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Back to the
Future
What will English Volleyball look like in twelve years time, for example in the year 2022? Predicting the future is always going to be a risky business and the most
likely out come is that you will end up with egg on your face. Back in 1997, as part of the EVA strategic
plan (1998-2002), Volleyball England had a go at predicting the future, with their vision of
the sport for the year 2010.
The 2010 Milestone:
"Volleyball will be one of the top 5 team sports for men and women in
England, measured by the number of participants, media exposure and
sponsorship"
- 2,000 volleyball clubs offering volleyball opportunity for men's and women's club teams in national, regional and local leagues and for boys and girls at regional and local level.
- Professional Management and delivery structures at national and regional level.
- Regular TV coverage of English volleyball and beach volleyball.
- A semi-professional league for men's and women's club teams, attracting regular audiences in excess of 1,000 spectators.
- English club teams competing and winning in European club competition.
- England senior and junior teams competing and winning in the European Championships.
- Volleyball as the number one net game in the national curriculum.
With London 2012 funding (unknown to anyone in 1997), the senior teams are
competing and winning in Europe, the rest appears a little off the mark today but back in the mid
90's and without going into too many details. I recall things were a little different, there was
far more volleyball, more
sponsorship, more TV coverage, more spectators and the odd team did play in
Europe.
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