VOLLEYBALL 

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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 with the word "Volleyball" in your subject line.

Hi all, more news from the Volleyball Newsletter 

Cheers - Dave Reece Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

We have only about 5 teams in the Bucks Volleyball League. Last night Woodhill Prison (Milton Keynes) announced they are unable to continue in the league, due to new regulations coming into force at the prison. 

On Monday night we played an excellent match against Woodrow School near Amersham, only to be told that they are seriously considering folding. So you see Bucks Volleyball really does face a serious crisis. I wondered if you could put out an appeal for anyone interested in starting a team, to contact me on 01296-748640 (evenings) or via our web site http://www.bucks-volleyball.co.uk/

I am hoping that a few of the local schools, prisons or MOD establishments might be interested.

Thanks in anticipation of your help.
Sara Clark sara@saddler.co.uk

King Alfred's College ( Winchester, Hampshire), we are a mixed club looking for friendlies against any team that wishes to play us. We have a range of standards. Our club mainly comprises of beginners however we do have 4 / 5 experienced club standard players. We play on Wednesday's and Sundays however we are very flexible and could probably arrange a game on any day of the week.

Cheers, Paul P.R.Edwards@wkac.ac.uk

Hi my name is Noelle and I am currently studying a sport science degree at university, would it be possible to obtain any information regarding the developmental steps necessary to take a group of 8-10 year old boys and girls through to competing at international level. Furthermore, any advice on the follwing characteristics of development; physical, physiological, psychological, coognitive, skill acquisition, social and league structure, would be very beenficial.

kind regards Noelle Celecia No1cele@hotmail.com

Hi Dave, Please include the Sheffield University Volleyball Club Website to your list of websites. 

The URL is: http://www.shef.ac.uk/volleyball

Thanks in advance, Susanne Sondergaard S.Sondergaard@sheffield.ac.uk

Dave, Could you update your links page to point to our new web page - www.berkshirevolleyball.org.uk

Thanks, Dave Fox BerksVB@aol.com

Insurance Corporation

On behalf of the Jersey Volleyball Association, Insurance Corporation of the Channel Islands, Seymour Hotels and the Stats of Jersey Committee for Education, Sport and Culture, it is my pleasure to extend an invitation to your Club / Team to participate in the 19th Jersey Open Volleyball Tournament, which is to be held over the Bank Holiday weekend of the 1st & 2nd May 2004.

All matches will be played on five courts at Fort Regent Sports Centre. As usual these will be officiated by National League Referees. We offer prizes in the form of travel vouchers, which can be used towards next year's tournament. In previous years, the Tournament has attracted teams not only from the mainland, but also France, Belgium and the Netherlands. There are Ladies, Men's and Mixed sections which all makes for a busy weekend of usually high spirited, high quality, excellent games. Many teams are repeat visitors and have formed themselves into the core supporters of the event. We are eternally grateful to these teams, but also look forward to welcoming new sides every year.

The charges per team, are held at £40 pounds per side, for all sections. However, if a team wishes to enter the mixed league as well as either the men's or Ladies league, then the extra charge is only £20 pounds. We would hope that teams organize their travel and accommodation arrangements via Seymour Hotels, who as part of the package will sort everything out for you. The brochure will list costs involved, with airport available, ferry options etc. Last year's costings were £215 pounds by air or £190 pounds by sea. The package extends from Friday evening to Monday morning and many teams take advantage of this offer.

For more information, Entry Forms and your Travel and Accommodation Brochure, please contact Lucy Hughes at lucyhughes@localdial.com Tel: 01534 490668 / Mob: 07797 758872

www.jerseyvolleyball.com

I will be running a Level 1 coaching course on the 24th and 25th April in UWIC, Cardiff. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Yvonne
Saker at ysaker@uwic.ac.uk or 029 2041 6569.

Thank you Yvonne Saker ysaker@uwic.ac.uk

2004 Exeter Ladies Challenge

Saturday 24th April 2004 (10:00 - 18:00) at the Riverside Leisure Centre, Exeter. 

Not entered yet!!!                      Only 3 places left

This tournament is limited to 12 teams and places will be allocated on a first come bases. The Exeter Riverside L.C. has all the usual facilities, including a swimming pool and parking. The centre is located close to the Exeter Quay area and with easy access to the city centre shops. The venue is 15 minutes from the Exeter M5 Junction 31. 

For more details etc, see the links below........

More info and entry forms from Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com or visit our web site at www.volleyballnewsletter.com/exeter2004.htm

Adur Volleyball Club

Doubles and Triples

Tournament

 29^th / 30^th May 2004

 at Southwick Leisure Centre, Southwick

PHOTOS OF INTEREST

Beach Volleyball will be staged at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre, which is part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex. Competition will take place over twelve days (August 14 – 25).

For the first time in the Olympic history of the sport, games will take place late until in the evening with floodlights. The Olympic Venue will have a main competition area of a 10,000-seat capacity, as well as six training and two warm up courts.

Competition Schedule: 14-25 August

Spectator Services:
Olympic Products selling points, public phones, COSMOTE card vending machine, ???, ticket office, ticket resolution office, information desk, stroller storage area, lost and found area, clinic, water coolers, food concessions, WCs, environment information desk

Order your 2004 Olympic Games tickets now! http://www.tickets.athens2004.com/ Here you will find all the information you’ll need to purchase tickets for the most exciting event of 2004. Be a part of it!

Tickets from 10 to 15 Euros for the qualifier to 90-120 Euros for the women's finals and up to 200 Euros for the Men's final.

Submission of Ticket Applications for residents of the EU and EEA 12 May - 12 June 2003 
Remaining tickets on sale to initial applicants 15 September 2003 - 16 April 2004

Residents of the EU and EEA (non Greece residents)
New customers can create an account on this website, and start shopping for tickets immediately. Alternatively, contact any EU or EEA National Olympic Committee to enquire if a ticketing service is available. 

Residents of all other countries:
Please contact your National Olympic Committee to enquire if a ticketing service is available. 

Premium Ticket Packages
Offering a rare opportunity to secure many of the most sought-after Olympic tickets, Premium Ticket Packages include excellent seats to high-demand Olympic events, from Opening and Closing Ceremonies to the finals of the most popular sports. 

http://www.tickets.athens2004.com/

Docklands spoil Riga's Party The second of three legs of the Premier League featuring the top three men's clubs in English volleyball arrived at Warwick on Sunday all square with one win each from the opening stage in Leicester in December. For a while it looked as though the results were going to be a repeat of the first leg but, late in the afternoon, the English Volleyball Association's Cup holders revenged their earlier defeat at the hands of the hosts in a very close match; indeed, over the three sets each team scored an identical 72 points.

St Nicholas Park Leisure Centre staff had transformed the normally cavernous sports hall into a warmly welcoming space by the addition of hundreds of chairs opposite the balcony and a refreshment area in one corner with space for spectators to mingle between the matches. Many deterred by the forecast of heavy rain no doubt, not all the chairs were filled but, despite that and a chill wind outside, a reasonable number of seats were occupied. It was encouraging to see a good number of young local volleyballers staying on for the whole day after an excellent Volleyball Workshop staffed by star players from the Warwick Riga club and, while the average age of the crowd was low, it was boosted by a number of retired players who look like starting a tradition of using this event as a reunion, some having traveled a long distance to be present. The music and inter-match entertainment added to the enjoyment and helped to create a friendly, almost family atmosphere.

You can read the full match by match report on our Reports Pages ( www.volleyballnewsletter.com/vnl-report.htm )

Day's Results London Docklands beat London Malory 25:19 25:21 25:17 London Malory beat Warwick Riga 25:18 21:25 25:19 London Docklands beat Warwick Riga 27:25 20:25 25:22

Written by Douglas Barr-Hamilton and Photo's by Jon McGugan

David Rijvers dr@goldeneye7.freeserve.co.uk

I have put some of my pictures on: http://www.mcgugan.co.uk/volleyball/PremierWarwick/index.htm

I have put some of the "we can do it just as badly as everyone else" pictures there as well.

Jon McGugan jon@mcgugan.co.uk

AstroTurf-maker Southwest Recreational Industries Inc. (Texas USA), which installs artificial playing surface at sports facilities, has filed for bankruptcy protection and is going out of business. In its bankruptcy filing, the company said it will sell two small divisions that make portable sports flooring and equipment for volleyball, gymnastics and basketball. But SRI's most well-known products, football fields and running tracks, will be discontinued in the next few weeks.

AstroTurf, the first artificial playing field surface, was created more than 30 years ago. Artificial turf came to professional sports in 1966, when it was used to carpet the Astrodome, inspiring the AstroTurf brand name.

www.moreover.com

Team statistics show Sisley most performing in attack with 56.14% kill, Knack Rousselare takes a second place with 54.95% , but in spite of those excellent attack data the team lost two times from Paris which takes fourth place with 52.71%. Lokomotiv shows 52.71 % kill. The other selected teams Noliko and Iraklis have also excellent attack data with successively. 52.73 and 52.93% kill.

Although in the French competition Tours is leader before Tourcoing Cannes and Paris both Tours and Odintsova who were playing is the same pool have much lower attack efficiency and in view of dominating role of the attack are well less placed to get a ticket for the final. Paris Iraklis and Noliko have moreover good serving data with ace ratios of  0.46/0.36 and 0.36.

Sisley is best blocking team with 3.30 suc per set. Receiving shows different picture with Tours , Noliko and Odinsovo having less than 7 % error . All three teams show slightly above 60 % excellent receipts, which involve that all attack options are open.

The average competition data are similar to data for national teams as for instance during last European championships with a difference for serving with more aces for near same amount of errors leading to higher efficiency. As a result receiving shows clearly higher errors with slightly lower percentage excellent.

Attack data are more similar but with more error and lower kill. Best hitters , the selection is made for those players with more than 75 attacks show ,Baranov from Lokomotiv with 56.98% kill on first place with Dieikine from Sisley at second place with 57.35 % kill and Jiri Novak for Paris in third position with 56.52 %.

leo van hal leovh@wanadoo.fr

Dear All, The Active Devon Sports Partnership is involved in consulting interested parties on the subject of the new South West Plan for Sport. If you are interested in seeing the presentations from the day please look on www.devon.gov.uk

The full plan can be seen on the South West Sport England website www.sportengland.org/about/regions/southwest It is worth having a look to see what is coming up in the pipeline. It will affect our access to funding and what type of activities we may get help with.

Please forward this to anyone you know is interested in Volleyball Administration and planning

Ros Sutherland Ros ROSSUTH@aol.com

Hi RSV. We are having a big issue with our setter squaring up when she sets. She squares to position 5. Her power/outside sets go back row, her middle sets
go about a foot behind the middle, and her back sets are really close to the net.

Our team consists of grade 10 (15 & 16 year old) girls. We were thinking of running back row and right side attacks, but this isn't enough. Any thoughts or advice or sites that will help us with her setting?

Also, she's a bit "lazy" when it comes to setting. She calls for help when the ball is in reach and uses her forearms to pass the 2nd ball when she has enough time to set. Thanks for your help in advance.
Colin Glass volleyball_coach@email.com

Change your setter. Seriously! Is there any specific reason why you have to keep her on as a setter?

A lazy setter who can't set front row properly is probably not the best person to have in that position. The setter is, in my view, the most important player on the court and needs to be someone who is reliable and prepared to make an effort. I would schedule a try-out for a new setter.
Best Regards John McCabe john@demon.co.uk

Why not do both ...? Usually, good setters don't grow on trees, so it may take a while. You are always on the safer side if you have two players for the same position, so while you are looking for a new player: 

1. Designate another of your players as a setter.
2. Let your two setters compete against each other, in training as well as in matches.
3. Use your 2nd setter now and then in matches, even though she might not quite match #1: If the latter starts complaining, tell her what's wrong with her technique. As long as she gets play time all over, she might not feel enough of a need to adjust ...

Robert M. Franz (RMF) fra@bwi.bepr.ethz.ch

Hey Everyone, Can you guys offer me some tips on digging? I want to be able to learn how to read hitters better and know the right techniques at getting to the ball. I have been told to just get in a low comfortable position and just keep moving so that I am ready on my feet until the ball is hit (which is when I should be planted). But sometimes I still freeze up and I get in awkward positions in which I can't get to fast ball that is a couple feet away or so. It's really frustrating.

And then people tell me that I am standing up. I am somewhat tall (6'1") and it is a little harder to get down and be comfortable. I just really want to get better at defense. I realize this comes with experience too though. I haven't played against people at the collegiate level like this before. (By the way, I play outside or rightside.) Also, now that I am playing against really good hitters, the ball comes fast, and I am just afraid to take it in the face. I mean, it happens, but I want to  know how to be prepared for those that come near my face. I don't think I could react in time for those kinds of hits.

In addition to that, what are your opinions on kneepads? I hear that if you do the right technique, you shouldn't need them. But I was also told that your knees are bound to hit the floor sometime or another, so it is just good to have as safety. I just have to remember not to rely on them. Any advice is appreciated. 

Drano drano1110@yahoo.com

You're tall and that will affect you pass. It took me a while to realise this. I'm 6'4. The short people will tell you where to stand on the court. It will usually be sholder to sholder with them. This is wrong. As you begin to shank balls, you'll get scard and move to the back of the court. This will let the others pass for you. This is wrong too. If you do either of these things, your passing will suffer.

The best place for a tall person to stand is a little bit in front of the other players. This is 6 to 18 inches. Why? Where is the ideal place for you to receive a ball? It's usually from your waist to your chest. Call it your ideal passing zone. Now, think of the flight of the ball over the net. When it comes over the net it is high. It usually falls in an arch until it hits about three feet from the back line. At which point does that arch pass through your ideal passing zone? Is it on the back line? No the ball is at your feet. Is it along side a shorter player? No the ball is at your knees. A little in front of the other players? Perfect! Stand a little in front of where the shorter players do. 

I've heard that bend over and get low stuff for years. It is important yet to get low for proper technique but start in the area where you most likely will be able to pass the ball. This helped my game conciderably. If you were standing on the back line, everyone would tell you to get low to pass the ball. I'd like to see them pass the ball well from an area that is usually 6 inches above their toes. Move a little bit in front of the shorter more experienced players. This will help you a lot.

c k crk2008@yahoo.com

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