Sport England announces funding for grassroots volleyball and to support talented young players
Volleyball players are to benefit from £5.1 million of Sport England investment in Volleyball England over the next four years.
The exposure of beach volleyball and sitting volleyball during the Olympics and Paralympics has given the sport a real opportunity boost the number of people playing the game.
There is strong potential to get more disabled people playing sitting volleyball and this will be a major focus for Volleyball England, from junior community clubs right through to talented adults playing at a national level.
More than 90% of Sport England’s investment in volleyball will be targeted at young people aged between 14 and 25, to halt the decline in the number of people playing.
Volleyball England’s participation plans include:
- Let’s Play Volleyball which is focused on helping 14- to 16-year-olds make the shift from playing volleyball at school to taking part in the community. This will include investment in new satellite clubs on school sites
- More opportunities for students at university and college to get involved in the sport, supported by a recruitment programme for more student volunteers
- Expanding the Go Spike programme to help local clubs and commercial providers provide more recreational opportunities as well as promoting the beach facilities supported by previous Sport England investment.
Volleyball England’s talent programme will focus on indoor volleyball to increase the number of players benefiting from high-quality daily and monthly training, feeding into Great Britain programmes for both indoor and beach programmes and includes £100,000 specifically for sitting volleyball.
Sport England’s Director of Sport, Lisa O’Keefe said: “Volleyball is an exciting sport that is, at some stage, played by most young people. London 2012 gave all forms of volleyball an incredible shop window, this award will provide Volleyball England with the opportunity to convert increased interest in the sport into more disabled and non-disabled people regularly playing volleyball.”
