GRASSROOTS
Let’s Play Volleyball festivals encourage young people to develop and participate in regional and national competitions
of the school curriculum. This helps to guide young people from sport in School Sport Partnerships (SSPs) to clubs. Wainwright says: “It’s our aim to
ensure that the links between schools and clubs are sustainable and of a high quality. If we want children to choose to play volleyball we must ensure that they receive the most enjoyable and benefi- cial experience initially. By increasing the standard of teacher training in our sport through short courses in programmes, such as Volley Sport and Mini Volley, or by arranging for community sports coaches to deliver sessions, we ensure that children enjoy playing the sport in school and are then more likely to want to find and join their local Volleyball England-recommended club.”
Pathways to success Once part of a Volleyball England accredited club, young people have the opportunity to progress and compete at local and national level via an array of tournaments organised by the NGB. Regional Let’s Play Volleyball festivals,
national volleyball leagues and national junior championships all encourage young people to develop and participate in com- petitions at regional and national level. Seventeen-year-old Jordan Darylmple
from London is a great example of how volleyball clubs can help to produce the
England Volleyball has produced a document that gives official guidance on how to safely convert public areas into sand courts in sustainable and cost-effective ways
stars of the future. The South London student began playing volleyball at after school sessions with his local coach; he then went on to compete for his borough in Wandsworth before being scouted to play for England and is now a regular for the England Youth Team. Jordan is now one of the Lloyds TSB Local Sporting Heroes and a hopeful for 2016.
Retaining players As well as attracting new players to the sport, retaining people through the au- tumn and winter months is also a key objective for Volleyball England. However, results of the recent Sports
Satisfaction Survey in which volleyball ranked as the ‘third least satisfied sport’, showed that the delivery of volleyball is restricted by the standard dimensions of sports halls. A key objective of Volley- ball England’s facilities strategy was to combat the issue of “small, dirty, badly-lit sports halls”, which provided a barrier to new players experiencing the sport. Wainwright explains: “The develop-
ment of our technical guidance notes highlights how small changes to the current standard Sport England dimen- sions for indoor court spaces can increase provision and revenue generation for
46 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
volleyball and other indoor sports. The notes provide recommendations for the design of volleyball provision including court dimensions and markings, flooring, lighting and equipment – giving leisure operators guidelines for creating safe, user friendly and enjoyable provision.” In addition, the NGB has invested in
innovative equipment which can pro- vide facilities with access to courts. Wainwright explains; “To provide an inexpensive, versatile and sustainable solution to the provision of volleyball at leisure sites, we have dedicated fund- ing to providing 400 sites with cross sport slider net systems. This enables the sites to offer volleyball along with other sports, such as badminton, in their sports halls while complying with our guide- lines. These two methods are helping to boost the number of sites offering vol- leyball – giving players accessibility to the sport all year round.” l
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
For advice on developing Go Spike Volleyball sessions or beach courts visit:
www.volleyballengland.org To find your nearest Go Spike session visit:
www.gospike.net
Issue 2 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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