The South West Amateur Volleyball Association was formed in 1969, which means we will soon be 50 years old – Time to celebrate…..
- We would like to celebrate our success at all our events throughout the years.
- We would like a 50th Volleyball Logo or similar (prize available), get drawing.
- We would also like to see your photos, particularly from the first half. When shorts were short, hair was long, the ball was white and we mostly appeared in Black & White (and looked a lot younger than today).
Plus any other interesting information, souveniers or bits of history that we can share.
Exeter University SW Champions 1971
The Early Years
The sport in the South West was given a boost when the new Sports Hall at Exeter University was opened in 1968, it provided a large (3 court) playing area for volleyball, the like of which had never been seen before in the South West and provided an excellent venue for hosting tournaments and league events. At the time, the vast majority of volleyball was played in school gym’s (with low ceilings) or on out doors courts.
In March 1970, the South West Amateur Volleyball Association (now SWVA) ran an Invitation Tournament at Exeter University with some of the top teams in the country plus a Southwest regional side (drawn mostly from Devon & Somerset). The event saw a very exciting final between Southgate Technical College (British Champions 1967-68) and Spark London (British Champions 1969), the top two English teams at the time, the match was also shown on BBC TV.
Local Press:
- Your Chance to see Top Class Volleyball – 24 Jan 1970.pdf
- Volleyball Trophy Goes South – 16th March 1970.pdf
A week long Summer School was also run in Exeter, which provided an excellent opportunity to learn to coach volleyball, in was led by Mike Hibbert, Roy Pankhurst and Ken Harvey. Exeter University had won the inaugural SW Championships in 1971, with Ron Richards and Toomas Ojasoo (now EVA Chief Executive Officer) in the team.
Thanks to Ron Richards for the above info, if you can add anything to the above, then please get in touch Dave.Reece@Network100.co.uk
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And if you can reconise us, a few more pic’s of your committee members and coaches looking a lot younger:
Hopefully we can put to gether a collection of photos from across the region, please forward or contact myself at Dave.Reece@Network 100.co.uk
Thank you
