Hi all, more news from the web.

Information regarding a Beach Coaches Award to be run by Denise Austin on Longsands Beach, Tynemouth.

• 2nd/3rd August 2008 / 10.30-6.00 Saturday / 9.30-4.00 Sunday
  
• Tutor/ Course organiser - Denise Austin / Cost £55

We need to get as much interest as possible as this is the first time anything like this has been arranged in the North East. Please let all your club/team members know about it. There is a possibility that the fee may be reduced or help could be gained from your region towards the cost.

Please pass this information on to anyone you think may be interested. For any further information about it, contact Denise denise@beachvolleyballinc.com as this is all the information I have so far.

Attention all Volleyball fans! Make a date in your diary right now for the European League 2008!

Great Britain’s Men’s Volleyball team take to the EIS Sheffield court for their home debut in the European League with games each day from the 27th - 29th June against , Portugal, Slovakia and Greece.

6 games over 3 days will be a tough ask to fill so the higher the profile you can give it would help.

Tickets are available now through www.volleyballengland.org and from EIS Sheffield Reception, call 01142235742 for further information. SEE YOU THERE!

Do you perhaps know how an 8 year old girl can start learning to play volleyball? We live in SW London Clapham so it would have to be local. I understand you are not an information service but if you could point me in the right direction I would be very grateful.

Could you please add our website and details to your newsletter, the website is currently being developed and in its early days, but I am striving to get it ready for the new season, and ready to recruit !

url: www.cardiffwildcatsvolleyball.co.uk

Obviously based in Cardiff ! ! we are the only mens team based in Cardiff and only the 3rd womens team, so would appreciate the publicity to get this sport revitalised in South Wales where it was huge many years ago.

Sunday 13th July Exmouth Beach Fours

Exmouth Beach Juniors U12 / U14 / U16 /U18

See you all on the beach
Dave Reece Dave.Reece@Volleyballnewsletter.com
www.exmouthbeachvolleyball.com

At this time of year, a number of teams come up with some innovated team shouts for the summer season, this is the Mr. Men (from the Cheltenham / Gloucester area) with their version of the Haka. If you can match it - beat it, get it videoed (mobile phone) and email it in, we would like to see it.

Personally, I am always disappointed when you try to use an off the shelf beach net system on the beach. They work fine on grass but when placed on a soft sandy beach, always look a bit sad. After a few games, the posts have sunk in the sand and the supplied 8" plastic pegs appear to do nothing for net tension. 20 inch wooden pegs are the order of the day for beach nets in soft sand, these should be used with a large wooden mallet (wood on wood). But these are expensive and hard to find, metal 7 lb lump hammers are cheap and available but they shorten the pegs life from months to weeks (which then need to be replaced) plus not everyone like using mallets.

After trialing a few alternatives, we have settled on using "Dog Stake Tie Outs" (£2.30) a corkscrew steel stake, sold in pet shops and farming shops. They are designed for use on grass and hence come with a very sharp point on them (not good for beach kit bags), this is removed with an angle grinder, plus a larger gap is cut in the handle (to allow easy access for the guy rope to pass through).

We have now completely replaced all our net pegs and retired the mallets. To help stop the posts sinking and hence keep the nets at the correct height, we are using plastic frisbees (one per post), cheap, safe and they fit in the net bags.

The finished item, easy to use and should last for years.

A frisbees under each post, helps to keep the net at the right height.

Over twenty school beach volleyball teams will gather on Friday, 13th June on Perranporth Beach for the first Cornwall Schools Contest ever. Registration will start at 0945 with prize giving held at 3.45pm to end the day of fun in the sun!

The event is the grand opening to a weekend of charity beach volleyball run by Countrymen Volleyball Club from the West of the County. South West Sporting Champion Pro Beach Volleyball Star Denise Austin will be appearing in the morning to run a coaching session for our excited athletes between 10-11am. Cornwall Sports Partnership kindly nominated the event for the visit this month.

The event has been co-ordinated by Gemma Wilson, Senior School Competition Manager for Cornwall with the great team at Countrymen Volleyball Club, Milo Perrin and Alan Conquest. Young Leaders from Cornwall College will assist at the event by coaching and umpiring the young players. The four young leaders will be led by Dan Inch from Cornwall College. The schools will come from all over the County from Launceston down to Mullion. The teams will be mixed 4 A-side for ages 13-15 years of age.

The fun schools event will kick off the annual charity open event at Perranporth Beach, which will take place on Saturday, 14th – Sunday, 15th June. Saturday will be a pair’s competition for charities that include Cornwall Hospice and SAAFA and Sunday will be a fun 4 a-side event which will include a Bar BQ on the beach. To register your team please e-mail penwith.div@ssafa.org.uk and for further information visit www.cornwallvolleyball.co.uk

Countrymen charity Beach Pairs went ahead on Saturday 14/6/08, rain early on looked like putting a damper on the day but by the time play started the day was already clearing away to become very sunny. I can report that at this moment with monies still to come in we have raised for SSAFA Forces Help and The Cornwall Hospice £2116.64 and don't ask me who gave the 64p. We will exceed last years total.

The ladies net saw 7 teams playing a round robin during the day with the top 4 teams playing of for the trophy, SSAFA Ladies Cup.

The final saw Wiltshire Ladies K. Pearce and L. Smith defeat Bridport Bashers S. Davies and L.Condliffe This was possibly the best display of ladies beach volleyball that I have ever seen in Cornwall I must congratulate Wiltshire ladies who I hope will return next year to defend their title. The spirit of the Games was also won on the Ladies net as the two 16 year olds of M. Thomas and J. Ansell managed to keep smiling even though they lost every game but also volunteered to ref and score the two semi finals. It also helped as they raised a lot of money.

The men's final was fought out between Plymouth Ninjas and Furry Rodents with the pairing of Plymouth Ninjas C. Teoh and K. Greczynski beating Furry Rodents of D. Hutchinson and K. Shurville.

Volleyball players with dreams of becoming the next Luke Sheaf or Denise Johns are being urged to apply for the new Team Jazz sponsorship scheme. Jazz Apples will be scouring the UK for the ten gifted sports enthusiasts to join the team and gain £1500 in support including cash funding, branded kit, a publicity campaign plus an awe inspiring team building trip.

This unique opportunity is open to sports people of all ages, backgrounds and sporting disciplines, offering applicants the perfect opportunity to gain additional support to help them in the pursuit of their sporting dreams. With competing in sport often being a costly business, team members will receive £1000 to help lift some of this financial burden, as well as receiving a publicity campaign with the aim of attracting additional media interest and sponsorship for each team member.

The successful ten chosen to join Team Jazz will also be taken on a motivational team building trip where they will meet the rest of the team and take part in an adventure activity day. Extreme sports athlete and TV personality Tim Emmett will also be on hand to run a motivational talk, chat about his past experiences and offer advice to each of the team members. Emmett has vast experience in competing at the highest level and is renowned for his astonishing sporting exploits including four podium positions in the World Ice Climbing Championships and an unforgettable race with Jeremy Clarkson up Verdon Gorge on Top Gear.

Emmett comments: "Energy, determination, passion and character - the defining spirit of Team Jazz. We want the team to be an eclectic mix of talented British sports people who have a fresh new attitude and strive to be the best. You never know, hopefully the team will have a future world champion or Olympian one day."

Applicants are asked to download the application form from the new Jazz Apple website (www.jazzapples.co.uk) where they will have to list their past achievements and explain why they believe they deserve the sponsorship. People can also nominate someone they know who fits the bill. All applicants will be considered by a team of sports people which will be chaired by Tim Emmett. The first ten Team Jazz members will be selected at the end of October.

Completed forms plus a photo of the applicant need to be posted to Team Jazz, Impact Agency, 3 Bloomsbury Place, London, WC1A 2QL

County Antrim schoolteacher Dr. Ian Walker has been awarded a top Northern Ireland Coaching Prize. Ian, who took over as Head Coach to the Northern Ireland Women's squad earlier this year, has been recognised for his volleyball Youth developmental work at Dalriada School as well as with Ballymoney Blaze Club. Present at the awards sponsored by Podium4Sport last week, Ian was one of 15 finalist Coaches who had been nominated in the categories of Youth Sport, Young Athlete Development, Performance Sport, Disability and Lifetime Contribution.

Young Athlete Development, Dr Ian Walker, Volleyball. Award presented by Vice Chancellor of the University of Ulster, Professor Richard Barnett and Richard Callicott, President Volleyball England

British Volleyball Federation President Richard Calicott was in Belfast along with BBCNI Sport’s Mark Sidebottom and Vice Chancellor of the University of Ulster, Professor Richard Barnett to present the Young Athlete Development 2008 Award to Ian Walker.

Paul McIlwaine, President of the NIVA Technical Commission which appointed Ian to his Northern Ireland job said everyone in the Association were delighted at the recognition given to Ian. "Coaching volleyball is very demanding but here in Northern Ireland we have had previous volunteers recognized with the Coaching NI Awards including Wilson Greenlee and myself from Craigavon Aztecs. Philippe Blain the National French Coach and President of the International Coaching Commission has sent Ian his congratulations also".

Eamonn McCartan Chief Executive of Sport NI who took over the organization of the event after the demise of the "coachingni" organisation, commented: “We have heard amazing examples of commitment and dedication of time and energy to others this evening. I hope all of the finalists, and indeed the many more coaches who were nominated, feel suitably proud of the important role they play in sport. The number and quality of entries was superb and my thanks go to BBC Sport and the Belfast Telegraph for their help in creating excitement. Coaches would say their hard work pays off when they see their athletes improve their personal best, or score more points – they don’t expect accolades - but these awards are a terrific way to showcase how rewarding coaching can be and I would encourage more people to get involved in coaching. I would also like to thank the University of Ulster for their continued partnership.”

Pictured above is Cornwall's first ever level two coaching course. Held at Cornwall College and tutored by James Wright the 13 members took to the tasks like ducks to water and were impressed with the whole course and this will certainly improve coaching in Cornwall.

Missing from the picture is old Al who along with Chris of Countrymen volleyball club were the prime movers for this course. People attended from Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.

Morgan Stanley hosted Sitting Volleyball tournament on the 29th May proved to be a huge success, with over 50 people attending and being shown first-hand the rapid development of the game in Great Britain. Once again the sport has been promoting itself throughout the country with this tournament taking place in the sensational surroundings of The Reebok Centre right in the heart of London's Canary Wharf.

Global financial firm Morgan Stanley had key figures from within their disability forum, as well as employees from the company with strong volleyball experience making up one team. London Lynx, the leading club side in the country, and two 'All Star' sides completed the line-up in what proved to be a highly enjoyable night for players and spectators alike. None of the teams were however strong enough to compete against such a formidable and experienced Lynx side.

Great Britain Sitting Volleyball Coach Josef Banfi, who flew in from his native Holland especially for the event, commented; "It was a wonderful feeling to be a part of this tournament. It was just a short time ago that there were only a few individuals playing the sport in London, but after this event I am sure that we can look forward to seeing some regular competitions taking place in London."

Gordon Neale OBE, the CEO of Disability Sport England, was also present and he also made note of the transformation of the sport over the last 18 months; "It was great to see so many people enjoying sitting volleyball, the transformation since the game re-surfaced a couple of years ago is testament to a number of unsung volunteers. I honestly believe that once this year's Paralympics are finished we will see a definite increase in participation, competition, provision and support for the team towards London 2012."

In this their first overseas competition of 2008, the Great Britain Sitting Volleyball team made the journey across to Holland for the Oss Tournament, a competition celebrating it's 20th anniversary. For many of the squad this was to be their first taste of international competition and it must be said that all rose to the challenge and acquitted themselves excellently both on and off the court.

More Photos: http://gallery.mac.com/skinnns#100165&bgcolor=black&view=grid&sel=50

Despite being drawn in a tough group, and enduring a nervous start, the side grew in stature as the day progressed, continually improving their 3-touch match play and showing a better reading of the game. After the first round of matches, with the side constantly putting their opponents under pressure with some commanding match play, the GB side were then moved into a further group for the afternoon matches; where they again continued their fine earlier form by finishing as runners up in this group. Notable performances were from debutants Andy Skinner and Martin Chapman both of whom are shaping up to be superb blockers as they dominated at the net. Also Captain Robbie Barrett whose marshalling of this newly formed team has brought about a really tight-knit squad now beginning to really make progress on the international stage. The team finished in 2nd place overall.

The following day, GB Head Coach Joze Banfi organised for the squad to travel to the Dutch Sitting Volleyball base in Utrecht. Here the squad met with players from both the men's and women's national team and took part in an extended training session with them which was exceptionally well received by all the players. The squad has taken a lot of inspiration at the accomplishments of the Dutch teams, especially the women who are one of the favourites for gold in Beijing. All are grateful to them for their encouragement for the GB Sitting Volleyball programme and their assistance with technique and match play development. Thanks must also go to Joze Banfi for his part in bringing the two squads together.

Looking onwards, the GB side have further competition's to attend in Europe in 2008, which will aid development further. Elsewhere, on the SV scene, club side East London Lynx are tipped for a podium place in the upcoming and prestigious Werner von Siemens Cup in Hamburg June 7/8th 2008, they will be taking a strong team of male, female, able bodied and disabled players.

GB Team List
Joze Banfi (Head Coach), Greg Brown (Asst Coach), Robert Barrett (Captain), Robert Richardson, Richard Whitehead, Simon Nelson, Keith Hill, Andrew Skinner, Martin Chapman & David French.