British Volleyball Federation commit to making ParaVolley Silver Nations League their most eco-friendly and sustainable event yet

The British Volleyball Federation, in conjunction with UK Sport, is proud to announce their commitment to making the ParaVolley Europe Silver Nations League an eco-friendly and sustainable event.

The tournament, which is taking place at the David Ross Sports Village at the University of Nottingham from the 19th to 21st of May, is taking a proactive stance on environmental issues and has implemented several initiatives to ensure the event is as sustainable as possible.

This includes the use of local green buses to transport athletes from hotel to venue, sustainable medals and trophies supplied by SustainableMedals.com, re-useable drinks bottles from event supporter UK Sport, composting food waste in partnership with the university, as well as recycling all recyclable materials via bins situated throughout the venue.

Additionally, spectators are also encouraged to use public transportation when attending the event, with the excellent university tram and bus links to the Sports Village.

Joanna Cook, Performance Manager at the British Volleyball Federation, said: “As an organisation, we are keen to promote the elements of social impact, with one of those pillars being environmental sustainability.

“UK Sport, our funders, are encouraging all National Governing Bodies to be more environmentally conscious through events and generally organisational proactive after the release of their Environmental Strategy earlier this year.

“We hope the event will help raise awareness of environmental issues and the importance of sustainable practices in sport and encourage the volleyball community to do their part in protecting the environment.”

The British Volleyball Federation is committed to making the ParaVolley Silver Nations League a more sustainable event and looks forward to welcoming teams, spectators, and volunteers to Nottingham in May.

Richard Callicott OBE Steps Down as Chair and President of the British Volleyball Federation

After an extended and successful tenure as Chair and President of the British Volleyball Federation (BVF), Richard Callicott OBE will be stepping down from his position.

During his time in the role, Richard has been instrumental in promoting volleyball across a variety of disciplines, influencing UK Sport and other major partner organisations to make the sport accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Under his leadership, he also helped guide the British Volleyball Federation through a difficult period following the loss of funding post 2012 and continued to advocate for UK Sport's support of all national sports organisations.

Richard was first introduced to Volleyball by Ray Carman, the then Officials Secretary of the British Volleyball Association, at the City of Birmingham College of Education. After passing a short refereeing exam in 1967, he went on to established Warley Teachers, which then became Warley Phoenix and Haden Hill, and later renamed West Bromwich.

In 1969, Richard founded the Sandwell Volleyball Tournament, which at its peak, grew to become one of the largest in Europe with over 420 teams. It went on to win the International Olympic Committee’s ‘Sport for All’ award and was even acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s biggest volleyball tournament. In 2012, Richard was honoured with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to volleyball.

Richard has provided invaluable insight to BVF throughout his career in sports, including UKSport, British Paralympic Association (BPA), National Indoor Arena of Sport, and many more, alongside his numerous board and commission roles for the like of the Commonwealth Federations, WPV ethics committee, Sporting Equals, Black Country Active and Youth Charter for Sport.

Richard will remain as Honorary President of Volleyball England and continue to provide advice and support to the Commonwealth and the FIVB.

Nick Meacham, Non-Executive Director at British Volleyball said: “We owe Richard a huge debt of gratitude for what he has given us over the years. His passionate personality has been a shining light for our sport’s community and his wholehearted commitment has ensured the BVF has a strong and consistent voice in the world of sport.

“We would like to thank him enormously for his tireless work in promoting the sport across the UK and beyond. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”

For more information about the vacant chair position at the British Volleyball Federation, please visit click here.

Come and try Sitting Volleyball this May

British Volleyball and Volleyball England are offering “come and try” sessions at the ParaVolley Silver Nations League in Nottingham on 19-21 May.

Are you looking for an opportunity to try out a new, exciting sport? Look no further! The UK’s first international Sitting Volleyball event since London 2012, the ParaVolley Silver Nations League, is coming to Nottingham from 19-21 May 2023 with taster sessions open to the public.

No matter what your age or ability, British Volleyball and Volleyball England are inviting members of the public to come and try this unique and exciting sport. Sitting Volleyball can be played by anyone, whether you have a disability or not, and is a fun, inclusive sport for all.

Led by experienced, professional coaches, the sessions which will take place at the David Ross Sports Village at the University of Nottingham, will provide a great chance to learn the basics of the game through a range of fun drills and exercises.

Sitting volleyball, first introduced in the 1960s, is a fast-paced, upper-body sport and has become an integral part of the Paralympic Games. Played in a seated position, it is a fun and inclusive sport, enjoyed by men and women of all ages, including amputees and people with limb difference.

The ParaVolley Silver Nations League will also provide a great opportunity to see some of the world’s best sitting volleyball players in action and could even inspire you to give the sport a go and join a local team.

The event promises to be an unforgettable day, so don’t miss out on this chance to try something new in a fun and friendly environment.

Come down to the Silver Nationals League in Nottingham and join in the excitement of sitting volleyball! If you would like more information, you can email competitions@volleyballengland.org

The ParaVolley Silver Nations League takes place at the David Ross Sports Village at the University of Nottingham from 19-21 May 2023.

British Volleyball and Loughborough University partner in research project to analyse Sitting Volleyball competition structure

The project aims to make the sport more sustainable and suitable for clubs across the country.

The British Volleyball Federation are proud to announce their collaboration with Loughborough University on a research project to analyse sitting volleyball’s competition models.

The aim of the project is to evaluate the opportunities and challenges of running a successful national competition structure for sitting volleyball, as well as how to better engage the volleyball community and make sitting volleyball more attractive to the disability community.

With the view to create a positive and sustainable national competition structure to benefit the sport, the project explores team sports for disabled athletes in the UK and the competition structure for non-disabled volleyball in countries with a similar home nation or wide geographical spread.

The future of sitting volleyball in the UK is uncertain as club participation has seen a drastic drop, with England as the only National Governing Body that runs a national annual competition programme.

Without essential funding, the programme is in danger of disappearing.

In an effort to revive the competition structure, and ensure the community, participation, and performance pathways are maintained, British Volleyball is calling for a revival of its national programme for its sitting game.

The project’s goal is to review sitting volleyball’s current competition structure to then build upon a more integrated home country competition element, to ultimately make the sport more sustainable and suitable for clubs across the country.

The findings will be utilised to enhance the home nation structure and shared with International Federations to help ensure the longevity of the sport.

The BVF is excited to be working with Loughborough University to review the current competition structure and chart a new pathway for sitting volleyball in the UK.

We look forward to the project’s results and making sitting volleyball a more attractive and successful sport.

If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact Joanna Cook jcook@britishvolleyball.org

Jonathan Moore awarded World ParaVolley distinguished service award

Jonathan Moore, Volleyball England's Major Events Manager, was this week recognised for his services to World ParaVolley.

Jon, who has helped to organise World ParaVolley events across the globe, was a Technical Delegate for Sitting Volleyball at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and was part of the team behind the delivery of Sitting Volleyball at the London 2012 Paralympics.

In honour of his services to the sport, Jon was awarded a Distinguished Service Award at the 2023 World ParaVolley Awards for his work as an International Technical Official, and in event management and administration.

 Jonathan Moore said:

 “It’s an honour to be awarded the World ParaVolley Distinguished Service Award. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to help deliver Sitting Volleyball events across the world, with my involvement at the Tokyo Paralympic Games a personal highlight.“I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me over the years and I look forward to the opportunity to help deliver more events in the future.”

 The 2023 awards saw a total of 11 people recognised, with some of World ParaVolley's most esteemed professionals celebrated. You can find out more about Jon's award and the rest of 2023 World ParaVolley awards here.

 Charlie Ford, Chief Executive of Volleyball England, said:

 “We are extremely proud that Jonathan has been awarded a Distinguished Service Award by World ParaVolley."Jon has made an incredible contribution to the sport of Sitting Volleyball in recent years, which is a testament to his hard work, dedication and exemplary leadership. "I would like to personally extend my congratulations to him on this well-deserved achievement."

 Barry Couzner OAM, President of World ParaVolley said:

 "...Jonathan Moore has been an outstanding international technical official for World ParaVolley, as indicated by the success of the various competitions he has been involved in as a leader since 2018 in particular."

 The BVF would like to add their special praise for the work that Jon has done for the sport of Sitting Volleyball, and are grateful to be working with him to host the PVE Silver Nations League next month.

Become a Sitting Volleyball Hero!

Join our army of Sitting Volleyball volunteers at the UK’s first international event since London 2012

British Volleyball and Volleyball England are looking for people to play their part in helping run the UK’s first international Sitting Volleyball event since London 2012 when the ParaVolley Silver Nations League comes to Nottingham from 19-21 May 2023.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of Sitting Volleyball and for the Silver Nations League we are looking for enthusiastic individuals to fill the roles of court managers, courtside assistants, line judges, scorers and stewards.

For those volunteers who would like to become a line judge or scorer, there is the opportunity to complete the Volleyball England Technical Officials Award, an internationally recognised official’s qualification*. After competition of the course, volunteers will then be eligible to officiate as a scorer for their club and at other national or international competitions.

All volunteers for the Silver Nations League will get travel and accommodation covered for the event, as well as refreshments and uniform.

Without a network of dedicated volunteers that give up their time and energy, Sitting Volleyball matches and tournaments simply wouldn’t happen. We hope you can join our volunteer army and become a Sitting Volleyball hero!

To register your interest volunteering for the ParaVolley Silver Nations League, click HERE - before the closing date of 3rd May 2023.

* Volleyball England Technical Officials Award is a combination of a webinar and a face-to-face practical session. Volunteers will need to complete one webinar on Wednesday 10th May or Monday 15th May from 7pm-9pm, and then the practical session on Friday 19th May from 9am-12pm.

ParaVolley Silver Nations League takes place at the David Ross Sports Village at the University of Nottingham from 19-21 May 2023.

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