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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 news from the Volleyball Newsletter 

Cheers - Dave Reece Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

Good Day, I am residing in croydon and I am looking for a team near me. I am a South African and I used to play.
Thanking you
Malony hitzeroth Malony.Hitzeroth@mayday.nhs.uk

Hi Dave and everybody from the Volleyball Newsletter! My name is Ricardo Cortez dos Santos and I am the Manager of the Department of Volleyball in the Club Grupo Desportivo de Sesimbra. Sesimbra is a small village by the sea, 30 km south of Lisbon, Portugal.

We have several teams of youth volleyball and a Senior men’s team who is going to the National Final Four of Division III on 7, 8 and 9 of May. We also have a very nice Website and here is the invitation to all of you to come and visit us at WWW.GDSVOLEIBOL.COM and give your opinion about our site. 

Also if you come to Portugal please don’t forget to pay us a visit. There are plenty of Beach Volleyball Tournaments with lots of Sun 

Thank you very much for your cooperation
Best Regards Ricardo Cortez dos Santos ricardocortez@zmail.pt

Hi Dave, we just want to say: Dartford Volleyball Club has entered into the National Volleyball League for season 2004/05. Anyone wishing to play at all levels from local league to national League, men or women, or anyone interested in sponsoring our community based activities please visit our new website: www.dartfordvolleyballclub.co.uk

Kind regards, Chris Dixon dixon@vangogo.fsnet.co.uk

They have an excellent coach and are committed to moving up to Div 2. They are especially interested in any setters that have played to this standard or higher in the past. If anyone would like to find out more information please contact me at david.stothert@marconi.com or 
celia.gregory@hmps.gsi.gov.uk 

We look forward to meeting all new players.

Regrards Dave Stothert david.stothert@marconi.com

Hi Dave, the AT7 Volleyball Club in Coventry has a new website at www.coventryat7.co.uk can you please update your "UK & Ireland Web Sites" page with this info?

Many Thanks, Lionel lmasson@jaguar.com

The 14th Cambridge Volleyball Tournament 

This event will be held on the weekend of 31 July / 1 August 2004

Cambridge is a 6-a-side outdoor tournament for Mens, Womens and Mixed teams, 
from Beginners and Social players through to National League standard

Facilities include camping on site, bar, disco, and catering, and the 
site is just a short distance from the historic and beautiful city centre.

Bridlington Beach Volleyball

4-a-side mixed tournament

10th & 11th July 2004

www.bridbeach.co.uk

England Cadet Boys First Trial July 16th-20th 2004

We are currently looking for boys born between Jan1989 - Dec 1990, We can look at boys younger than this if they have an above average height profile e.g. 180cm and above.

There are limited places but on this trial but we will be holding more from September onwards. All that we need is a profile form which can be collected from the squad manager Tony Brewer at Tonybrewer1958@aol.com

Carol Gordon cagsports@hotmail.com

In the end it was Torexe B who took the honors over Torexe A, with the All Stars and Totnes Space Hoppers taken third and fourth respectably. 

More photos on our web site www.volleyballnewsletter.com/vnl-photo.htm

Winners: Torexe B

3rd Place: All Stars

4th Place: Space Hopper from Totnes

Over the years we have included several reports in the volleyball newsletter from coaches who have taken part in volleyball camps in the USA. Dave Cross from "Yes, I Can Volleyball" in the USA, recently took a training camp at the Ashcombe Volleyball Centre. He has kindly sent us his report, highlighting a number of problems that he encountered and some of the differences in the UK setup compared with the USA.

You can see Dave's full report on our web site at: www.volleyballnewsletter.com/vnl-report.htm

As you may already know, I recently had the pleasure of traveling to England to do a three day overnight camp at the Ashcombe Volleyball Centre in Dorking, a small town about forty minutes southwest of London. This was an awesome experience which I thought I would share with you...

... As I soon learned, our camp was very unique in two ways. First of all, it is unheard of, (well at least until now), for high school age players there to pay a fee to attend a volleyball camp. When something is offered, it is always free of charge. Secondly, no one involved could ever remember a clinician coming to England from another country to put on a camp. When I found out these two little nuggets of information, I was both excited and a bit nervous-I was definitely breaking new ground here!

...The campers were all between the ages of 13-16 and came in with quite different levels of knowledge of the game and skill... However, the campers love of the game was very much like it is here. They listened to instruction very well and worked very hard. I had been warned by Nevil and the others that there would certainly be some challenging times in terms of getting the campers to expand their comfort zones. Although for the most part, the methods I normally use to get young athletes to "buy in" to our approach to the game worked as the usually do, there was one instance when I was challenged significantly....

...We started the first night session just like always, as I went through a presentation based on my article "The Ideal Volleyball Athlete" which leads the players to see that the most important part of reaching your potential as a volleyball player is to develop the mental side of your game. If you are familiar with this article, which is in my two e-book set, "Beyond Volleyball Cybernetics", and has been published is this newsletter previously, the idea is to get the players to imagine a situation in which their  coach tells the team that a new player has moved into town right before the start of pre-season. The coach excitedly explains to the team that this new arrival, who is a freshman, has all the tools to help the team get "over the top" and win the state championship. The campers are then
asked to imagine what this new player would be like, what characteristics she would possess to produce this kind of introduction from their coach. Without fail, as the campers list the qualities the new player would have, the list of characteristics always turns out to be 80-90% mental. Such things as team player, leader, hard worker (which is a mental quality), and an excellent attitude always make the list...

...In the English education system, students are encouraged to question theories and ideas much more so than here and to do so whenever they feel the urge (not wait until the end of the presentation as we here would normally do). Well, at least a certain portion of the girls decided to give me a hard time concerning the
qualities this player would possess, mainly because I didn't allow them to watch their soap opera. Some of their responses were quite negative-this new player would cocky, arrogant, and bossy. (Certainly not what most of us would envision, knowing what it would take for a young freshman to come into a new situation and immediately lead the team to a state championship.) Their hands were flying into the air like they were at a silent auction bidding on a lock of John Lennon's hair or something (you get the point). They were certainly enjoying their defiance of this concept....

...Honestly, I'd never been challenged like this before when making any presentation. To add to the unusual nature of this situation, a reporter from England's national volleyball magazine, "3Touch", was in the audience taking notes for a review of the camp in their next edition, and we were also filming everything to hopefully be used in the near future as part of a new product release. With as much patience as I could muster, (especially after I realized what they were
doing), I finally guided them to see the light concerning the new player's probable make-up. (Those of you who know me personally have got to be having a good chuckle over this story)...

...Now don't get me wrong, these girls were a delight to work with, (some had simply decided to have some "fun" with me during that talk). They worked very hard and the improvement we saw by the camp's close was significant. Some have been keeping in touch with me by email since my return home, telling me of each new accomplishment they have made in their game. In fact, I later that first night told the campers how impressed I was with their desire to learn. These young ladies were doing something that just wasn't done in their world: paying to attend a camp away from home during their short two-week school vacation.
Just in doing this, they were already expanding their "comfort zones", which is what we teach athletes must do in order to reach their full potential...

...I truly had a blast conducting this camp and I would like to once again thank Nevil Kapadia, the other coaches who attended, and of course, the young ladies who attended and gave me a life-experience I will never forget.

Dave Cross
National Director
Yes, I Can Volleyball
www.yesicansports.com
dave@yesicansports.com

Top U.S. volleyball duo Kerri Walsh and Misty May have not lost a beach volleyball match in 10 months, and conventional wisdom has them extending their streak through the 2004 Olympics in Athens and beyond. For most fans, though, Walsh and May will be best known as the two women in bikinis, running and diving on a snow-covered beach to the backdrop of the song Theme From "A Summer Place" for a Visa commercial that debuted during the Super Bowl. 

It looked chilly, and it was. "But at least we knew what to expect," May said, laughing. What they didn't expect, after a muggy Friday night, was a chilly Saturday afternoon at the Austin stop of the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour. A springtime cold front dropped temperatures on the shore of Town Lake into the mid-50s with wind gusts of more than 20 mph. And that, consequently, dictated a change in wardrobe. 

When the TV cameras were rolling and the sponsors were watching, Walsh and May were willing to don swimsuits for the sake of show biz. Saturday's weather called for long sleeves. It didn't matter, of course. They won both opening-day matches in two sets, running their unbeaten streak to 71 entering today's final rounds. "Everybody else seems to dwell on the win streak," said Walsh, 25, who switched to the beach after competing with the U.S. indoor team that finished fourth at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. "We don't think about it." 

They do, however, think a little each day about the Olympics. The U.S. will send two teams to Athens, based on the results of each team's best eight finishes on the international tour sponsored by FIVB, Olympic volleyball's governing body. Because Walsh and May are unbeaten on the FIVB tour, they could take off the rest of the year and still qualify. 

"The teams that we'll see in Athens are the same ones we play and on the international circuit," Walsh said. "So we need to keep on our regimen. The Olympics is the main goal, but we have other goals along the way. "It's (the Olympics) inside me. I can't escape it. I'm fired up about it. But we have a lot to accomplish before then." 

Everyone, though, would prefer better weather than Saturday's rain and chill. Even if it wasn't as cold as the Visa shoot, which was filmed in northern California, May and Walsh said it was the coldest weather for an AVP event. Saturday's cold snap was one of the few bumps in the road since Walsh and May teamed up after the 2000 Olympics, when May finished fifth in the beach volleyball tournament with Holly McPeak. 

The women grew up watching each other play in California, where May was a member of the 1998 NCAA championship team at Long Beach State while Walsh was a four-time All-America at Stanford, including a 1996 NCAA title. Their parents, Tim and Margie Walsh and Butch and Barbara May, who knew each other from years in Southern California's close-knit volleyball culture, suggested they team up. 

"Misty called up Kerri one day (after the 2000 Olympics) and asked her to come to Huntington Beach," said Karch Kiraly, the three-time Olympic gold medalist who will help cover beach volleyball for NBC in Athens. "Kerri had never played beach volleyball, but whatever she did that day showed Misty that she could be something special. 

"Kerri (who stands 6-3) is a freak of nature. She's an inch taller than I am, and she's playing with a net that is set eight inches lower (than the men's game), and she moves around like a cat. If I moved around like that in comparison to the height of the men's net, I'd be 6-11, and it would be lights out, just as it has been for them. "Kerri reaches higher than I do, and she's a phenomenal player. And Misty is a superb player in her own right. If you put them together, it's the two best players and the best team on the beach." 

Because May, 26, and Walsh, 25, have been so dominant, the only drama left in the U.S. team selection process involves the second team for Athens. McPeak and Elaine Youngs hold a narrow lead in the FIVB standings over Jenny Johnson Jordan and Annett Davis for the second spot, but there are six tournaments left on the international tour before the July 22 team selection deadline, including a grueling trip from Greece to Shanghai. 

"We'd like to be able to qualify for the Olympics and not have to travel on that tour," McPeak said. "It's not easy to travel so much, and if you play only that tour, it's a rough lifestyle. We would rather play a strong domestic tour." 

To that end, players are willing to do the improbable to promote the AVP, as in Walsh's and May's three-day shoot for the Visa ad -- two days in Malibu, one in Mammoth. "(The ad) worked for us personally and for our sport collectively," Walsh said. "Beach volleyball is going to be big at the Olympics, and they did a great job promoting us. People recognize us and our sport. It showed that you can take beach volleyball anywhere, and it will be exciting." 

www.moreover.com

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) announced on Friday that the 2004 men’s and women’s U21 and U18 FIVB World Championships presented by Swatch, where the best of Beach Volleyball youth is on display, will be played in Portugal and Italy respectively in September this year.

The stunning Italian coastal city of Termoli will host the Beach Volleyball stars of tomorrow at the U18 World Championships presented by Swatch from September 7-12 before the beautiful sands of Porto Santo in Madeira entertain the U21 World Championships contenders from September 14-18.

The annual U21 and U18 FIVB World Championships presented by Swatch have provided an excellent avenue for the young stars of tomorrow to taste international competition for the first time and a number of former players have gone onto to ply their trade on the Swatch-FIVB World Tour. In recognition of the growing reputation of these competitions both will feature live television coverage of the semifinals and finals from national broadcasters.

“It is very pleasing to be able to confirm two such excellent venues with willing organizers to ensure quality events and good exposure for the sport,” FIVB Beach Volleyball coordinator Mr. Angelo Squeo said. “The Beach Volleyball youth of today are crucial to the sport of tomorrow so we are looking forward to seeing the bright Swatch-FIVB World Tour prospects in action at two superb venues.”

FIVB Executive Vice-President and Portuguese Volleyball Federation President Mr. Vicente Araujo was instrumental in having Madeira as the host of the U21 World Championships after the Federation and the promoter Madeira Volleyball Association successfully hosted exhibition tournaments in previous years. In 2003, Olympic champion Natalie Cook and her partner Nicole Sanderson from Australia won this event.

“It is a privilege to be able to work with the Madeira Volleyball Federation to enable the Beach Volleyball stars of tomorrow to have a wonderful international stage to show their class,” Mr Araujo said. “I know as an FIVB member that these two tournaments are vital to ensuring the future of Beach Volleyball.”

“We are extremely happy to be hosting the U18 World Championships,” said Italian Volleyball Federation Beach Volleyball Coordinator Mr Franco Brasili. “With the Swatch-FIVB World Tour event also in Milan earlier in the month this raises the profile of Italian Volleyball up to another level.”

Not only are the 24 teams in the main draw of each gender of both tournaments playing for the honour of being world champion in their age group but also a wildcard entry to any Swatch-FIVB World Tour event in 2005.

The U21 Championships were first played in 2001 in France (champions: Sigoli-Cunha BRA and Shaylyn-Salgado Rufino BRA) and have been contested yearly ever since in Italy (champions: Pablo Herrera-Raul Mesa ESP and Taiana Lima-Juliana Silva BRA) and France again (champions: Pedro Solberg Salgado-Pedro Cunha BRA and Anna Morozova-Alexandra Shiryaeva RUS).

The U18 World Championship first started in 2002 in Greece (champions: Pedro Salgado-Ian Borges BRA and Sanne Keizer-Arjanne Stevens NED) before being played in Thailand last year (champions: Sebastian Fuchs-Thomas Kaczmarek GER and Jana Kohler and Laura Ludwig GER).

For more Beach Volleyball news www.fivb.org

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