2-0

Overall the team’s performance developed over the weekend, building on the foundations that were laid during the joint camp with Italy.

The tournament was a success in both performance and outcomes terms. This was the first time a British team has won the tournament. The Great Britain Men now have a series of training sessions in preparation for the European “B” Championships in Rouen, France 15th-17th Dec.

Great Britain Women

Great Britain Women have been focusing on playing domestic competitions to build competitive experience across the squad while bedding in the team systems. The tournament gave the team the chance to test themselves against unfamiliar opposition. All the other teams were male or mixed.

The team started slowly but recovered to win the match in three sets. Results went GB’s way and we finished second in the pool, missing first place by one set. This set up a play-off match with Great Britain Men. Against a structured team the GB Women gave a good account of themselves. A loss to Pinneberg and win against Norway 1 put Great Britain Women into the 3rd-4th Play-Off.

GB won the 1st set “going away” and lost a tight 2nd set. Norway 1 led 13-11, with GB tying the set 14-14. The teams traded points up to 17-17 then scored the final two points to win the set 19-17.

This was a significant result for Great Britain Women, both in technical & tactical terms but also psychologically. The team is starting to develop a system of play that suits the abilities and outlook of the team.

The Great Britain Women hope that they can transfer this success to the second half of the domestic season in preparation for the Stavanger Tournament, European Nations Silver League, the Dutch Cup and the European Championships that take place during 2023.

Results

Pool match vs Kometa Praha (Czech Rep) W2-1

Pool match vs Norway 1 L0-2

Pool match vs Copenhagen Old Stats (Denmark) W2-1

Great Britain Women finished second in pool B (on sets difference)

Play Off Pool (1st to 4th Places)

Play Off Match 1 vs Great Britain Men L0-2

Play Off Match 2 vs Pinneberg (Germany) L0-2

Play Off Match 3 vs Norway 1 W2-0

3rd - 4th Play vs Norway 1 W2-1

Reflections from Lewie Lett - coach of Issa and Freddie

It was a very rainy day in Myslowice, Poland at the World Tour Futures event (the third tier of international competition) in early August. This was my first time at an event with Issa and Fred for over 18 months as BVF had funded me to be there. The weather was miserable, but hid under an umbrella at the back of the court it was clear to see how far we had come in the year but also how far we had to go.

We lost to a very good Lithuanian side for 5th and for us, that was another result that hit the performance target for the season but a loss against the team that went on to cruise that tournament.

The day after was free and we decided to try to make a plan for the next 12 weeks, the boys having made 2 futures medals and a bunch of 5ths had hit their goals for the season. It was still raining and we didn’t fancy getting wet watching volleyball for the 30th time that week, so we decided to bring forward the meeting.

Looking at the calendar we knew there would be a group of Challenger events at the end of the season and potentially an Elite 16 in South Africa, although at that time it was doubtful that we would get into the qualification for that, due to entry points. The aim for 2022-23 is to be a Main Draw Challenger team, we also knew a 9th would be a significant result for us in that calibre of event and we all agreed that if we identified what we needed to change to become a main draw team, were open to the changes, were patient with processes then we would have half a chance. We also stated that we wanted to start to take some scalps from the top 40 teams in the world.

The list of things we were willing to change was fairly long, and some of these things are still not consistent but the boys had to be willing to change something in every phase of their game. Serving, blocking, defence, sideout, how we dealt with free balls, how we play in transition and most of all how we were functioning as a team in lots of different situations.

We had created what I called a big shell for us to grow into, now we had to try and fill it. The issue is when you try and make so many adjustments, it can go backwards before it goes forwards and we were quite quick to address that elephant in the room. We recognised that we would need to be patient, even though time was limited. The other thing we were very aware of is burnout, the boys season started in January and here I was in August asking them if they could go all in for 10-12 weeks at the back end of the season.

We were really lucky to have 2/3 weeks at home to train and then a real nice competitive trio of events. The Swiss tour is one of the best national tours in Europe, straight after we would have a futures in Poland and then King Of The Court European Championships in Utrecht, a fast paced intense and exciting modified form of the sport, where we were in the qualifiers. The time at home gave chance for Nick Morris to come in and help with psychology and we could grow the team around us with more assistants coaches / training partners.

The hope was that after those events, we would start to see the changes we wanted and everything in-between would see us play well in the style we wanted for phases of play, then hopefully we would get some results as well. We also still continue to know that the only way we grow is to get our playing shorts in the wash as often as we can.

The Swiss tour was great for us, first game was up against two players who had medalled at Challenger Level and the perfect chance to measure our game - the boys started well but they beat us, we didn’t have the consistency. We made it to the quarter finals and we learnt some valuable lessons on the way about our mentality. In the quarter finals we played a brilliant team from the Ukraine who have since gone on to win medals at Challenger level and are now an E16 MD team. We started slow, we finished slow. The in-between was some of our best volleyball to date.

The next chance to compete would be in Warsaw the following the week at the futures event. For the first time we a took one of the top seeding spots due to previously good results. We all fancied our chances but we failed to perform in the opening match against Oman. Maybe we had tried to change too much? We improved in performances but ended up taking 9th after losing in three to a great young team from Norway, who went on to win the event. This was probably the most testing time of this period. Results had gone from 3rds - 9th and if you looked purely the outcome, it would cause obvious frustration. but they stuck at it.

The next week saw us play King Of The Court, an event that I would also be at as a commentator. The format of this game excited me mostly due to the fact that it would force us to move out of our comfort zone but also force to walk to towards pressure and play with more intensity and aggression, two of the million things we had highlighted when we had planned for the 3 months ,and those who have ever coached, you will know it is nice when the situation does the talking for you.

It’s hard to explain this story, but its probably worth a mention. You don’t want to peak too early at King Of Court, there are 5 teams playing 3 x 15 minute rounds and in the first round of qualification you just didn’t want to finish last in the first round as you’d be eliminated, last in the second round would be head to a second qualifying round.

We had trained well and spoken at depth about how to play the clock and had agreed that if we had scored enough points early in the rounds, we could take it easy, conserve energy that we could use in Rounds 2 and 3. We started really well, playing the systems we wanted too, we made 6 or 7 points at the Kings end, we ended up making 16 points in a row and then gassing out the second round, having to go through the second round of qualification route. Much to our frustration but also amusement.

We had another qualification group of 5 teams, only one team would qualify and we literally took that spot on the buzzer of the final round at the expense of our Czech friends, for me anyway that would be a pivotal point of their season. We managed to make the 1/4 finals, playing on a big stage against some of the best teams in the world, testing a lot of their concepts on the way.

That performance grew the motivation and commitment to their goals and systems. The next few weeks would be a tough period at home training. The ‘All In’ mentality was there not only from us but also Dave Panah and Matt Bobowski who helped us train. I think it was the toughest phase of training and we managed to fix some things quickly, as well as to identify some interventions needed at key times of games, I don’t feel we nailed everything, but we tried to have an answer for most things that would come our way. A lot of the things we had spoken about at the start of this block were getting better though.

The boys went to train with Czech before having Challenger events in Maldives, two in Dubai and then we were confident that we would get into the Qualifier in South Africa.

Before, the boys decided that a 9th in a Challenger was their main goal and they wanted to qualify for two main draws out of the three. Not easy as there are so many good teams, but achievable. We knew that South Africa would be a free hit.

Maldives was a perfect start to that, it had a quiet qualifier but a strong main draw, it meant we had to play Japan to get in, they did that and went on to beat a strong Italian team in the first game of the main draw, sticking to a lot of our principles and systems. I actually felt that we took a step back in our performance after that win. Kirk Pitman, the new Performance Director at VE said that this could happen after a big victory. we did address it before and after the other games in the Maldives, but now we were competing at that level, it showed us how competitive we could be. The good news was that a 9th was our goal, and the best result for an England Men’s team ever. We had secured that by working as a team better than ever before.

Dubai was interesting, Instantly the boys were open to change and they were quick to identify what they needed to work on. One of the thing that I like about them is that they are quick to learn and are not scared to put it into action. Training throughout Dubai was the best level we had consistently brought, and credit to them, their level had increased since August.

A full world class qualifier in Dubai was perfect for the team to learn and grow, qualifier volleyball hits differently and there are no easy games. We still want to play as many games as possible under pressure, not really worrying too much about the results or world ranking points. As great as the preparation was, the performance in that opening game against Germany wasn’t there, we lost after taking the first set to 10 or 11, but we had another shot and were straight back into training the following day.

The next week we also trained as well as I had seen. The principles, changes and attitude were completely different to when the boys were in Poland 3 months earlier, we were all excited to go again. We drew the same German team putting in a great performance and beating them 2-0. Unfortunately we couldn’t put in the same performance against Spain in the second round and fell 2-0. This loss was different though, we had performed with the mindset we had wanted too, just not quite been patient enough or worked together well enough. It was big progress but there still lots of room to improve.

Leaving Dubai, we knew that we were building great performances and our parting words were that the best performance of the season was still to come, If they could transfer the processes, performances and the quality from the training court and even though we hadn’t got the results in Dubai everything was very very positive, there just needed to be a little more tweaking.

South Africa in the Elite 16 meant two tough games to qualify but the good news was that we had the last two weeks to lean on and learn from. The first game against Switzerland was the best performance of the season in my eyes. The second against the AVP Champions was even better to qualify for the main draw. A win against Austria, another top 20 team in the world was another big step in the right direction and although we didn’t win, the chance to learn lessons against Australia was vital for our development.

In our final game against the Netherlands I felt that we managed to show the brand of Beach Volleyball we wanted to against the World Champions and Olympic Bronze Medalists and one of the best teams ever. Showing that we can compete at that level.

12 weeks ago in Poland seems like a long time ago but also like yesterday, their commitment to the bigger picture, long term goals and developing patience in multiple way’s has been rewarded, now their job is to make that level consistent, they know they have it in them. They have accomplished more than they set out for12 weeks ago.

As we always say though, it does take a village. The last 12 weeks especially. Thanks from my end to Nick Morris, Emma Kavangh, Kirk Pitman, Dave Panah, Matt Bobowski, Dan Boer and Soph Busfield and of course the team at BVF and Volleyball England who make everything possible.

Photo credit Daisy Mumby

November Beach Volleyball Round Up

Summer 2022 was busy and exciting for British Volleyball. We are now at the last stretches of the season and have seen our men’s pairs Bello/Bello, Batrane/Bialokoz and women’s Evans/Mumby, competing in many tournaments showing a promising progression in their level of performance. 

In the last period, coming off the successful Commonwealth Games winning the bronze medal match against Rwanda, the pair Bello Bello competed their journey on the Pro Tour. They won another bronze medal at the Pro Tour Futures tournament held in Cortegaca, Portugal. After the successful events, they came back to the tour in Cape Town, South Africa to compete at the Elite 16 event, the highest level on the Pro Tour. The pair won both qualification matches, which brought them to the main draw. In the main draw they played in a tough pool against Qatar, pair who won the bronze medal at the last Olympics and were ranked 6th in the world at the time of the tournament, Netherlands, who were 16th in the rankings and against the young Swedish pair who just won the European Championship in Munich this year and were 12th in the rankings. Our British pair Bello/Bello showed an amazing level of performance, managing to take Cherif and Ahmed of Qatar to a tie breaker match. They finished the tournament in 13th position. They have just completed another Elite 16 in Uberlandia, Brasil, where they lost the first match of qualification against Brasil, getting a final 33rd place. With a lot of matches at the highest level under their belt, the Bellos have confirmed a bright future awaits them. 

Batrane and Bialokoz had a busy and terrific couple of months. They have competed in Warsaw in September in the Futures event, coming 9th in the final standings. After his event they flew over the Maldives in October to play up in the Challenge event. In the main draw they ranked 2nd in the pool, position that guaranteed them the play off match to access the Round of 16. Their Maldives expedition terminated here a tough match against the Americans Field/Budinger. 

From the Maldives, Batrane and Bialokoz flew to Dubai to play two challenge events back to back which secured them a 33rd and 25th place accordingly, finishing both tournaments at the qualification stages. The pair then reached Cape Town as well, to compete in the Elite 16 tournaments as well. They managed to win both qualification matches to get to the main draw. They had a tough pool as well in the main draw and competed against Austria, the Netherlands and Australia, who were 14th, 3rd and 32 in the word ranking accordingly. Batrane and Bialokoz managed to get a fantastic win during the pool play against Pristauz Ermacora of Austria. Unfortunately, this win was not enough to get through the next phase as they came 4th and it was a matter of point ratio as the pool standings were close in wins and set ratios. They concluded with a 13th place, showing a great deal of progression in their performance.

Last but not least, the newly formed pair Evans/Mumby made their first official appearance on the Pro Tour. Mumby came from a positive summer, in which she competed on the Pro Tour and placed 5th at the Commonwealth Games. Evans, on the other hand, came off a positive training period in the United States, where she is currently completing her studies. 

Anaya and Daisy competed in the double Challenge event in Dubai, after completing a successful training camp in Modena, Italy. They have completed both tournaments with a solid 25th place, after getting knocked out in the second round of qualification. The games were very close and were lost on very narrow margins. This shows a promising future for this women team, who we will see competing again together on the Pro Tour.

Athlete Spotlight - Darren Young

Darren Young is a fiercely competitive athlete.  He is a former RAF Fire-fighter who struggled to come to terms with life as an impaired individual after he was discharged based on medical grounds.  Sport massively assisted in getting him through and developing him into the strong, determined athlete the BVF has the pleasure of working with today. 

From a young age he has enjoyed sport, but constant injuries have acted as a huge barrier to him.  Then he discovered the world of sport for injured and impaired athletes and he began again. 

He has tried and played a number of sports at the highest level, whilst also running his own fire and safety company, 1st Aid Fire.  Due to his personal journey, he has a drive to improve the mental health and well-being of individuals, especially in impaired athletes, where challenges can be great.  This drive has given him opportunities, and he is currently actively involved in the UK Sport Powered by Purpose Programme, a programme designed to develop athletes to use their voice for the greater good, and is a member of the BVF’s Social Impact Working Group.

“The UK sport powered by purpose programme is about empowering funded athletes to have greater ownership of how they can use their platform and voice to power positive change. “

Darren is also dyslexic, something that a lot of people have to contend with, but his story is encouraging, proving it has not limited him in setting up his own business and thriving in what he does.

Below is a spotlight interview with Darren:

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How did you get involved in sitting volleyball?

In 2017 I did not even know about Sitting Volleyball; never seen it or heard of it. It was only when I applied for the Warrior Games and Invictus Games that I was introduced to the game.  I remember walking in to a gym at Tedworth House and Charlie Walker the Warrior Games coach told me to sit on the floor when I am in his sports hall for Sitting Volleyball… I thought I don’t even know this guy, who does he think he is speaking too… I quickly worked out this was the Charlie Walker way.  That day I shuffled around on my bum for 6 hours, going home with blisters on my bum and cuts to my hands… Welcome to Sitting Volleyball!

So that was you hooked, what did you find as the biggest challenge?

Yes I quickly got the bug for the game, starting to watch a few games on YouTube to see what I would have to do, and then the next training session came round.

I knew how to play standing volleyball as I played for Combined Services in Cyprus but I was never knew how to move on the floor as quickly as some of the guys in that training session did.  Due to a bad back, and possibly, (looking back on it), carrying some extra weight the movement was always going to be a challenge… and being 47yr old…

Yes, I have heard that a lot.  As well as being part of the BVF sitting squad are you still involved in other para sports? 

That year, 2017, I was not selected for the Invictus Games but was given the chance to take part in the Chicago Warrior Games where I did swimming, discus and sitting volleyball.  First I did 50m freestyle swimming, but I didn’t even finish the 50m doing the same stroke… haha I was that out of shape!  Next 50m backstroke, and through grit and determination (and hating to get beat) I was pipped by 0.018 of a second for gold, but I was massively impressed with Silver especially after the freestyle.  Then I turned to discus which I had not done in 31 years from school.  Although I was quite good at school I didn’t expect to win gold, discus in my eyes was easy and I threw 31m with a bust shoulder! 

Then the main event; sitting volleyball.  We had only spent a few hours training as a team, and that showed on the court, getting beaten in all of our games.  However, that was the start of the real Sitting Volleyball journey.

So is this when you got involved with the BVF development squad?

Corrie Mapp, who I had trained with for the Invictus Games, asked if I would be interested in training with the GB Development Squad.  It was a case of why not, but I knew I’m wasn’t good enough, I had only been playing the game a few months… 

From my first game at the Warrior Games to representing GB in Holland it would be a long hard slog, one which was 5 years a 1 day.   

From not knowing the sport to playing for GB took me 5 years and 1 day… wow, surely that is some going?

Yeah that is really impressive, I think its important to get the message out that you don’t need a background in the sport to get involved in the sitting game.

So what are your playing highlights to date?

Between the Warrior Games in 2017 and the GB Cap in 2022, there was H4H Grand Prix Winners Medal and Invictus Games Silver Medal in Sydney.  I hope they’ll be many more highlights this year with a good programme of competition and training camps.

 What is the plan for the future?

Now at 53 years old, I have more drive and passion for the sport which has given me a new lease for life. Although the body is in constant pain, the back is crumbling and the fitness is hard to keep up; I have managed to lose some weight and feel as fit now as I did when I was 40 years old.  I’m still struggling to get classified after 5 years due to the lack of classifiers or classifying events, but I hope to have the evidence which they have asked for to make it official. 

This will allow me to dream about the Paralympics; if we qualify and if I am selected I will be I will be 54 years old and heading into the elite category within sport.  This is the one thing that keeps me going to the Grand Prix and the GB training, the end goal and retirement.

Retirement is something which I have thought about, and this is why I am doing my Coaching Qualification (level 2) and taking part in the Project known as Powered By Purpose, whilst I deal with clinical depression on a daily basis. I need something to be part of, something to keep me focused… Sitting Volleyball is doing that for now, but retirement is just around the corner.  Although I don’t have a high profile within the game I want to use the platform I do have for the greater good… #PoweredByPurpose

Thanks a lot for sharing your story with us, congratulations on your appointment to the UK sport #PoweredByPurpose project, we look forward to hearing all about it very soon.  If you want to find out more about Darren, please take a look at his website http://www.darrenjyoung.tv/

Copenhagen Sit Cup 22

British Volleyball are delighted to support both our men and women’s sitting volleyball national teams this weekend as they head to, Copenhagen, Denmark to take part in the 2022 Sit Cup. This international event gives both teams an opportunity to play competitively against both other national teams and club teams.

The squads consist of a mix of established players and some of the new additions which will give head coach Ian Legrand the opportunity to gauge the straights of both squads before the men take to the European B championships next month in France.

The squads fly to Copenhagen today with the matches starting on Saturday morning at 10am when the men take on experienced club side Pinneberg on court one. The women’s team get under way on court two at 10:45am against Kometa Praha.

We hope to be able to share some live feed on our social media of the matches over the weekend and will provide a full round up next week. Congratulations and the best of luck to all those selected.

More informaion can be found on the Sit Cup webpage here.

Social Impact

The British Volleyball Federation (BVF) is passionate about having a positive social impact, and to raise awareness using the voice of our organisation, and our athletes to highlight issues of importance within the wider volleyball community, and society as a whole. We hope likewise that the volleyball family will support us in driving social change and impact.

We are working with UK Sport and their social impact team to inspire positive change. Together we have a responsibility, an opportunity, and a purpose to drive change within our organisation, within our sport, and within the wider community.

“From the growing mental health crisis to the climate emergency, decreasing social mobility to increasing inequality, the world is changing.” UK Sport

Our priority topics

• Health and well-being - you will have seen across the last year various sports stars talking publicly in the media about their mental health and well-being.  This includes tennis stars like Naomi Osaka, and US gymnast Simone Biles who both have struggled with their mental health; to Laura Trott who opened up about health issues related to recent pregnancies.  These stories bring to light personal struggles that can happen to anyone, showing athletes as humans with struggles like anyone else.  Our organisation and athletes believe that mental health and well-being is pivotal in fostering a healthy positive life.

• Racial, ethical or women empowerment - There is still much inequality that occurs across the world, whether it's around Black Lives Matter, or equal pay for everyone. We will use our voice and promote those that are brave in speaking out on matters that need attention.

• Environment and sustainability - the BVF is passionate about doing what we can to reduce our carbon footprint, and be more consciously aware of what we can do to reduce our waste, and leave the world in a better place.  We will seek to engage with athletes like Issa Batrane, using his platform within the sporting world to promote and engage thinking on environmental and sustainable issues.  We will continue to work as an organisation and with our athletes to drive this movement forward.

• Inclusion - the BVF want to strive for inclusion for all.Our athletes already have links with their communities who we hope to work further to help diversity and inclusion within our sport, whether it's disability, socio-economic or LGBT+.We will work with our Para-athletes to promote greater awareness in accessibility and rightful inclusion in all areas of life. Inclusion matters.

Beach Volleyball roundup

In the past couple of months our beach volleyball athletes have been competing in multiple Beach Volleyball Pro Tour events, showing consistently good progression.

Issa Batrane and Freddie Bialokoz have competed in one Challenge event in Itapema, four Futures event (Australia, Lithuania, Greece and Italy) and in a Zonal Event in Norway. The team Batrane Bialokoz showed very steady progression. In the first tournaments they had to go through the qualification tournament and slowly they have been climbing up the ladder, securing the main draw via entry points for the Futures events. The best results so far in the season are two Bronze medals at the Futures events in Ios and Ciro’ Marina and a silver medal at the NEVZA tour in Norway.

Joaquin and Javier Bello have competed in two Challenge events (Tlaxcala and Espinho), and have then took part in four Futures event in Australia, Thailand, and twice in Greece. Steady performance for the team always qualyfing in the Futures events in the main draw via entry points. The team has been competing on the Spanish tour as well, via wild cards. The best results for team Bello Bello are a gold medal in the NEVZA Zonal tour in Norway, a 5th place in Ios, two gold and one bronze medals on three Spanish Tour stops.

Jessica Grimson and Daisy Mumby had their debut on the Pro Tour in the Challenge event in Tlaxcala, Mexico. They have then competed in five Futures events, namely in Thailand, Spain, Greece and Italy. Jessica and Daisy showed great improvement, with the last tournament showing a great progression from the qualification tournament through to the main draw, getting a final 5th place. They got an historic gold medal for England at the NEVZA Zonal Tour in Norway.

Silver Medal at the European Sitting Volleyball Bronze Nations League

Sean Poole, Acting Head Coach, reports on GB Men’s silver medal-winning performance at last weekend’s European Sitting Volleyball Bronze Nations League. The competition was held in Lyon, France between Great Britain, France, Estonia and the Czech Republic from 7-11 July.

Already missing captain and 1st setter Rob Richardson, the squad was further depleted in the week leading up to the tournament by personnel who had contracted Covid the previous weekend at the Dutch Cup in Assen, Holland. As a result, Head Coach Ian Legrand, Team Manager John Worrall and players Steve Allen and John Munro were unable to travel to Lyon.

A couple of replacement players were drafted in at the last minute (including Jaochim Pierre earning his first GB cap and who was to prove invaluable throughout the tournament) to take the squad size up to 8. New flights were booked for them and Sean Poole was briefed to take on the Head Coach and Team Manager roles and Justin Phillips was nominated captain of the side in Rob’s absence.

The group traveled out to France on 3 separate flights from 2 different airports (and same for the return trip) with 4 players not arriving at the hotel until around 1.30am on the morning of GB’s first match against Czech Republic – hardly the best preparation for a tournament but unavoidable in the circumstances.

Czech Republic were the only team at the tournament that we couldn’t properly scout beforehand as we couldn’t find any video of them from later than 2019. They were our first opponents on the Saturday morning so we were unsure what to expect.

As a result of the last minute personnel changes, Team GB were not able to field their regular starting six and so the first match was always going to be a test of new experimental line-ups. The line-up for this match included new cap Jaochim playing as Libero.

GB took the first set 25-21 and appeared to be settling down well but thanks to some incredible defense (I can’t remember any loose balls falling on the floor on the Czech side of the net), the Czech side proved too strong on the day, taking the next 3 sets 25-23; 25-22 & 25-22.

All in all, considering all of the issues Team GB had overcome in the previous few days, and our new untested line up, not a bad result really, and with set scores so tight, very unlucky not to have taken more from the match.

Team GB players were disappointed at the result of the Czech game, but after a re-group, discussing the positives from the match, they prepared for their second match later on Saturday evening against Estonia.

The team went into the Estonia game a lot more settled. Jaochim was moved from Libero to 4 hitter, his second position of the tournament, and GB dominated the first set 25-16. The second set followed suit but an injury to setter Danny Kitcher at 20-16 up threatened to throw the team off the rails. As Team GB didn’t have any other setters on the bench, 4 hitter Daz Young was called in to cover Danny’s role and setter Kev Tann asked to take on more of the setting responsibilities. By the end of the set Team GB had managed to increase their lead from 4 to 6 points, finally winning 25-19.

In the third set, Jaochim started as a replacement setter for the still injured Danny – his 3rd different position of the tournament (pretty good going for a player earning his first cap!). Estonia dug deep to take the set by the narrowest of margins 23-25 but GB managed to settle down to the new line-up by the end of the set and were determined not to let the game slip from their grasp. They took the final set 25-15 for a thoroughly deserved 3-1 win. Next, bring on the home side France but not before a good night’s sleep!

Sunday morning saw a bit of a lie-in as the GB/France game was scheduled for 11.00hrs. With Czech Republic beating Estonia earlier in the day and having come from 2-0 down to beat France the previous day, the best result that Team GB could now hope for in the tournament was 2nd place – if they could beat the home side.

On the one hand expectations were high after the recent joint training camp with Team France in Vichy, France where Team GB beat France 4-0 in the 4 scrimmage matches they played there but on the other hand players were nervous as GB were missing 2 of their key players from those matches. Could the rearranged line-up replicate the training camp results?

The France match produced the best volleyball of the tournament for Team GB as they achieved the only 3-0 result of the whole tournament. Good steady play throughout the match, sensible shot choices and a real team atmosphere on court all helped to produce the final result – 25-21; 25-17; 25-23. Team GB had finished in second place at the tournament!

The closing ceremony provided further moments of celebration for the Team GB squad as Justin Phillips was awarded “Best Server” of the competition and setter Kev Tann was awarded “Best Setter”.

In summary, considering the circumstances in the week leading up to the tournament, this was a decent result for Team GB. Thanks are in order for all of the players who were a credit to Team GB with their flexibility, competitive drive and high standard of play throughout the tournament. Thanks also to Captain Justin Phillips who led his team by fine example and to the coaching support team members who proved invaluable.

Players:

• Justin Phillips (captain);

• Charlie Walker (Asst. Coach);

• Mark Hemming;

• Kev Tann;

• Danny Kitcher;

• Dan Bing;

• Daz Young;

• Jaochim Pierre

Staff:

• Sean Poole (Head Coach)

• Kieran Good (Assistant Coach)

• Saffron Betts (Team Therapist)

• Mel Young (S&C Coach)

Photo: Nathalie Jamais and ParaVolley Europe