VOLLEYBALL

NEWSLETTER

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 web.

Just to let everyone know that over the next few weeks, I will be moving the mailing list to a different newsletter server. To comply with anti spam rules, you may receive an email asking for you to re-confirm your email address, just click on the link provided in the email - thank you.

[Our new mailing list provider is much cheaper, will allow us to send out more frequent & real time mailings and should support the UK pound symbol (which are current supplier does not).

Cheers - Dave Reece Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

EVA Men’s Division One Match (02/12/2006)

City of Bristol v London Polonia

EVA's Division One top of the table clash between City of Bristol and London Polonia (two of the three teams currently fighting for the league title) is now available on line at the Volleyball Newsletter web site.

		City of Bristol v London Polonia
		EVA Men’s Division One Match (02/12/2006)

To watch the match, go to the Volleyball Newsletter web site and select the match video link or click on the direct link below:

City of Bristol v London Polonia

RSS Volleyball Newsfeed

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We have a Volleyball level 2 arranged for 3, 10 and 17 June 2007 @ £75 pounds.

Also, the Injury Prevention and Management workshop on 4 June 2007 6.00 - 9.00pm @ £30 pounds as this is a requirement for the full award.

Both courses will be held here at the Alsager campus of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Thank you
Veronica Parkinson
V.Parkinson@mmu.ac.uk

BSc (Hons) Sport Science Programme Administrator
Manchester Metropolitan University
http://www.mmu.ac.uk/c-a/exspsci//csp/education

Teams from Jersey often take part in end of season competitions in England and the EVA Cup. This year both the Jersey Men’s and the Ladies sides have entered England’s South West regional league. They will play the majority of their home matches in England, but a few teams will be flying over to Jersey for their away fixture.

		Torexe v Jersey (5 min Highlights)
		South West Ladies League Match (02/12/2006)

To watch the match, go to the Volleyball Newsletter web site and select the match video link or click on the direct: Torexe v Jersey

Kenzie Aries from San Dieguito in California has sent us details of her volleyball life and career. Volleyball Paradise appears to be located in South California, have a look at the following notes, pics, club, school and beach web site links. Kenzie is currently contacting colleges for a schollaship and has put together a portfolio, including a web site (career to date, match stats, private tutor sessions etc) and a promotional video, hopefully we can give her a bit more PR and I trust we will see her at London 2012.

Hi Dave, I also have my personal site (which is under construction) I am using this to contact colleges about volleyball scholarships www.Kenzilla.com School, we are the San Diego area high school team, with our own web page. www.RideThatPony.com We are 26-6 and are in the play-offs for the state of California. San Diego County has 2.7 million people and our team is ranked second in Division III and seventh overall in the county. Three of our losses came to teams ranked in the top-100 in the US.

Click to View

Our site has our own song, "I wish they all could be San Dieguito girls" (apologies to the Beach Boy's version - "I wish they all could be California girls") We have finished 2nd, 3rd and 5th in 30-44 team tournaments this year, last year, just in the southern California region, and just the age 16 group, there were 350+ teams competing in the volleyball league. And I have uploaded highlights from this summer when I played in the 2006 Junior Olympics, I was 15 then.

Club tryouts
1) The last two weeks have been club try outs as high school volleyball playoffs just finished (our school finished 9th in California for Division III - schools of 1,000 - 1,300 students). The high school season starts in August with two a day try-outs and through November. Club vball starts try outs in November, has practices in December and the season runs Jan to July 1.

2) Each club has multiple try out dates. Typically they run 2-3 hours and costs (one-time) $0 to $40 to be evaluated by the club coaches. Typically you go to 2-3 try outs per club. Monthly fees range from $300-$500/month, which includes tournament fees as well.

Here are pictures of a typical club "San Diego VC" www.sdvbc.org

3) Most of the club teams are essentially high school all star teams by age group. Most volleyball clubs have programs from 12 to 18 years old. Most of the club coaches are AVP players or high school coaches or former college players - at least here in Southern California. On my current 17's team our middle blockers are 6', 6'2" and 6'1", I am 6' setter, the OH are 6'0 and 5'10", our right side blockers are 5'10" and 6'0" This is a typical team for my age group.

4) Once you make a club you practice 2-3 times a week from 2-2.5 hours per session. I drive 40 minutes each way to make practice. there are clubs closer to my home (10 minutes, 20 minutes and 25 minutes, but I wanted to play with girls on this club across town) Mostly it is drills for the first 85% then scrimmage at the end. We have tournaments against other clubs about every 3 weeks, where we play at least 3 matches of best of 3 per tournament. We usually start at 8 am on Saturday and play until about 2-3 pm.

5) At year end most California clubs go to the Reno volleyball festival which has us playing 3-5 matches a day for 5 or 6 days straight. Last year there were over 1,000 teams there. We play by age group. Some clubs go to the Junior Olympics.

My team made that last year. Essentially for the Junior Olympics you go to qualifying tournaments and the top 2 teams get invited to the Junior Olympics. Typically there are 50-120 teams that think they are good enough to win that qualifier. Teams that aren't as good generally don't go to the qualifier due to costs.

The top 50 teams from all the regional US qualifiers from each age group advance and play each other. My team was ranked 39th going in and we finished 18th in the Junior Olympics. The main difference between the Junior Olympics is that you have to qualify and be invited where in the volleyball Festival anyone goes and you keep moving up as long as you keep winning. At both events there are college coaches everywhere.

When I don't get enough volleyball I can go to the beach, I live a few blocks from a local beach volleyball court, Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, www.beacons-beach.com www.desertbreezes.com/beach.jpg the 3 courts are just to the right of the palm tree. Or the local YMCA has open courts at least once a week, and many of the clubs have open gym for $5 once a week.

thanks much!
Kenzie

DOHA, Qatar - When Salim Al-Nabit and his friends went to see beach volleyball for the first time, they left their wives home. Al-Nabit said he would watch the bikini-clad women, but he certainly wouldn't want his wife to do so. He was there, he added, because it was a matter of national honor.

"We don't see this a lot in Qatar," Al-Nabit said. "I think most people think it is outrageous. But we accept it because it is important for our country. We want others to see us as a generous and hospitable people, willing to accept their ways, even if we don't agree."

Beach volleyball's penchant for bikinis has touched off a bit of a cultural clash in this conservative Muslim city, which by hosting the Asian Games, a regional sports extravaganza, is trying to bolster its bid to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to the Middle East. The city has transformed itself in an effort to woo the Olympics. It has spent billions on infrastructure and sparkling new sports facilities, including the 50,000-seat "Aspire" stadium.

Doha organizers brought in 80 truckloads of sand from dunes in the desert outside the city to create the proper beach setting for the volleyball competition. They then even had the sand tested by a Canadian contractor to make sure it was just right.

But some things are just too much to ask. Though 16 Muslim nations are represented at the Asian Games, only one, Iraq, is competing in women's beach volleyball. And its team, sisters Lisa and Lida Agasi, are Christians.

Do they feel uncomfortable? "No, not at all," Lida said after her first game on Saturday. But their coach noted they seemed a bit overwhelmed because "all eyes were upon them." Even so, the Iraqis wore considerably more conservative outfits than their opponents, the Japanese. While the Agasis were clad in yellow, two-piece tights that went down to mid thigh and covered most of their shoulders, the Japanese pair's uniforms were so small that the country name had to be abbreviated on their bikini bottoms.

The Qatari women are sitting out the event, though Qatar has teams for everything from archery to skeet shooting. "It's not good," said Parvana Khoory, who watched from the almost-empty stands around the 1,500-seat center court dressed in black from head to toe. "We want a woman to cover all of her body. I think this discourages Muslim women from playing this sport." Some of the players agree that the outfits don't need to be as brief. "I felt kind of funny about it at first," said Japan's Satoko Urata. "But what can you do? It doesn't bother me now. They have uniforms like this in swimming and track, too." That has been a sticking point with Muslim athletes as well. Few Muslim teams at the Asian Games include female swimmers. Of those that do, some, like Pakistan, prefer its women wear full-body swimsuits.

Beach volleyball has strict rules dictating what constitutes proper attire. Women can wear one- or two-piece uniforms, and that usually means they play in bikinis and sunglasses. Competition manager Ramon Suzara, an official with the Asian Beach Volleyball Association, said that allowances have been made for Muslims. "They can wear what they want, so long as it is appropriate," he said. Suzara added, however, that he hopes Muslims will come to accept the same kind of outfits that the athletes of other nations wear. "This is sport in the 21st century," he said. "I think this will be an eye-opener for Doha."

It was for Al-Nabit, who confessed that, in the end, he enjoyed watching the competition. "But I felt very shy about it," he said.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/sports

Brazil easily brushed past Poland in the final of the 2006 FIVB Men’s World Championship to defend their title on Sunday. The team’s second consecutive World Championship gold medal maintains their position of leader in all international Volleyball events as reigning World, Olympic and World League Champions as well as World Cup Champions and World Grand Champions.

Brazil took total control over the game to secure the gold medal today against Poland at the Yoyogi National Stadium’s No. 1 Gymnasium in Tokyo. The 2002 World Champions defended their crown with an awesome display of power and precision to win 25-12, 25-22, 25-17 and had their fans dancing in the aisles long before the victory was complete. Brazil’s Giba took the 100,000 dollar individual award as Most Valuable Player (MVP) as the first choice of the coaches of the 12 finalist teams, the media and the FIVB Control Committee, each contributing a third of the total vote.

Bulgaria fought back from one-set down to beat Serbia-Montenegro 3-1 and claim the bronze medal. Bulgaria won 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 against fourth-ranked Serbia-Montenegro to finish with a 9-2 record and win their first World Championship medal in twenty years. Serbia-Montenegro ended with an 8-3 record and their fourth-place finish is the same as four years ago.

Italy swept France 3-0 to clinch fifth place. The European Champions won a fast-paced match 25-19, 25-17, 30-28, sealing victory on their fourth match point with a classic spike from Alessandro Fei, who finished third among the top scorers.

Russia ended Japan's hopes of finishing their World Championships on a high by claiming seventh place. The Russians looked comfortable as they took the first set, but a spirited fightback in the second brought Japan back into contention. Russia settled back into their rhythm, however, and came through to win the match 25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 25-17.

Germany beat USA 3-2 in a wonderful match to clinch ninth place. Germany won the first two sets, missed a match point in the third, and finally clinched it on their third match point of the tie-break, and fourth in all. The score was 25-17, 25-18, 25-27, 20-25, 17-15 to earn the 32nd-ranked Germans ninth position in their first appearance at the Worlds since 1994. The fifth-ranked Americans had to settle for 10th, one place lower than in 2002 and 1998.

Canada may not have achieved coach Glenn Hoag’s target of a top 10 finish, but at least they improved on their world ranking after beating 3-1 Puerto Rico in their final match of the World Championship. The No. 12 ranked Canadians finished in 11th position after winning 25-17, 18-25, 25-22, 25-21 to exact revenge after an earlier defeat by Puerto Rico and finished with a 5-6 record for the whole tournament. Puerto Rico finished 12th with a 4-7 record.

Individual awards

• Most Valuable Player – Gilberto Godoy Filho (“Giba”) (BRA) USD 100,000
• Best scorer – Hector Soto (PUR) USD 75,000
• Best spiker – Dante Amaral Guimaraes (BRA) USD 50,000
• Best blocker – Alexey Kuleshov (RUS) USD 50,000
• Best server – Matey Kaziyski (BUL) USD 50,000
• Best setter – Pawel Zagumny (POL) USD 50,000
• Best libero – Alexey Verbov (RUS) USD 50,000

2006 FIVB World Championships close with record attendance and TV audiences

The 2006 FIVB World Championships closed in Japan today having welcomed over 550,000 spectators across the ten cities involved in the month-long event. TV ratings were consistently high, with the women’s competition achieving an average rating of 18.1% and the final figures for the men’s competition also looking promising.

The average rating of 18.1% for the women’s competition mean that well over 2 million households in the Kanto area of Japan tuned in every night to watch the action broadcast by the tournament’s host broadcaster TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System). The peak rating came from Japan’s final Pool A match in Tokyo on November 5, when 20.6 per cent – or around 2.5 million households in the Kanto area centered around Tokyo – watched the match.

Figures for the men’s competition, which finished on Sunday, are not yet available, but the FIVB is happy with the results provided by the TBS operation in Japan, which involved more than 100 staff, three massive Outside Broadcast vans and 20 cameras in the venue, including three "super slow" models to highlight the skills and emotions of the high-speed sport of volleyball.

Spectator numbers were also well above FIVB President Rubén Acosta’s expectations. In a preview interview before the start of the World Championships, he had expressed the hope that over 500,000 spectators would attend the matches. “I am delighted to confirm that even my ambitious target was exceeded,” he said today. “Over 550,000 spectators have attended the FIVB World Championships and a new Japanese record for volleyball spectator attendance at a single event was set at Japan’s match against Poland on the final day of the first round.”

The success of Japan’s women’s and men’s team undoubtedly helped to boost the ratings and attendance figures. Both teams made it through to the final classification matches and finished among the top ten, the women taking sixth place and the men eighth.

The Asian Games is a showcase of the best athletes Asia has to offer. It is also a showcase of some sports so obscure outside their homelands that they are giving even Asia a touch of culture shock. "It's amazing," Carol Duffy, a British citizen living in this conservative Muslim nation on the Gulf, said after watching her first game of sepak takraw, one of the uniquely Asian sports at the games. "It's very, very different."

Sepak takraw, played primarily in Thailand and Malaysia, is like volleyball, but with a no-hands rule. Three players cover the court, which is divided by an eye-height net. They serve, save and spike, often while airborne with their feet. And to give it a little more soccer flavor, they can also use their heads, shoulders and chests to keep the hollow, woven ball aloft.

The game dates back some 500 years, when the object was just to keep a rattan ball in the air as long as possible. Later on, a net was added and a set of formal rules established in 1960. The introduction of a synthetic ball in 1984 added a new element of speed.

It's now a staple of the Asian Games, though Thailand still usually wins. "It's a new sport for us, so it's really interesting," said Indian sepak takraw team member Gajendran Gayathri, who first saw the sport just five years ago. "You spike, you do somersaults. You have to be really flexible."

From RSV: leovh

After the first round of the WC all favourites have gone through to the second round such as Brazil, Poland, Bulgaria, SCG, Russia, Italy and France. Some teams who ended with equal match points passed on such as Argentine and the USA at the expense of China and Venezuala due to a better point ratio.

From the above teams Poland Bulgaria and SCG have shown an impressive no loss result; this will give them an advantage in the second round where only the best two teams of each pool will go to the final four.

As the attack is often the dominating factor in the end result of a match, teams as Poland SCG Brazil and Russia showed very good attack data.

Team % kill % error
POL 59.19 11.34
SCG 56.06 9.96
BRA 56.46 11.48
RUS 54.73 14.18

Bulgaria is only at 6 th place with 53.50and Italy 8 th place with 51.40% kill. Serbia is team with least errors below 10%.Poland has three of its players at the best 10.

Not all teams are present in best blocking performance.

CAN 3.83
RUS 3.54
ITA 3.15
BUL 3.11
GER 3.11
CZE 2.83
SCG 2.82
POL 2.81

Brazil and France show much lower results 2.48 /2.10

Most favourites show good service performance data are in ace per set

BUL 1.42
GER 1.36
BRA 1.36
POL 1.34
SCG 1.30

Not a surprise that we find Japan under best digging teams.
USA 5.74
JPN 5.68
CZE 5.52
ITA 5.40
RUS 5.29
VEN 5.27
BUL 5.11
IRI 4.95
SCG 4.83

France is only at place 11 with 4.40 dig/ set

Receiving statistics show following

data % error % excellent.
RUS 1.54 77.61
USA 2.22 58.73
SCG 2.97 74.59
VEN 3.01 50.96
ITA 3.19 61.74

Both Brazil and France have show poor receiivng data with about 5.5 % error.

In all essential parts of the game teams as SCG, ITA Rus and BUL are well placed Poland may be hampered by less efficient receiving just as Brazil. France in spite of its victorie over Brazil is absent by best performances and may not reach final four.

From RSV: Nikola Nikica

IMHO, there are top7 teams in world VB, without dominant one like we had before (Italy and Nederland during 90s, Brasil during the 1st half of this century). So, these teams are Brasil, Russia, France, SCG, Italy, Bulgaria and Poland.

BUL - ITA
Bulgaria finaly reached high level of play. They have solid defense, strong attack and probably the fastest MBs in Europe. We saw that in group stage of WL F6. Italy still suffers from generation shift. I think that Cisola and Cernic are still far away from shape of their ancestor in national team. Corsano is slower and slower every year, so I think that Italy needs younger libero. Only thing that is on that 90s level is pair Vermiglio - Fei. For me, only surprise in this match is that Italians won 2 sets!

SCG - RUS
Serbia and Montenegro team is almost as same as one that won gold medal in 2000 Olympics. Vanja Grbiæ and Goran Vujeviæ as receivers, Nikola Grbiæ as setter, Ivan Miljkoviæ as opposite, Andrija Geriæ as MB. New faces are Marko Samard¾iæ (who is IMHO better and faster libero than Vaso Mijiæ) and Novica Bjelica (who is faster MB and more powerful server than Ðula Me¹ter). This team is great in digging and plays smart in attack. You probably watched them in 3rd round of friendly tournament helt in France before WC. In that game, they simply overpowered France team. During WL, ex coach made a player selection for this WC. He played without Grbiæ brothers, Ivan Miljkoviæ and Marko Samard¾iæ almost all competition. Plan was to sharp shape for WC, like SCGVBF always did (see rankings of SCG in WL 2000 and 2001, and then see their rank at OG 2000 and EC 2001). Straight win is not surprise.

FRA-BRA
Why do you see this result as surprise?
As I see, you are writting from France and you should know how France defense influence on Brasilian attack. Fast MBs, great libero and simply the perfect Franz Granvorka is recipe for success against Brasil. We saw the same in WL final.

For me, only surprise of group phase is Germany win against France.

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