VOLLEYBALL NEWSLETTER

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The following Newsletter has been forwarded to you, from the Volleyball Newsletter  E-Mail list. The UK's leading on line Volleyball News service, providing up to date volleyball information, direct to newsletter members throughout the UK and Ireland. Articles are collected from a variety of sources and credited appropriately. The Volleyball Newsletter uses advertising sponsorship to support our free and non-profit making service to newsletter members. To advertise your volleyball events or products, direct to players, club and league secretaries throughout the UK & Ireland, then please see our web site for details or contact Dave at  Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

Hi all - More Volleyball news from the web.

Please see the above note in orange, I have had to changed the format of the newsletter this week and hence all images now have to be downloaded from our web site. This will take about 30 to 60 second and is done automatically, all the images are then available to you offline. 

Cheers - Dave Reece Dave.Reece@ndirect.co.uk

Dave, I'm sure it has been asked of you before, being a somewhat perennial problem. I suffer from dirty balls, playing as my club does in a school sports hall. We do sweep the floor but I was wondering if any wise player had cracked the problem of cleaning volleyballs.

Richard Cottle richardcottle@hotmail.com

Hi, I am a Cuban Trainer living and married in Belgium, I have some experience a international team coach and clubs in Central America. Now I live here in Belgium and I would like to carry on coaching a male or female team from 1st or 2nd Division or young team with talent with ambition 
to get better at any skills.

Thank
Reinaldo Romero rromeroh@hotmail.com

Hi Dave, I have just arrived in London and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. I am trying to look for tapes related to the women's volleyball 1999 world cup, 2000 Olympics involving Cuba v Brazil / Russia. Would you happen to know how I could go about trying to get copies of these matches.

Regards
LP lwong1@UK.EY.COM

Dave, Carol Gordon and I are hoping to take the Cadet Boys to Belgium 27th to 30th Dec. We have hit problems with transport. I am getting mixed messages from local Authorities the AA and hire companies about the rules regarding PCV ( was PSV )license etc. I was wondering if anyone of the 2000 plus subscribers to the News letter can help?

We need to get a group of 12 to Thuin in Belgium as cheaply as possible obvious that last bit. So if anyone out there knows for sure what the rules are or better still has contacts with or within a company that could help us out that would be great. We really need to get the boys out there for some International experience.

Regards
Pete Bragg pbragg@redhill.dudley.gov.uk

TOREXE VOLLEYBALL CLUB

JUNIOR OPEN COACHING EVENT

Be Coached by the Torexe National Division II Squad – then Watch them Play!

 SATURDAY 19 JANUARY 2001 – RIVERSIDE LEISURE CENTRE, EXETER

 A 2 hour coaching session open to all standards to introduce and improve volleyball skills, with the emphasis on giving plenty of ‘hands on ball’. Following the coaching session there is an invitation for all involved to stay and watch the Torexe National Men’s Division 2 side play Egham from 2pm to 5pm. The Torexe side features two England Junior players, Sam Thompson (16) and Mike Melbourne (17).

TIME: 12 – 2pm

COST: £1 per player

AGE: 12 – 18 (as of Aug 31^st 2002)

No previous experience required

Please return the on-line Application Form, to reserve your place(s) on the course. Individuals & groups welcome. Closing date for applications: Wednesday 9^th January 2002. Please bring a packed lunch for after the session if staying on to watch the National Game. Age Groups 12 to 18 / all levels accepted: Beginners - Intermediate - Experienced

Please return the completed form to: Dave Samuels 10 Abbey Road, Mount Pleasant, Exeter, EX4 7BG or by email to Rachel.Swindell@ndirect.co.uk (online payment option available). See www.torexevolleyball.com for maps and directions etc.

Please include a cheque made payable to Torexe Volleyball Club (money can be paid on the day). Depending upon the number of entries received the organisers reserve the right to select or reject applications – Apply early to avoid disappointment!

Entry Form available on the Volleyball Newsletter.com web site

Dear all, The final dates for this years series (events 2-4) are:  Feb 2nd, April 20th, May 18th all at Bath. Sign in time 12:30 end time 17:30.

Costs as last year at £6 and £8 subject to entries being received in time. Hall time is expensive and we need a min of 30 entries each event to be viable. Rules all as before, but we will try and tighten up on referring. I really would appreciate clubs, schools etc entering ASAP. 

In the meantime have a Happy Christmas
Steve Dunford stephendunford@yahoo.co.uk

Current Grand Prix Leaders

Under 11 Lydney Under 12 Girls King Alfreds 2 Under 12 Boys Melksham Musketeers Under 13 Girls King Alfreds 4

Under 13 Boys Melksham Maniacs Under 14 / 15 Girls King Alfreds 5 Under 14 / 15 Boys Melksham Fireballs

Dear Volleyball-friends! International volleyball - strong competition and meeting volleyball-friends from all over Europe. This year it is all possible. 
Expersport Nederland organizes in 2002, for the 5th consecutive year, a great international volleyball tournament for girls and we would like to invite your team(s) to participate in this great tournament held in the Netherlands. The European Open, June 28-30, 2002 in Hoog-Keppel - the Netherlands. Participants will come from different European countries like Holland, Belgium and Germany.

Interested ??
Take a look at our internet-site www.expersport.com and read more about our tournament. If you would like to receive our tournament-brochure, then contact us at: info@expersport.nl - we will send you the complete information within 24 hours.

We hope to meet you in the Netherlands,
Pablo Ravestein pablo@expersport.nl

1st "disabled volleyball" / 2nd "junior world championship" / 3rd "employed in volleyball" / 4th "plyomentrics" / 5th "drill sites".

If you are organising an events or are running a coaching or refereeing course, make sure your event is well publicised. If your forthcoming event was not listed in our search statistics, you may be lacking Brand Awareness?

Josh & Elizabeth from Big Brother with referee Andy Stevens & Surrey All Stars Captain Jesper Veight

The first match set the scene for the rest of the day with a highly competitive match played in a good spirit between Warwick & the England Juniors, making a very welcome visit from their training camp at Heyford. The format of the tournament was timed matches of two 20 minute or first to 25 points sets. Warwick took the first set 25-23 & drew the second set when time ran out at 25-25. Aquila were the other team in Pool A & they secured top spot & a semi-final place with wins over Warwick 25-20, 25-21 & England Juniors 22-21, 25-18. Warwick took second spot & England Juniors went back to Heyford for some more training under coaches James Wright & David Dean.

England Juniors against Aquila

After a break for one of the bands & a video it was on with more volleyball action featuring Portsmouth, Malory & The Surrey All Stars (mainly made up from the local Guildford NVL teams).  The first match was Malory versus Portsmouth, powerful stuff as you would expect from these two teams but the match was over surprisingly quickly, fifteen minutes per set was all it took for Malory to record a 25-21, 25-21 victory.

Portsmouth, with only 6 players available on the day, identified an opportunity to increase their squad for the match against the Surrey All Stars when they spied an athletic looking individual arrive carrying a volleyball under his arm. This person turned out to be a rather confused Josh from Big Brother who thought that he was there to present a prize for the draw, a volleyball signed by all the Big Brother house mates. 
Anyway, kitted out in the Portsmouth #8 shirt Josh took to the court under the watchful eye of another Big Brother house mate Elizabeth who had been recruited as second referee. Most people, probably including Josh himself, thought that he would play for a few points & then be substituted but he stayed on for the whole set scoring a point on his serve & even "hitting" a winner. This guy has obviously played a bit of volleyball before, he got the match officials vote for Most Valuable Player, but then one of them was probably a bit biased. 

For the record Portsmouth won the match 25-22 & 25-18, although ironically the second set was quite close until Portsmouth brought Josh ON from the bench from which point they romped away with the set. Malory booked themselves a semi-final against Warwick with a comfortable 25-22,25-11 win over Surrey.

Portsmouth rested their new found star in their semi-final against Aquila, it looked as though Aquilla's Danny Wohl was going to win everything in sight, having scooped TWO prizes in the draw (including the Big Brother volleyball) he saw his team secure a place in the final with a 25-21, 23-22 victory.

Malory were well into their stride by now as they set-up an all London final by beating Warwick 25-17, 25-16. One consolation for the midlands side was that Phil Wyles was voted Most Valuable Player of the tournament by team captains & officials.

Malory powered their way through the final with a solid serve receive, only giving up 4 points in the entire match to the Aquila service, so at 8:27pm, nearly 12 hours after it all started Malory scored the winning point of the final. 

All that was left was for the teams to be presented with their prizes of shirts from Fat Face, one of the many supporters of the event, all the volunteers & officials to be thanked for their time & efforts, the organisers to announce that they had raised an estimated £2500 for the Princes Trust & invite everyone back for Balls to the Music 2 next year.

John Biddiscombe john_biddiscombe@lineone.net

Check out the Newsletter Web site for the full size photos of this event. Click here for the direct link >>> Newsletter Photos

Hey all, What are your views on players wearing Active Ankles even when their ankles aren't injured? Do you believe that the ankle will become dependent on the brace and weaken, therefore increasing injury potential when the brace isn't worn (like while out running for example)?
Thanks, Martha Walz martha@walz-tech.com

I don't think that the ankles will become dependent. A few have argues that wearing the active ankle causes weak ankles, but that statement is
essentially the same as saying that wearing a helmet causes a weak neck. An active ankle will not prevent all injuries, but it will lessen the severity.

Ohio State women's volleyball team is required to wear active ankles. And you don't see any players sitting out because of an injured ankle...
Abby Gerken gerken.31@osu.edu

Ah, but how many knees have been torn up since it became mandatory for the team to wear active ankles? Your ankle is a safety valve that should blow out before your knee according to everything that I was taught in those athletic training classes. And given the choice between ripping my knee up or my ankle, i would definitely chose the latter. IMHO
Michael Borga jsvba@aol.com

There's no doubt that it's easier to rehab an ankle than a knee. I think most orthopedic drs. would say so also.
dil345@aol.com

I've never bought the "ankles will weaken theory" myself, unless you wear the brace in every volleyball situation. I'm not sure about that. I quit wearing active ankles on my healthy ankle because my shins and knees started getting a great deal more shock transferred to them when wearing the brace which led to shin splints and an aggravation of subpatellar tendonitits. 
Todd Haverkos tdh@vbref.org

I think ankle braces do a fine job for the people who start again after having an ankle-injury (also a mental issue). The best thing to do is to play with the anklebraces during a short period and to exercise without them. Then go start using tape for a while and end-up without any support.
Using braces without having (had) any injury is very irresponsible. It does weaken the ankles (study at the University of Amsterdam) but worse, can cause more severe injuries. The ankle brace takes away the forces that are put on the ankle in case of a situation that normally causes an ankle-injury. But with high forces (landing after a jump) it can't do that for the full 100%. Your body therefore has to cope with higher strains than normal at different place than the ankle. There are examples in international volleyball of situations with player with ankle braces with broken kneecaps, broken legs (Dutch International Brecht Rodenburg in a friendly international match at the Dynamo tournament). So see the ancle brace as a temporary measure to get back from injury.
Stay healthy. Maarten Uhlenbeck Maartn.Uhlenbeck@cgey.nl

My own personal view is that it would be OK to wear it just for the game, and it should be OK. Everyone has their own view about their own limits
and how much their own body can take, be aware of those limits. We are not indestructible nor super humans.
Harvey kiwilove_nospamplease@es.co.nz

If God intended us to wear them all the time, we would have been born with them. Besides shock to the knee, I'd be worried about mobility of the ankle and over all unnatural body adjustments due to the ankle brace over time.
Raheeb Rahman raheeb@mindspring.com

We have for several years included results and information in the newsletter from European club competitions but how many of us can actually name the top European clubs. Most can name the top European football clubs but as UK volleyball clubs tend not to compete, most of us are a bit lost when it comes to volleyball.

Like Football, there are three main club competitions (for both men and women), the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, the TOP TEAM and the CEV Cup competition. [The losers of the first round of the Top Teams Cup will also get another chance, as they will proceed to the first round of the CEV Cup]. 

To learn more about these event, we have decided to adopt a team, Asterix Kieldrecht from Belgium and follow their progress in this years Women's "Top Team" competition. They are the current holders of the event and are looking to successfully defend it this year, I would like to follow up on a team in the Champions league as well, so if any of our European based reader are from one of these clubs, them please get in contact with us. Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com  

Asterix Kieldrecht Volleyball club

In the Women’s Top Teams Cup, defending Champion Asterix KIELDRECHT (BEL) is the top seed in Pool 1.  It will not be easy to retain the title, because the first ever Belgian European Cup Winner will face strong opponents in this European Cups Competition. In Pool 1, Dynamo Jenestra ODESA (UKR), one of the Final Four participants in the 2000/2001 edition, will meet Asterix KIELDRECHT. http://go.to/kieldrecht

Like in the men’s event, there are six League Pools in the women’s Top Teams Cup. The six winners will qualified for the quarterfinal round, with the two best second placed teams. But with this strong field of club teams, it is simply impossible to predict the winners of the groups.

The Asterix team is made up from players from a number of European countries. They are: Irina Pavlova (37, 1.83m) / Liesbet Vindevoghel (22, 1.85m) / Tatiana Teterina (32, 1.85m ) / Ester Lowette (24, 1.76m) / Julie Rumes (22, 1.90m) / Olga Barinova (32, 1.84m) / Martina Schwobova (24, 1.79m) / Cathérine Claes (22, 1.82m) and the following players from the UK:

Maria Bertelli (22, 1.78m) Plays in the English national team and previously with Manchester United Salford Volleyball Club. She has also played for the English University team at the World Student Games in China last September.

Simone Lewis (31, 1.67m) is also with the English national team, and previously with Ashcombe Dorking Volleyball Club.

The defence of the title kicked off with a 3-0 home win against Slavia on the 5th Dec, the second match was of to Odessa (on the black sea coast in the Ukrain). "The Asterix Kieldrecht team leaves on Tuesday morning (at the ungodly hour of 4.30 am) for our European cup match in Odessa, where it is a freezing -10°C. Brrrr". Asterix lose in the match in straight sets 0-3 and hence are currently second in their pool, next match is at home on the 19th Dec 20:30 against Bank Pocztowy BYDGOSZCZ from Poland. The current undefeated group leaders, having beaten Dynamo at home and Slavia away. 

Update (16/12/01):
We just ended the first round of the national championship with a 2-3 victory in Charleroi, and we are now leader with two points more than the next teams. We have digested the 3-0 loss in Odessa by now, and look forward to our third game next Wednesday, at home against the Poles of
Bydgoszcz. Our trip to Odessa was quite a horror story. -  Jan

Results so far:
05/12/01 20:30 BEL - Asterix KIELDRECHT vs SVK - Slavia UK DGT BRATISLAVA 3:0 25:21 25:21 25:18 
12/12/01 17:30 UKR - Dynamo-Jenestra ODESA vs BEL - Asterix KIELDRECHT 3:0 25:20 25:20 25:19

Asterix History:
Thirty years in a nutshell: Asterix Kieldrecht was founded in February 1969. The ladies team played for many years in Belgium's second and third divisions, and missed promotion to the first division several times. During the late seventies, the team fell back to the provincial series. In 1984 Asterix found a new ambition. In five years time, the team accessed the nation's highest league (the "honors-division"). The first foreign players appeared on the court. 

The results got better every year. The first participation in the European cup was in 1994, and in 1996 Asterix won its first trophy: the Belgian Cup. The first top-year was 1998, when Asterix won both the national title and the cup. In the new millennium, there were new successes for Asterix. In 2001 we won all ten of our European games, and won the European "Top Teams Cup". In Belgium we won (for the fourth time) the national cup, and our national champions for the third time.

Info from http://go.to/kieldrecht / www.cev.lu/ and Jan Bens Jan.Bens@electrabel.com 

In 2nd day of the pool phase of the European Champions League, French clubs have had mitigated results : Paris Volley drop their 2nd consecutive match by 1-3 in Greece. Thus their qualification chances are lowered a lot. It looks like Glen Hoag did not succeed in building a team as homogenous as last year. Jason Haldane's efficiency is not compensated by Spanish central blocker Jose Luis Molto and Stéphane Antiga injury leaves a hole in the attack/defense system of the European champions

Tours wins by 3-1 a good match against last year's finalist, Sysley Treviso (who were missing Papi, Cisola and Vullo, however). Paris and Treviso, last year's finalists are both in the same position at this time : two matches, two defeats.... Tours lead their pool with two victories.

In women ECL, RC Cannes finally succeeds in winning against an Italian team. They made a perfect match and then swept out Capo Sud Reggio Calabria by 0-3 in Puglia..... Congratulations! Cannes lead their pool with a 2-0 record.

Christian Perrier bubulle@mykerinos.kheops.frmug.org
French VB Referee 

Some of the more interesting volleyball rules from the FIVB Casebook. Did you know that......

4.20 The Japanese men's team was running a quick combination play with two attackers in the middle of the court. Instead of setting to the middle, the Japanese setter set the ball to an attacker in position four. As he did so, the Korean middle blocker touched the net while attempting to stop the
combination play. The first referee whistled the Korean middle blocker for a net fault. Is the first referee correct?

Yes, the first referee was correct! The Korean middle blocker was in the action of blocking the ball when the Japanese setter cleverly set the ball to position four. Hence the Korean blocker who touched the net is considered to be playing the ball and to have committed a "net fault". Rule 12.3.1

4.29 On the US Team's second hit, Liley passed the ball near the net toward the Chinese court. The ball did not penetrate the vertical plane of the net. In the first referee's opinion, no American player could possibly reach the ball. The Chinese blocker, Qi, reached across the plane of the net and blocked the ball. What is the correct call of the first referee?

Even though it was only the second team hit, if the ball is moving in the direction of the opponent's court, it is considered to be an attack hit. Since, in the referee's opinion, no American player could possibly have reached the ball, the block of Qi was legal. Rules 14.1.1, 15.3

4.30 In the World Cup for Women, Toson, a back row player for Egypt, took off in front of the attack line and spiked the ball, which was higher than the top of the net, on Egypt's second hit. The ball hit the top of the net and rebounded back into Egypt's court. The first referee did not whistle this attempted attack by the back row player Toson. Was the first referee correct?

Since the ball neither crossed the plane of the net nor was it contacted by the blocker, the attack hit by Toson was not completed. Team Egypt had a third hit remaining to direct the ball into the opponent's court. The referee was correct in allowing play to continue. Rules 10.1, 14.1.3, 14.2.2, 14.3.3

More examples in the next issue....

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