Jake Sheaf and Chris Gregory (already selected to represent Team GB at the inaugural European Games in Baku this summer) were joined by Philip Smith (TASS athlete, Bournemouth University) and Gregg Weaver in their bid to keep the Olympic Games in their sights.  Sheaf/Gregory and Smith/Weaver secured England’s place in the next round with victories against Croatia by playing some of their best volleyball and not dropping a set and finishing 3^rd place overall.  Men’s coach Lewie Lett said that he was “Really happy with the performance of both teams and I’m very excited to see the draw [for the 4^thround] and start preparing”

Despite being up against some of the best Senior beach teams in the world from Germany, Greece and Belarus England’s Palmer/Grimson were able to secure a sensational victory in the ‘golden match’ and seal England’s inclusion in the 4^th round of the Continental Cup. Victoria Palmer said: “It is one of the biggest comebacks of our career, that’s for sure. They key point was in the second set of the second match, at which we didn’t give up and we managed to stay in the game. Normally we don’t do so well under pressure, but this time things were different and we are happy to have the opportunity to keep on playing in the Continental Cup.”

Jessica Grimson and Victoria Palmer (both Wessex) were selected after their performances in the 2^nd round held in Edinburgh and were again joined by Yasmin Kaashoek (SportsAid athlete, LeAF) and Millie Constable (TASS athlete, Petroc) making her second Senior international appearance after making her debut at the Senior NEVZA beach event held at LeAF in December 2014.

Detailed match reports can be found here as well as results, reports and photos here

Staff and Athletes

Lewie Lett – Men’s Coach
Emma Kavanagh – Psychologist

Jake Sheaf – Csrytal Palace
Chris Gregory – Crystal Palace
Phil Smith – Bournemouth University (TASS) / Wessex
Gregg Weaver

Kirk Pitman – Women’s Coach

Vicky Palmer – Wessex
Jess Grimson – Wessex
Yasmin Kaashoek – LeAF (AASE & SportsAid athlete)
Millie Constable – Academy of Beach Sports (TASS)

This is another fantastic result for English beach volleyball as England remain on the Road to Rio with just a year to go before the Games.

Volleyball England are delighted to announce that, out of the 24 National Squad athletes who were nominated for a SportsAid grant, 8 of them have so far received their grant.

SportsAid is a charity that helps young sports people overcome the financial challenges they face in their bid to become Britain’s next generation of sporting heroes. The charity’s patron is Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge. The charity is able to award the grants to athletes as it receives donations from partner organisations and then distributes the donations to athletes in the region of the sponsor.

Athletes are nominated by the Junior and Cadet National Team Head Coaches (both beach and indoor), are then put forward by Volleyball England to SportsAid.  Sports Aid then looks in the athlete’s local area for suitable donors who would like to fund their awards.

The volleyball athletes to have received grants so far are:

• Anaya Evans, who received £1000 from SSE
• Arran Simon, who received £1000 from Greenwich Leisure Limited
• Katy Begley, who received £1000 from Royal Bank of Canada
• Matthew Ketley, who received £1000 from Prudential
• Milly Smith, who received £1000 from MyLotto24
• Nathan Fullerton, who received £1000 from The Girdlers’ Company Charitable Trust
• Sarah Edwards, who received £750 from the Nottingham Building Society
• Yasmin Kaashoek, who received £1000 from SSE

The SportsAid scheme is a great benefit to both the athletes and the sponsors, with Milly Smith benefitting from MyLotto24 increasing the number of athletes they support to 50, up from the 32 they had last year. Andrew Poole, from the Corporate Affairs Team at MyLotto24 said, “2014 was a fantastic start to our partnership with SportsAid and so we are delighted to announce an expanded team of superb athletes for 2015. We look forward to meeting the athletes and their families over the coming year and to running a more comprehensive programme of events and support to add value beyond the significant impact of the financial awards.”

The grants prove a real help to the athletes, with Yasmin Kaashoek being able to use her grant to contribute to the training costs that she and her family will have incurred in preparing her for the upcoming Continental Cup Round 3, in which she has been selected to play for the England Senior Beach team.

Coaches from across the country were at the National Volleyball Centre in April to attend the final weekend of Volleyball England’s flagship coaching course.

The Level 3 course attracted 14 coaches from all locations and backgrounds, those coaching juniors right up to England level.
Course tutor, Craig Handford said: “It was one of the best courses that I have been involved in and this was due in no small part to the quality of the candidates and their engagement with the material. I expect the group to go on and to continue to develop their skills to become even better coaches.”

Candidates included London 2012 player Rachel Laybourne, now coaching England Junior girls and an NVL women’s team, who commented: “The course will help me with the development of my young players as it will help me to play more systems. I can now look at the strengths of the systems and the players’ ability to play them. This course is great as there is so much volleyball content. It’s invaluable.”

Matt Rhymer from Academy of Beach Sports, recently crowned Young Coach of The Year at the Annual Awards, said: “I’ve learnt so much; statistics; rotational systems; defensive systems; how to prepare teams for a match. It has been an engaging, inspiring and thought provoking course and I have a network of new coaches.”

For Simon Cowie, a coach at York Volleyball Club, the course has changed his thinking: “It has opened my eyes – you don’t know what you don’t know until you come on this course. It’s been incredibly challenging but such a great buzz. I’ve loved it.”

Full list of coaches:
Samuel Allen (Newcastle Staffs VC), Maria Bertelli (Darkstar), Carl Brookes (Cleobury VC), Simon Cowie (York VC), Dave Gunter (Wessex), Jurek Jankowski (Volleyball Taunton), Rachel Laybourne (Team Essex), Nicola Mead (Farnborough), Tim Newton (PETROC Academy), Eve Porter (Haughton VC), Matthew Rhymer (Academy of Beach Sports), Mohammad Sliti (Tower Hamlets, London), Sandra Stoll (Cardiff Celts VC), Sean Poole (VK Barnet).

The next Level 3 course will be scheduled soon. It is an ideal stepping stone for all Level 2 coaches who are working with competitive teams. For more information on the course itself and the content visit:http://www.volleyballengland.org/getintovolleyball/coaching/courses/ve_level_3

If you wish to register for 2016, please contact Roman Neveykin atcoaching@volleyballengland.org