‘Castle News Numbers 76I December 2012

Contents: 3 – Castle Shop

4-11 – ‘Castle News updates

12-13 – England in Brazil

14 – Sportset

15-17 – u16 Boys in Holland

18 – Social Volleyball

Submit your own content (please!) to willroberts1981@hotmail.com by the end of each month.

Castle News, no.76 Dec 2012

Welcome from the Chair All of the activity going on this past month really shows that life in the club is never quiet. For the players that enjoyed travelling to play this month – whether to Brazil, or Holland... or Wigan or Birmingham – well done for taking part of doing your best! 2012 has been a truly amazing year for sport and for volleyball, let’s all make sure that 2013 is another successful one for ‘Castle!

Colin Roberts Club Chair

Get your essential ‘Castle clothing now – the club t-shirt... perfect for training and supporting your teams... only £15

6th July – ‘Castle Presentation Night, BBQ and Sitting Volleyball Challenge Sam Allen 100 club

September and October is a particularly busy time of year for the committee and team coaches as they try to ensure that everyone has paid their membership fees and submitted their forms – if you haven’t done this yet you are on borrowed time and really need to sort it out sooner rather than later... THE CLUB CANNOT FUNCTION WITHOUT ITS MEMBERS’ CONTRIBUTIONS.

Last year a significant number of members avoided paying their fees and this left the club in a very weak position by the end of the season with our reserves almost entirely depleted as we sought to continue functioning at full capacity. Please make sure that you have paid your fees, or if there is a challenge for you to do so please let your coach or a member of the committee know so that you can be supported in this regard. If you are not sure of your situation, again please make sure that you ask.

The response so far this season has been tremendous and particular thanks must be made to Dawn Roberts who has led this task with our many junior members. Senior players – please don’t let the side down whether you are NVL or social players you are benefitting from the club’s investment in balls, court hire, equipment and coaching expertise.

2012-13 MEMBERSHIP FEE STRUCTURE

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYERS NON NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYERS

Method Seniors/Full time work

Students 18+ years

Under 18s

TOTAL PER SEASON £279 £179 £118

Per month standing order

£25 £15 £10

One off £250 £150 £100

2 instalments (Oct/Jan)

£125 £75 £50

NVL registration fee £29 £29 £18

Method JUNIORS SOCIAL

TOTAL PER SEASON £60 £144

Weekly cost N/A £3

Per month standing order

£5 £12

One off £60 N/A

Join at Christmas £40 N/A

Join at Easter £20 N/A

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Whilst national hero Bradley Wiggins won the main prize of the night, Volleyball won an accolade at the prestigious BBC Sports Review of the Year for the first time in December when Sitting Volleyball Player Martine Wright was awarded the much coveted Helen Rollason award. Congratulations to Martine – a fantastic achievement!

VOLLEYBALL ENGLAND FUNDING 2013-17 On Monday 17th December Sport England announced their investment priorities for sports for the next four years. Following delivery of the last Whole Sport Plan (2009-2013), with an estimated 50,000 new people trying volleyball through campaigns like Go Spike!, Let’s Play Volleyball and the development of the HEVO (Higher

Education Volleyball Officer) network, Sport England have confirmed a total funding package of £5.1 million for Volleyball England through to 2017, so over £1.25m per year being invested into the grassroots of the sport! Lisa Wainwright, Chief Executive of Volleyball England stated, "Volleyball England caters for three different Olympic and Paralympic disciplines including indoor volleyball, beach volleyball and sitting volleyball. We have proven our ability to deliver through the last Whole Sport Plan, and the London 2012 Games have further highlighted the huge interest and opportunities for volleyball in England. "We are confident Sport England will support us further to help drive volleyball forwards over the next four years and we welcome their continued support. We will focus on delivering more quality opportunities for people to experience volleyball in all its forms. This will be done through innovative programmes in schools, Higher and Further Education Institutions and in the wider community. "We look forward to contributing to Sport England's aim of creating a sporting habit for life, especially for those between 14-25 years old. We are ready to make another significant step forward in the development of volleyball in England.“ What this means for clubs like NSVC remains to be seen at this stage with final details to

be published in the New Year. Well done to everyone at Volleyball England for achieving a positive settlement... We all hope that this money makes a real difference in our growing Volleyball Community here in Newcastle and across North Staffordshire!!

England Development Men’s Squad Volleyball England recently published online the senior men’s development squad, a team from which will go to the Novotel Cup in Luxembourg after Christmas. On the long list of 22 names, no fewer than 22 have played in the ‘Castle Navy Blue at either Junior or Senior level!

BRITISH VOLLEYBALL FUNDING 2013-17 Just 1 week before Christmas the funding for elite performance sport was also announced. Having had funded GB programmes for Volleyball, Beach Volleyball and Sitting Volleyball for the past 7 years or so it is easy to forget that this was the first time that the sport had received any such funding since the early 1990s. The GB teams did us all proud in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2012, but it was always made very clear that the funding through the 2016 Games in Rio would be on the basis of the likelihood of winning medals... and with the best will in the world this made it unlikely that GB Volleyball teams would be funded. That said, many in the sport were hopeful that the funder would take a long term view and put in place longer term funding through 2016, 2020 and perhaps then target a medal in 2024. Mind you... how many publicly funded projects have their funding secured with such a long term outlook (can’t think of any really). The only funding that was awarded went to the women’s Beach Volleyball Programme, none of the other 5 programmes will receive any funding. Volleyball England, who had responsibility to run the Sitting Volleyball programmes on behalf of British Volleyball reacted as follows:

UK Sport have confirmed that they will not be funding sitting volleyball in the next Paralympic cycle. This is hugely disappointing news, following the reintroduction of sitting volleyball in England in 2009 and with both men and women GB sitting volleyball teams making an impact at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, including a Quarter final place for the men's team.

Lisa Wainwright, Chief Executive of Volleyball England stated, "Today’s funding announcement is so disappointing for all the athletes, staff and the sitting volleyball programme who have made such significant progress given their previous funding of less than £5k each for all training, competition and support.

"The investment requested from UK Sport was less than £500k per year per squad over the next four years. Everyone will have seen the impact sitting volleyball can have on people with the winner of the BBC’s Helen Rollason Award - Martine Wright a survivor of the 7/7 London bombings. When we speak of legacy remember this day, the flame has well and truly been extinguished.

"The sport will now refocus over the new year and start the process of looking for additional funding from sponsors and donors. As ever, we remain focused on increasing the awareness of the sport at all levels. We thank all the players, coaches and support staff that have supported the programmes and look forward to working with them in the future.“

For talented young players in this country this should not dampen their spirits or limit their ambition... the opportunity to play at the highest level is still there – let’s all contribute to strengthening the England Cadet and Junior programmes, helping our own young players to make the most of their abilities and show that we can produce world class players who deserve elite sports funding.

Under 18 Boys ‘B’ progress... and have their eye of the last 8s! In early December the under 18 boys ‘B’ team were in action in the 1st round of the National Cup at Wigan. Led by captain Ross Thompson and featuring players ranging from 15 to 18 years old, the team put in two excellent displays to win both matches and progress to the 2nd round where they will take on ‘Castle A at Madeley! -vs Manchester Marvels – 25:13 , 25:17 , 25:13 -Vs Wigan Seahawks – 25:21 , 25:17, 18:25, 25:14

Volleyball in the ‘Active People Survey’ The Active People Survey is the mechanism through which Sport England measure actual participation in sport – it is one of the largest long term repeat phone surveys in the world and has a big impact upon the way that sports in England are funded to develop the grassroots of the sport. The latest figures came out in early December and were well timed for the sport coming just before grassroots funding was confirmed for 13-17.

Sport England revealed, “The figures reveal the inspirational impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – the number of people taking part rising has risen sharply in the period since the London 2012 Games got underway, with strong increases in Olympic sports such as cycling, sailing and volleyball.”

However, despite this positive news the overall trend remains downward since the first iteration of the survey - but there are currently 27,500 weekly participants in Volleyball in England (NSVC contribute c.200), and female participation higher than men’s for the first time.

Rod Stockwell Scoops Prize! Monday 10th December saw the Newcastle-under-Lyme Community Volunteering Awards, and supported by a couple of fellow club members our very own Rod Stockwell was one of the nominees for the prestigious sports volunteer of the year award.

As an Olympian in his field of Volleyball Stats, including the big medal matches in London, Rod is also a real rock within the club running Men2 and supporting coaching of a range of junior teams and statting for Men1 whenever possible.... so it came as no surprise to us when it was announced that...

"Rod Stockwell is Sports Volunteer of the Year for Newcastle“.... “we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t love it!”

Junior Teams in National Cup last-16 action ‘Castle’s under 16 and under 18 boys and girls teams are in action in round 2 of the national cups in January as follows, please offer them your support if you can!

Under 16 girls: Sunday 21st January @ Black Country... Black Country, Salford, NSVC ‘A’ , Nuneaton

Under 16 boys: Saturday 26th January @ Madeley High School... NSVC ‘A’, NSVC ‘B’, Wigan, Middlesbrough

Under 18 girls: Sunday 27th January @ Madeley High School... NSVC, Black Country A, Black Country B, Wirral

Under 18 boys: Sunday 20th January @ Madeley High School.... NSVC ‘A’, NSVC ‘B’, Wigan, Coventry Riga

U15 teams prepare for Regional Champs ‘Castle have entered a total of 5 teams in the National under 15 Championships – 3 for boys and 2 for girls, plus there is a further entry from one of our satellite clubs Painsley High School in Cheadle. The West Midlands Championships take place on the 2nd (boys) and 3rd (girls) of February – with the boys event to be hosted at Madeley by ‘Castle where 10 teams will take part, and the girls at Tettenhall in Wolverhampton.

December 2012 Satellite Club Tournament All the ingredients of Stoke City's successful Premier League 4 Sport Volleyball programme were on display as a mixture of satellite participants and sports leaders showed off their talents at a recent competition at Trentham High School. Around 50 young people attended the event with all four satellite clubs at Painsley, Madeley, Trentham and St John Fisher being represented. In the under 13s competition, Trentham fought off a spirited challenge from Madeley to take the honours, whilst in the under 16s event St John Fisher overcame a young Madeley side to earn top spot. The event was overseen by Volleyball England Community Development Coach Ant Viggars, who along with a trio of sports leaders from Madeley, ensured the competition was a success. ''It's great to give the young people who turn up week in week out to sessions the opportunity to compete against one another," said Viggars. "We will be giving them some more chances to be involved in competitions over the course of the year.“ Viggars, a veteran of hundreds of games as a player at hub club Newcastle Staffs has seen at first hand the enormous impact that the Olympics and Paralympic games has had on attendance at his Volleyball sessions. “Since the Olympics it has been manic," added Viggars. "Numbers at sessions have increased massively and as a coach it has been great to see young people who have been inspired by the Olympics wanting to come and try the sport you love. You never know...we may have an Olympic Volleyball player of the future involved in one of our sessions. The Premier League for Sport project has been a positive addition to the work we do because it enables me to introduce the sport to a new audience as well as signpost young people with potential to Newcastle Staffs. The project has been a big success and great to be a part of." The flow of young people migrating from satellite sessions to hub club has been most evident at Madeley High School which is one of three venues that Newcastle Staffs train and play games at. 'It's a win win situation at Madeley because through coaching delivery we have built up an excellent relationship with the PE department as well as encouraging young people to make the transition,'' added Viggars. "The encouraging thing is we are also starting to see young people migrating from the other satellites now as well as Madeley."

West Midlands Come & Play Tournament On Saturday 15th December ‘Castle’s Ant Viggars along with a number of parents including Social Stalwart Keith Handy took no fewer than 5 junior teams to the West Midlands come and play tournament in King Edwards School in Birmingham. The teams played in 5 groups, each of which had 4 teams of girls, boys and mixed teams – it was a great chance to play lots of games and have a lot of fun in the process!

The ‘Castle teams did very well with all teams doing their best to play good 3-touch volleyball, and finishing well placed in their groups: • Pool 1 - Castle Girls 3rd • Pool 2 - Castle Boys 1st • Pool 3 - Castle Boys 2nd • Pool 4 - Castle Girls 2nd • Pool 5 - Castle Girls 1st

6th July – ‘Castle Presentation Night, BBQ and Sitting Volleyball Challenge Sam Allen 100 club

Friday 25th January 2013 Madeley High School From 4.30pm-7.30pm Do you want to know more about the Volleyball Club?

Do you want to see your son or daughter in training?

Do you want to meet the people that run the club?

Do you want to find out more about the sport?

Do you want to find out how you can help?

Come along on the 25th January for all of the above!

www.nsvc.co.uk Twitter: @CastleVb

England Juniors in Brazil In early December the England Junior Men travelled to Brazil to take place in the Brazilian School Games and take on the regional champion teams in a prestigious opportunity linked to the attendance of Brazilian teams at the School Games in London in May. Volleyball, Beach Volleyball and Swimming athletes made the trip… told here through the words of the delegation leader… the squad included ‘Castle’s Rich James, Leon Chambers and Teme Samuel!

Twelve young volleyball players who joined up with the GB School Games team to compete in the Olimpiadas Escolares in Brazil (Brazilian School Games), have put in some fantastic performances, impressing the locals and catching the eye of the Brazilian media.

With the Olimpíadas Escolares well under way, Volleyball England are pleased to report that there has been some great action and results from the English Volleyball representatives. With the Brazilians historic strength and success in all forms of volleyball, the level of the competition is very high. With this in mind the results recorded by both the England junior men’s squad and Leaf Academy Beach pair are even more impressive.

Junior men’s Coach Rogerio Ponticelli recalls there first victory in the competition as a very special moment. "The whole competition and experience has lifted the team and their performances. The team have sadly missed out on the semi finals despite only losing one match but are hopeful for some further friendly game opportunities. "We are now riding the momentum to the CEV youth Europeans in January which is the pinnacle of our indoor season with a real sense of belief."

30th November: MARISTA - NATAL 1 - 2 GREAT BRITAIN 24-26, 25-18, 14-16 1st December: GREAT BRITAIN 0 - 2 COLGIO ISAAC NEWTON 17-25, 24-26

2nd December: COLGIO PERFIL 0 - 2 GREAT BRITAIN 13-25 – 20-25

Men’s volleyball took to the court for the final group match against Bahia yesterday afternoon. They had a strong start racing out to a 6-2 lead and at 15-9 were comfortably maintaining an advantage. They stretched the lead by 12 points to 23-11 and took the set 25-13 after Bahia served into the net.

Bahia returned to the court for set 2 looking hungry and play was even until 8-8 with teams trading points but GB started to pull away and gain an advantage to take the score out to 17-13. Bahia fought back closing the gap 20-18 but strong and determined play by our men ensured they won the set 25-23 and the victory.

The men’s volleyball team won two of the three group matches. Unfortunately due to the structure of the competition the men's team do not progress which is extremely unfortunate and disappointing for them as they played well.

Men's volleyball were up against the home team, Cuiaba, who brought a large and vocal support team! The opposing team started strong taking the lead 5-1 but they levelled the score at 7-7 and then traded points until 16-13 when Cuiaba had another push to win the first set 25-17. Set two saw Cuiaba take the lead again 6-2 but the boys remained patient and pulled back the score to 11-11 and led the set for the first time at 12-13. Cuiaba took time out at 12-16 and the conclusion to the set was extremely exciting with scores 17-18, 19-19 concluding 26-24 to Cuiaba. Final score 2-0 to Cuiaba. The team play their third group game against Bahim today and have all to play for as the group is still open. Two teams will progress to the semi finals.

Under 16 Boys impress in Holland

With a support team of Rod Stockwell, Charlie Carter, Murray Grimes and Libby Bellamy a team of 11 u16 ‘Castle lads made the trip to Holland to play in the prestigious Christmas tournament hosted by SV Dynamo in Apeldoorn. The squad included 1 guest – Ben Tomlinson of Nottingham Rockets and England Cadets, and featured a number of the u15 squad.

THE SQUAD Rich James Will Beacon Rob Bellamy Jonny Denfhy Zakk Hadgett Filip Kaminski Matt Smith Pieter Drijfhout Ben Tomlinson Tom Carter

After travelling out to Holland on Boxing Day the boys faced an 8 team competition over 3 days where they would play a total of 8 matches, 17 sets, along with 5 Dutch teams and 2 from Belgium. For the lads this was a perfect event for team building, match practice, and the chance to see what the standard of junior volleyball is in a couple of leading volleyball nations in Europe – so that they could measure themselves against the best.

It was tremendous to see the development of the team over the three days , all players improved both in skills and focus. Some great comments were made on asking what were the high lights they had enjoyed , and what they hadn’t , and what they had learnt from the trip , interesting the only negative was the losing one match badly on the second day that they all want to put behind them.

Players Comments: The good bits : • All of it ! • The Omnisport sports hall – good to play in the great venue • I will remember the people we have met there • The atmosphere to play in was good • The team bonding • Standard was really good and one of nicest arenas • We are so much better than we’ve been before! • Professionalism of all, really well organised • We got better • The team spirit • Best thing was seeing the standard , great to play against people our own age and see where other players are compared to us • Team effort • Work ethos from warm up to cool down

• Worst part when we were all knackered in the last game • Worst bit was losing • Worst part – the match we lost 2 nil

• We voiced opinions more and showed more character • Great enthusiasm • Team didn’t give up , went out fighting • All got on as a team • Atmosphere of the stadium • Intensity of the volleyball • Quality of our volleyball • Opposition were friendly and sporting • Great fun • Nice to see team build and improve , we have come together

Coaches and managers comments: “As a team they demonstrated physical and mental robustness” “We have been able to highlight areas of player development ” “Collectively progressed and bonded , became one” “Stood up and were counted and gave everything especially the last day.” “No team in your age group to be feared now”

Best parts : A group of individuals become a team Improvement in confidence huge in some players Now nothing to fear of any English teams The support of all the adults that have been has been absolutely brilliant The compliments we received as a team from other team managers/coaches were great to get.

The Results on the Court DAY 1: v SV Dynamo – won 2-0 v Taurus – drew 1-1 v Prima Donna Kaas – lost 2-0

DAY 2: v Castellum – lost 2-0 v Taurus – lost 2-0 v Volley Fixit Kalmhout – lost 2-0

DAY 3: v Lizards Lubeek – won 2-0 v SV Dynamo – lost 2-1 (15-13 in the final set!)

After coming 2nd in their group on day 1, ‘Castle went into a lead group of 4 teams on day 2. This saw the lads come up against all of the top teams in the tournament and they unfortunately lost each game but all of them were close and of a very high standard. On day 3 they won their first match to go into the 5/6 play-off – against the host SV Dynamo – when the score was a very close 25-22, 22-25, 15-13!