Thought of the Day: If you are currently following the Winter Olympics, or even last year’s Tokyo 2020/1, you will not have failed to notice the new trend for adding Mixed team events to the various sporting programs. Mixed volleyball events or teams, all be it with a men’s height net is nothing new to us, we have been running team events based on players ability, irrespective of gender since the sport started.
This week I received a request from the Somerset Activity Sports Partnership, Women’s Development Office about their “In It Together” program. Stating “This project is here to help women find a way of getting active that’s right for them, providing support and encouragement and positive experiences [and it then goes on to list] empowers women / improve their self-esteem / enrich other aspects of their life.”
This weekend was the EDVA Closed Tournament, a teams-based event played with a men’s height net and, despite a majority of Division One teams this year, over half of the teams still had at least one or two women taking part.
It’s also always pleasing to see our young players refereeing matches, this weekend I noticed it was mostly the girls volunteering to referee. Which is no small feat when you are perhaps on the small side, young, high up on to a refs stand, looking down on 12 large blokes, many two to three times your age and about to bash a ball around at 70 mph.
As an organiser its very comforting to know that we have an appropriate environment where this can happen, thereby helping our young people to develop their life skills and as stated by the Somerset Sports Partnership; empower women, improve their self-esteem and enriching their life.
Good to know that volleyball has been recognised for our work with this. If you would like to get involved or can help with the Somerset program, for Bridgwater, Taunton and Yeovil, please let me know and I will forward their letter of request.
Conclusion: How much better the world would be if we all just played volleyball!
