17 – 18 MAY 2014, YMCA Kitto Centre, Honicknowle Lane, Plymouth PL5 3NG

A total of 25 entries have been received for the tournament, 13 in the men’s and 12 in the women’s. Both will play every other team in their division, the top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals.

MEN Bristol Men 1 Bristol Men 2 Cardiff Celts City of Bristol 1 City of Bristol 2 Exeter Storm Exeter Storm U18 Kernow Lydney Lynx Plymouth Marjon Plymouth Oldboys Wiltshire Mavericks Yeovil

WOMEN Bath Mavericks Bristol Ladies 1 Bristol Ladies 2 Bristol Ladies 3 Cardiff Celts Cardiff Ladies City of Bristol Exeter University Plymouth Plymouth Marjon Royal Wootton Bassett Yeovil

A small panel of NL referees that will be allocated matches over the weekend.  Our thanks go to Devon Storm, Plymouth Marjon and Torexe for their help in providing equipment and to Plymouth Marjon for also helping with the preparation of the venue.

Volleyball England

On Sunday we will be joined by Rohan West, Volleyball England Participation Director, who wishes to meet as many of you as possible, one of the topics on his agenda is the Volleyball England individual registration process. This is your chance to have a chat and let him know your views.

On Line Results

As well as the tournament desk the results tables will also be available on the SWVA web site on the SW Championships page (http://www.swva.org.uk/sw-championships). The tables will be updated regularly throughout the weekend.

• Saturday
  • 9:00 am Team Briefing – all teams must have at least one representative present
  • 9:00 to 9:15 – team list confirmation – all teams to confirm their team list for the weekend and pay any outstanding player registrations
  • 9:15 am First Matches start
  • 5:30 pm Ladies matches finish
  • 5:55 pm Men’s matches finish
• Sunday
  • 9:30 am Men’s Matches Start
  • 10:20 am Ladies Matches Start
  • 4:15 pm Finals start – best of 3 sets
  • 5:30 pm – approx – Presentations (these will follow immediately after the finals have finished)

Our current Child Welfare Office (CWO) will be standing down at our AGM (31st May) after many years of service and hence we have a vacancy for the position on the SW committee. It’s a good opportunity for anyone already associated with the sport, club member, parent, volunteer etc who would like to get a little more involved in supporting the sport in the region.

Unlike a club CWO,  the main purpose of a SWVA Child Welfare Officer is to promote good practice between SWVA events organisers and the Volleyball England full time CWO Janet Inman. A point of contact for all enquiries from coaches, umpires, organisers and volunteers taking responsibility for children and young people. [Please note that you are not responsible for children or young people at our events (unless you are in attendance) that is the responsibility of the event organiser].

It’s a lightly loaded task, you need to ensure that all appropriate documentation, Volleyball England policies and procedures are available to our event organisers. If not already done so, you will need to attend a “Safeguarding and Protecting Children” course (available in all areas, also required for all VE Accredited Clubs) and have a CRB (or equivalent). Course and CRB paid for or provided by SWVA / VE.

A couple of web pages to check out SWVA Child Safety & Volleyball England policy_and_guidance

If you would like to volunteer or to enquire further about this position then please contact myself Dave Reece (Chair) Dave.Reece@Network100.co.uk

As well as helping the sport of volleyball in the region, other benefits (as advertised on other web sites) are:

- Learning new skills and developing existing skills through hands-on experience.
- Personal and professional development and/or training.
- The ability to explore career or other job opportunities in a voluntary capacity.
- A chance to have fun and meet new people, enjoying the traditional social life that volleyball clubs generate.
- Experiencing new challenges.
- Supporting your volleyball community, with the personal satisfaction that comes with knowing you have helped others.
- A written/verbal reference.
- CV booster

For further details check our web site http://www.volleyballtaunton.org.uk/

Taunton-mixed4-Entry-Form Please return to Jurek at: jurek.jankowski@gmail.com

Seven regions took part in this years event forming one round robin pool, therefore each team played each other over the course of 2 days, playing 3 matches per day.

East and London were our closest rivals and has been the case over the previous years. One of us would be the champions after 2 days, sadly (due to the format of the tournament this year) there would be no cross over semis and hence an early defeat to East in the first game of the tournament meant that there would be no chance for a revenge match towards the end of the second days.

We just had to keep winning to secure second place at least, then we came across a fired up London side who were undefeated on Day 2. The game was very close and could have gone either way, but errors in key moments cost us and allowed London to be 2-0 winners. London went on to beat East 2-0 and be champions.

Results from Day 1 South West 0:2 East South West 2:0 London B South West 2:1 South East B

Results from Day 2 South West 2:0 Yorkshire South West 0:2 London A South West 2:1 South East A

The squad consisted of players from 7 junior clubs across our region, namely Wessex, Calne, Swindon, Ivybridge,  Academy Beach Sports, Torexe & Helston.

The team: Ed van Wingerden (Capt), Austin Pearce, Callum Wilson, Jack Williams, Owen McNeil, Niko Gleed, Dan Smart, George Longmore, Luis Stansburt, Alfie Constable, Louie Samuels, Ross Leathley.

Jurek Jankowski

It was an excellent display of all round volleyball from this years SW Girls U16 squad, as they made their way straight to the event final without dropping a single set.

In the final they faced London, who had a solid defense but it was the all round strength and depth of the SW attack that made the difference and resulted in the winning 2-0 score line to claim this years title.  Well done to all the girls and everyone involved in putting the team together.

Plenty of action for this years U14 girls squads, with the SW team picked up the B final runners up spot.

Also celebrating the win with our U16 & U14 Girls was Nemo, our new team supporter and number one fan.

Nemo was our waiter from the Premier Inn, who served our breakfast and evening meals with a large smile and a dance to keep everyone entertain. He gave up his free time to come and support us.

More photos from the girls 2014 IRC event in our SWVA photo Album

Full size photos available at: 2014-IRC

The South West Under 17 Boys went to the Inter-Regional Championships confident from their recent victory at the Exeter Challenge. Traveling to the new venue early to support our Under 16 Girls proved fortuitous as we had the opportunity for a brief training session to help acclimatize to the sports hall and the tight service area.

Taking advantage of a spare court after the girls match – one up for SW

In the competition itself the boys faced five other teams: Yorkshire, East Midlands, East, South East and London. Results against Yorkshire and East did not go our way but a good win against East Midland meant that the Boys needed to win one of the last two round robin matches to win a place in the semi finals. South East and favourites London would prove stern opposition. After a slow start in each set against South East, the SW boys were comfortable winners with superior serving, passing and attacks.

Assured of a semi-final place, we team took on a very strong London side filled with England Juniors, Cadets and England South players, all from the two teams that contested the final of the 2013 National Under 16 Championships.

The highest quality volleyball in the competition drew an increasing large crowd. Our serving tactics reduced the London side’s attacking options but they were able to set up an aggressive attack, we countered with strong blocking and excellent defensive work. SW lead toward the end of the set but two crucial serving errors prevented them from closing and the set was lost by two points. Despite the disappointment, we continued piling the pressure on to the opponents but again costly errors at the end of the set meant London scraped the win.

We faced London again in the semi final and the match followed exactly the same pattern with London managing to win the match despite the improved SW attacking resulting from intelligent setting and excellent setter-hitter connections.

With the chance to reach the final gone, we fielded the younger players for the 3rd and 4th place play-off against East to give them more experience and to start preparations for next season. Although East narrowly won the match there were a lot of positives to take from the performance, just as there had been from the performances throughout both days of competition.

South West Under 17 Boys
Tom Allen, Will Davis-Birch, Mohit Kerai, Elliot Lipscombe, Nick Morris, Keir Newman, Krzysztof Ozarski, Sam Reid, Peter Rowe, Louis Stephenson, Will van Wingerden, Sam Wyatt.

Coaches: Anthony Roberts, Sam Dunbavin, Kyle Mitchell.

Volleyball England are holding open trials for the junior beach programme this season at the dates and venues as indicated below:

• 10th May – Boys open trial hosted by LeAF academy (Bournemouth)
• 18th May – Boys & Girls open trials held in Loughborough
• 26th-29th May – Girls open trials held in Croyde

Please pass this information on to any relevant athletes that may be interested in this opportunity

All athletes wishing to take part will need to complete a registration form and return it to Volleyball England by the appropriate deadline. Registration form and further details can be found http://volleyballengland.org/performance/national_programmes/england_junior_beach

This is an important development in our talent pathway in having open trials for the beach discipline.  The trials will be run by our National Junior Beach Coaches, Denise Austin (Girls) and Vangelis Koutouleas (Boys) with the view of selecting athletes for the VEBT, NEVZA and CEV events during the summer.

If you have any questions then please feel to get in touch and I will be more than happy to help

James Abbott

Talent Pathways Officer
Volleyball England
j.abbott@volleyballengland.org

Beach volleyball has become so popular in the local village of Croyde that the club has been ‘forced’ to build another court to provide sheltered beach facilities for it’s growing members.

The court which costs approx £12,000 to build is a labour of love and fund raising and any one wishing to help can contribute through the donate button on our website. the club has raised approx £6,500 through “Buy a Tonne” Facebook campaigns and had 40 tonnes bought for the club, £500 from the local council (along with permission to use their land) and the local wind farm.

“It’s been overwhelming the support from everyone, parents, beach volleyball players, family and far away friends, nothing prepares you for the generosity shown to our club”.

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital – Joe Paterno

Since 2005 Volleyball Development Camps has conducted camps that have helped hundreds of young volleyball players improve their skills and compete at a higher level. The premier VbDC programme has been its annual summer camp for elite and emerging elite players.

Starting in 2012, this camp began a gradual process, over several years, of dividing into two distinct sections. One section will focus exclusively on the elite player – people who through their commitment to the game of volleyball have bona fide potential to obtain sports scholarships to university, to play for national development teams, or to play at high club levels, including clubs with professional teams.

At the same time, the emerging elite players will move to a separate programme designed for players who are committed to the sport, but still need skills development before they are ready to enter the ranks of elite players. VbDC is introducing new training techniques to the elite camp, including video analysis, psychological testing and motivational lectures; court time will concentrate on tactics.

The emerging elite programme, on the other hand, will continue its tradition of
physical training, drills and scrimmaging, all geared toward the refinement of fundamental, high-level skills.

It means the VbDC summer camp programme is getting much more serious – and more demanding. A higher degree of physical fitness is normally required as will a mature approach to training discipline. An ability to communicate well with coaches will be a basic requirement. Campers should have a functional command of English. Enrolment is restricted, and admission is based on an assessment of the student-
athlete’s application form.

Application requires all campers to submit a letter of recommendation from their club or school coach, and a 250-page hand-written letter by the applicant, describing their current level of performance and detailing their plans and developmental targets they intend to reach in the coming l2 months. Emerging elite applicants must have begun specializing in a particular position; elite campers must have at least
two years experience in positional play, and be members of a club recognized by their national volleyball governing body.

18-22 August 2014 9-4 p.m. ACS Cobham International School
CAMP TUITION £305 (lunch and housing additional)
EARLY BIRD £265 (first 10 applications processed)

For more information about attending this camp contact:
Volleyball Development Camps
10 Stephendale Road Farnham, Surrey GU9 9QP
TeL +44 (0)1252 723398
vbdc.volley@gmail.com
www.vbdc.co.uk

Denise Austin head coach of the Academy of beach sports is also the head coach of the National Junior beach volleyball squad. The beach season training kicked off with a three day camp over Easter at the beach courts in Croyde. “This is my first year officially in post, international players have been training here for years and we have produced many internationals. This is the first year of an officially recognised programme.

The juniors will be training to be part of the national squad who will compete on the national junior tour but also international events this summer”. Local athletes Anaya Evans, Millie Constable, Helen Farr, Sophie Watts and Ellie Austin are part of the squad. Amanda Glover 1996 Olympian is the other lead coach along with assistants, Sam Dunbavin and Arsene de Kessel.

We are looking for some amusing captions for the following photos, all worthy entries will be published in our newsletter.

The South West Volleyball Association appreciates the importance of volunteers in our sport and the huge contribution they make.  The Annual Awards go a little way to recognise their contribution and we hope that clubs and members will nominate those who they believe have put in their time and energy to assure the future development of volleyball.

Award Catagory:

• Doreen Dingle Administrator Award
• Bert Williams Referee Award
• SW Coach Award
• Commitment to SW Volleyball Award

Please see the attached for the full details and nomination form. Please note the closing date of May 20th – could I please encourage you to promote / publicise the awards wherever possible.

SWVA Volunteer Awards 2014 & nomination form

Ron Richards
rricha7122@aol.com

Success can be measured in many ways. To some, winning titles or medals is the only method to determine the level of that success. However, a sense of achievement, recognition and development can outweigh any other determinants of a successful outcome.

2014 has already been a successful year for Volleyball Wales following the inclusion of two junior teams into the final rounds of the European Championships (Small Countries Division) for the first time since forming only 5 years ago. The U20′s Boys team began the European challenge in Luxembourg, lead by award winning Head Coach, Jose Castro, supported by Assistant Coach Charlotte James and Team Manager Mark Perkins. Tough competition from hosts Luxembourg, as well as two countries closer to home, Northern Ireland and Scotland, made up the final four teams.

The U19 Girls team had further to travel for their competition, ending up in San Marino. As well as the hosts, the Welsh girls had to face Scotland, Luxembourg and Lichtenstein in their battle in Europe. Head Coach Sandra Stoll was assisted by Jack Allman, with Kath Lewis as the Team Manager. A young squad of 11 girls aged between 14 – 18 set off to San Marino at 3.00am to face the unknown competitors.

Both Welsh teams had previously performed at the Sainsbury’s School Games and many of the players had recently taken part in the British Colleges finals in Bath where they finished third overall, which was all part of their training for the Europeans. The full squads had also been taking part in some intensive training camps to complete the build up to the main event supported by Staff and Students at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Dr Lucy Blackbourn managed the medical screening and anti doping sessions whilst Andy Kelly was the physio dealing with minor injuries over recent months. Supported also by a team of massage students and a psychologist, the teams were as prepared as possible.

Both teams were the unknown quantity within the competition. It was a totally new opportunity for the players, but it was also the first time that the coaching teams had been a involved at this level. A lot of work prior to the tournament had taken place, but there were still lots of areas that were previously untested in competition. Many of these areas were tested at the Preliminary Enquiry and Technical Meetings under the watchful eye of the CEV Technical Delegate for each competition. Wales managed to pass these and were then able to focus on the competition itself.

Neither team managed to win a game, or even a set, during the competition, however the passion and determination showed through after some initial teething problems in the early games. The boys team took all three teams including Scotland, the eventual winners, to 3 tough sets, whereas the girls had to play the host team (with many vocal supporters) as a finale to end the competition, giving a memorable performance that was not reflected in the final score.

“I was honoured to be able to travel to San Marino with the girl’s team after all the hard work that was required in the build up to the competition. I know the girls were upset after their initial performances but that showed how much they wanted to be competitive. They responded well in the latter stages leading to lovely comments about their performance and passion being passed on to me by the CEV, other coaching staff and even the bus drivers who had the pleasure of transporting us between venues. Comments from outside make it all worthwhile and we are now looking forward to the next competition” says President Yvonne Saker.

The successes gained from entering this competition has been the increase in knowledge within the association; the desire within the player base to strive for better results in the future; a response to Europe that Wales can be competitive; and the numerous responses from players, coaches and CEV officials about the huge steps in development Wales has taken over the past few years. This is from a mainly unfunded organisation run by a handful of Volunteers.

Trials for the 2014 Sainsbury’s School Games has just taken place. These are the players who will be eligible for the 2016 European Championships so work has already started to secure an even more successful future.

From: http://www.volleyballwales.org

MAY 2014

• 17-18 May SW Championships – Plymouth Entry forms
  
• 17 th May SW Girls training – Burnham on Sea – 11:00 to 16:00
• 24th May – University of Exeter Volleyball Club Big Weekend Event rms210@ex.ac.uk
• 26th May-1st Jun FIVB ‘Beach Get Involved’ Seminar
• 31 May SWVA AGM
• 31 May UKCC Level 1 Coaching – Cardiff
• 31st May-1st Jun Wick Outdoor Volleyball Tournament Bristol wick2013

JUNE 2014

• 01 June UKCC Level 1 Coaching – Cardiff
• 6-8th June SportBeatFest – Gloucester sportbeatfest
  
• 7-8 June UKCC Level 1 Coaching – Cardiff
• 7-8 June Beach Student Cup – Croyde Beach_student_cup
• 14-15th Jun Perranporth Beach Tournament
• 14-15th Jun Skegness VEBT
• 21-22nd June CEV Continental Cup – Bournemouth
• 23rd June Devon Schools Beach Championships
• 28-29th Jun Great Yarmouth VEBT
• 29th June – Mixed 4′s Funday Tournament, Taunton Tournament info & entry form

JULY 2014

• 4th July South West Schools Beach Championships Championships
• 5-6th July Sandbanks Beach Volleyball Festival Entry list
• 12-13 Exeter Coaver Volleyball Festival richm2003@hotmail.com
• 12-13th Jul Weston Super Mare VEBT
• 19-20 Jul – Whitefield Volleyball Tournament – Bath whitefield.cbvc.org.uk

AUGUST 2014

• 2-3 Aug UKCC Level 2 Coaching – Cardiff
• 9-10 Aug UKCC Level 2 Coaching – Cardiff
• 9-10th Aug Salisbury Volleyball Tournament – tournament
• 16-17th Aug Weymouth VEBT
• 18-29th Aug FIVB Level II Coaching