VOLLEYBALL

NEWSLETTER

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Hi all, we have had a bit of a end of summer break, anyway more news from the web.

Cheers - Dave Reece Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

Tendring Volleyball Club

Updated link for Tendring VC http://www.tendringvolleyball.com

Welcome to the Tendring Volleyball Club Website.  We are a fast developing adult club with two teams in the English NVL. We also have the largest junior base in the Eastern region and one of the largest in the UK. Tendring Volleyball Club started in 1991, based at Tendring High School (now Tendring Technology College) with a small number of players, we have grown to cater for all junior age groups and in more recent years, a platform for adults to play in as well.

Beach volleyball in Spain and France

I ran across your website while researching beach volleyball locations in Europe. Do you know of beaches in Spain or France where I could find 2-man games? I’m planning a trip to both countries next summer with some fellow California beach volleyball enthusiasts (from Santa Barbara and Monterey/Carmel), and I’d like to find a few places where we could compete against the locals. I see that they have courts in Barcelona. Thanks for your help.

Regards, Michael DeLapa mdelapa@mdelapa.com

Ros Sutherland ros.sutherland@gmail.com

Trip to Belgium

I am looking for English Volleyball teams, with the purpose of inviting them to our 43rd Volley Tournament in August 2010. I am looking for Teams that are playing on a regional level (even mixed teams are welcome…)..

Best Regards, Christel Lietaer CLIETAER@dow.com
Volleybalclub Ass'nee Assenede - Belgium 

Rugby Phoenix Volleyball website link

Could you please update your link to our website please as it’s now moved to: http://rugbyphoenixvolleyballclub.wordpress.com

Thanks, Aneel Khanna aneel.khanna@biwtech.com

Volleyball in Rugby is back following its summer break and this season does indeed look as if its going to be exciting for the club. With opportunities to play Volleyball in Rugby several times a week, including specific fitness sessions, you will not be too far from the court.

We play at the Harris School Sports centre located in Mellish Road, Rugby, Warwickshire. CV22 6BB.

Adult training will be on Sunday from 18:30 to 21:00 and Wednesday from 20:00 to 21:00. Everyone is welcome, no matter how experienced you are. We will again be fielding teams in Men’s and Ladies Division 2 West Midlands regional leagues with home matches being played on Sunday from 18:30 to 21:00. A Juniors only session takes place on Wednesday’s from 19:00 to 20:00. See the Juniors page for further information.

Real Irish Volleyball story

A real Irish Volleyball story is the revival of the Irish (IRL) senior men's squad in recent weeks. Under Coach Laurent Cauet supported by Jeff King one of Ireland's best ever spikers, Eamon O'Brien and David Herlihy, the squad made its first appearance in 6 years in an Irish Sports Hall last month. The occasion was a four team tournament where the IRL squad halved into Greens and Whites teams against the All Ireland Premier32 League All Stars, many not Irish nationals, and the Northern Ireland (NIR) squad which finished 4th in the Small Countries Division final in Luxembourg earlier this summer.

The event at the fine University College Dublin Sports Centre saw honours even after Day 1 with each side winning once and losing once. But even though missing several key squad members the Northern Irish team showed the value of their CEV experiences by beating the All Stars and the Greens and by just losing 24-26 in the decider to the Whites edged the scores to win the tournament.

The new look Irish squad plan a major fund raising drive including a Golf tournament in October and both IRL and NIR welcome the return of Volleyball Wales to CEV as a neighbour whose revival will enrich the sport in the British Isles and look forward to establishing Celtic Volleyball Games once more as were popular in the 80s and 90s.

Maurice Colman Tourghlay mauricecolmantourghlay@msn.com

CEV English Masters, Blackpool

I've just updated my website and thought you might want to check out the pictures from the CEV (European) English Masters, Blackpool. To visit, just click on the links below or paste the URLs into your browser.

www.jodygooding.com / www.gbbeachboys.com / http://web.mac.com/cushygooding/gooding_grotowski/at_the_beach.html

Elizabeth Gooding cushygooding@mac.com

2009 UK School Games

Match photos from this years UK School Games at: http://www.mcgugan.co.uk/volleyball/uksg2009.html Jon McGugan

Girls Final: England South beat England North 2-0 25:19 25:16

Boys Final: England Central v Scotland West 2-1 22 : 25 25 : 9 15 : 13

Countrymen Beach Dates

Countrymen Perranport Beach competition dates for 2010 are:

Schools 11/6/2010 Charity Pairs 12/6/2010 Club fours 13/6/2010

Alan
Penwith.div@ssafa.org.uk

NEWS ITEMS

Hidden Volleyball at Yellowave

Hidden Volley Congratulations to Sean, Amelia, Peta and Rebecka who took 1st place and Pete, Rach, Steph and Mike who were runners up in the Hidden Volleyball event on Sunday.

To check out some of the pictures visit our gallery page at Hidden Volleyball Tournament Some snaps taken at this very silly but funny tournament where you couldn't see your opponents http://www.yellowave.co.uk/gallery/HiddenVolley.aspx

New Forest Volleyball Club Secures Grant Awards

New Forest Volleyball Club have been successful in being awarded two local grant awards.
Alison Hoare, New Forest District Councillor awarded the Club £150 from the Council’s Community Engagement Grant. On top of this the club also received £950 from the County’s Local Community Initiative Grant from David Harrison, the Hampshire County Councillor.

Chairman Mark Thacker said “this is an enormous and welcome boost to a club that is embarking on only their 2nd season in NVL having been created just 17 months ago. We are extremely grateful for the support that the County and District Council have provided and both grants will assist in the development of the club in terms of equipment for our National League teams.To be backed in our efforts by such encouraging individuals and their organisations reinforces our core aim to provide high class volleyball throughout the New Forest and wider region of Southern England.”

Mark Thacker mark.thacker@bournegroup.eu

2009 UK School Games

Once again the UK School Games were a great success on and off the court, match photos appears elsewhere in the newsletter but as one of the many volunteers at the event, I was able to get a few behind the scene photos.

This years venue was the indoor athletics centre at the University of Wales, which includes a 200m banked track, 140m straight track and designated areas for all throwing and jumping events.  The banked track was lowered and with larger amounts of black curtain material and Taraflex flooring, two international size volleyball courts were created.

The finished item, two international courts and grandstand seating along one side

The view from the media centre (located just below the roof).

Behind the black curtain, the volleyball England offices

Teams, coaches and managers etc all waiting behind the scenes for the announcer to invite then on to court for the next match

Also behind the curtain was an extremely large long jump sand pit, it did cross my mind that some enterprising person may have converted it into a beach court, unfortunately I think one of the organisers must have had the same idea and had put a stop to that by turning it into a storage area.

While adjusting the net on court one for the first match on day two, disaster struck, as the post bolts came out the floor. An un-used spare set were available but it would mean moving the whole court a few metres. The start time was postponed by two hours and everyone who was at the venue (that's before 8am in the morning that is), volunteers, staff, doormen, security guards etc were all called into action to dismantle the court, including the heavy Taraflex flooring, and move it to the new location, then tape it all back together. 

Great team work and lots of tired arms and sore fingers (from dragging large Taraflex strips still partly assembled), once in the new location, a small manhole appeared under the centre line, the team got to work in true Blue Peter style, pealed back the Taraflex, a few bricks for support, some cardboard carefully cut to shape for padding and lots of stick back plastic tape, problem solved.

You can see more behind the scene photos at: http://dave-reece.smugmug.com/Sports/UKSG-2009/10207412_9ETZi

GB Women Update

The Japan trip (5-16 August 2009) was somewhat different in terms of objectives and goals from previous competitions this summer. The trip was essential for us to take another step forward in developing the team and our style of play. I was eager for this trip to go ahead at the end of the Summer and worked hard with the Japanese contacts to pull together a fulfilling ten day schedule which would test us in a training and competition environment as well as a superb volleyball educational opportunity. 

Phase 1 of the trip was 3 days training and scrimmage matches against the Toray Arrows, who are the reigning Japanese Premier League Champions and include 3 national team players in their squad. Each day included a joint 3 hour training session in the morning and a 3 hour training / scrimmage match in the afternoon. 

Phase 2 (day 4) of the trip involved the opportunity to watch a number of matches in the World Grand Prix taking place in Osaka. Teams on show were Russia, Japan, Korea and Puerto Rico. For many of the team this was their first chance to experience live, top-level volleyball and particularly educational in terms of the different styles of play on display. The Grand Prix was inspiring and made a lasting impression on the girls and had an immediate impact on the rest of the trip.

Phase 3, the team transferred to Okayama for a further 3 days of training and competition against the Okayama Seagulls, another top Premier League team including 2 national team players. The daily format was similar to that of Phase 1.

For the final phase of the trip, we returned to the Kaizuka Training Centre on the outskirts of Osaka, and once again trained and played 2 scrimmage matches against local and regional university teams.

Summary and Key Learnings:
The training environment and the plan to utilise the knowledge and expertise of the Japanese coaches proved to be invaluable. The trip confirmed that we are on the right tracks. Almost immediately there was a positive impact on the team. Training alongside the Japanese players highlighted the discipline, focus, work ethic and quality required in every contact, in every session and how this directly impacts how the team will perform.

This trip was all about investing the time to improve the technical elements of our game, as well as executing these in the competitive opportunities. This allowed us to solidify and progress the core fundamental skills required and necessary to move forward in our development. Causing Japanese teams problems with our play, being successful against them at their own game gave us belief in the direction we are heading with our style of play. 

Throughout the trip, individually athletes have gained confidence in their own ability to deliver. The team made further progress in our offence variation and execution and our defence play took a huge step forward. The learnings were evident in the matches; the length of the rallies, the tight sets (30-32, 24-26, 23-25) which at times allowed us to compete with premier league teams. 

The trip gives us a platform to move forward, it has given us an added focus and drive going into the winter training period.

Next stage for the GB squad:

Centralised Training Group – After their 3 week break, the girls are now back into the centralised training programme in Sheffield. We have 11 athletes currently based in Sheffield, either working or studying and fitting in a full time training programme. I have attached a copy of our training schedule which shows the mix of volleyball and physical work they undertake each week. The new training group is taking full advantage of a smaller group, more ball touches, coaching, support from EIS based staff e.g. physio, performance lifestlye. I have mentioned to many of you the training sessions are open and it would be great to see a few more coaches up here in Sheffield, either observing or joining in.

Six of the centre based athletes will be competing in the NVL Division 1 this year. Having spent the last 24 months working on the fundamentals and the physical elements it is now time for those who have not had the opportunity to compete in the summer, to gain valuable playing experience. As well as the NVL we are looking at competitive opportunities for the team over this winter period.

Pro Players - During August we worked hard with our squad to place as many athletes as possible with clubs in Europe. We still have a couple of athletes in the centre who are looking for a contract abroad, however some are recovering from injury and hope to be placed with a club between now and the end of the year. Below are those who are competing or studying abroad, their club name and their website to keep up with how they are doing: 


Rachel Laybourne & Stacey O’Connor – Quimper Volley 29 (France 1FA – Nationale 1 Feminine Poule A) – www.volley.asso.fr
(not their actual website probably best to check on the French website for results and maybe statistics - http://www.volley.asso.fr/)

Rachel Bragg – Ent. Toulon Six Fours La Seyne (France 1 FB – Nationale 1 Feminine Poule B) - www.volleyball-toulon.com
Lynne Beattie – Calcit Kamnik (Slovenia – Division 1) - www.okkamnik-klub.si
Janine Sandell – Valeriano Alles Menorca Volei (Spain – Superliga 1) - www.voleiciutadella.com
Nic Osborne – University of British Columbia, Canada - www.gothunderbirds.ca/teams/volleyball_womens
Lizzie Reid – Jefferson Junior College, Missouri, USA - www.jeffco.edu/athletics (click Women’s Volleyball and save as favorite)

Next summer – progress during the winter period will be essential to setting us up for next summer which is the key competitive period for the GB team. We hope pending the funding situation, our schedule from May 2010 will include the European Championship qualification rounds and the Euroleague, as well as hosting other National Teams or indeed the GB team touring or competing in overseas competitions.

I will endeavour to keep you posted on the squads progress over the next phase, but as I mentioned it would be great to see you here in Sheffield.

Audrey Cooper
Head Coach
GB Women's Volleyball Team
audrey@britishvolleyball.org

TDs cut a dash during volleyball triumph

[TDs are Irish MPs ~ the TD is in Irish language for membership of the Parliament] 

They’re a very sporty bunch in Dublin South West. Fianna Fáil’s Charlie O’Connor entertained Giovanni Trapattoni in Tallaght last weekend, while his colleague, Conor Lenihan, regularly lines out for the Oireachtas rugby and soccer teams. Now comes news of a cross-party sporting event in the constituency last Monday, when the four sitting TDs played a volleyball match against a crack team of local players.

Charlie and Conor were joined in the Jobstown community centre by Fine Gael’s Brian Hayes and Labour’s Pat Rabbitte as they took on staff and volunteers from the local Childhood Development Initiative.

Warning! If you are eating your breakfast, you may want to skip the next paragraph. 
Charlie O’Connor wore a tracksuit while Conor and Brian showed off their legs in little shorts. Pat Rabbitte did neither. As the heroic quartet puffed and sweated their way around the court, it was Pat who cut a peculiar dash among his fellow athletes. For Pat played wearing his ordinary shoes, a navy suit, white shirt and red tie. In an eventual concession to galloping heat-stroke, he took off the jacket. “Surprisingly, we won the match,” one of the participants told us afterwards. “They were all very fit women.” Such chivalry. - yes the MP guys played against Community worker Women. Wonder who refereed??

From: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1003/1224255786924.html

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