Who are we?
Swansea Volleyball Club has existed in one guise or another for many years. Our club roots stem from Townhill Community Centre, back in the 1970's.
There have been several other venues used in Swansea, such as Swansea Leisure Centre, Dillwyn Llewelyn Leisure Centre and Cefn Hengoed School. These turned out to be financially unviable due to increased hire cost of sports facilities.More recently we ran training sessions at Llanelli Leisure Centre but, due to dwindling numbers, we were forced to discontinue. We concluded the main reason for our downfall was the remote location of our training venue. This meant that many of the people we knew in the Swansea area who wanted to learn and play, especially students without transport, had no way of making their way to the training venue. It is for this reason we have returned to Swansea.
Why do we play Volleyball?
The club consists of a core of 'die-hards' who refuse to let a great sport like volleyball end up like the pirates of old! To us, volleyball has everything a good sport needs. It is fast and energetic, but can be played at every level, from games over a washing line, to Olympic standard (I guess some would say we're closer to the washing line than the Olympic standard!). Teams could involve 2 to 6 players, consisting of all male, all female or mixed players. Play could be on a patch of grass, or on an area of beach in the summer. All of these factors, coupled with the fact that it is a non-contact sport, means that it is safe and suitable for all ages.
Our philosophy is simple - a sport should be enjoyable. Lets face it; if you are not enjoying the sport, why bother playing? This is why in the following pages, our volleyball club will attempt to stress the need and importance of a social life within sport and attempts to promote this as a means of motivation. We organise training sessions to better our play and beat our opponents, but the tournaments we attend are a natural reward for this work. We go to tournaments to play well, but have fun too!
What are we trying to do?
Apart from the obvious - to keep fit and enjoy ourselves - the aim of the club is to raise awareness of volleyball in Swansea by increased publicity. Most people don't know that volleyball clubs exist in South Wales. This is a major problem when we try to promote the sport.
Our club believes that by training, playing games, and attending tournaments, we have the means to generate more publicity via press articles covering game results and social events. This, in turn, should lead to a greater interest in volleyball and hopefully encourage other groups to create new clubs in the Swansea area. By increasing the number of teams in the area, we increase the number of games that can be played, and so on.How could I learn to play volleyball?
This is an easy question to answer. Just come along to the training sessions organised by our club!
We have many experienced players in our club who can teach you the basic moves and explain the rules of the game. It doesn't matter what level of play you are capable of, we can design practice drills around you. As your confidence grows you will be included in practice games with players of a higher level.Can I bring a friend or colleague along to training?
YES! This is what we want from you as a club member. We encourage all our members to bring along friends and colleagues who are keen to play. We are trying to promote volleyball as a sport, and the more numbers that play, the better!
If I know a group of people who want to start a team up, what should I do?
Just talk to one of the organisers in our club, we will be pleased to help. Creating other clubs is one of our aims. The more teams that exist in the Swansea area, the more games we get to play.
We can arrange some form of help with coaching basic skills and rules. Just ask!
Where are all the other Volleyball teams?
This is a fair question. It does seem that volleyball clubs are second only to MI5 when it comes to being allusive. Well there are other volleyball teams out there - and we have proof!
Teams we have played against include:
· University of Wales Swansea
· Pembroke
· Men In Black, Cardiff
· University of Wales Cardiff
· University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC)
· Swansea College, Tycoch
· Barry Volleyball Club
· RAF St. AthanDo we compete any tournaments?
Annual tournaments our club attend include:
· The Welsh Open, Aberystwyth
· Western-Super-Mare Beach Classic
· Gloucester Festival of Volleyball (Grass)
· Tenby Beach Open
· Barry Beach Open
· Cardiff Sixes (Indoor)
· Cardiff Fours (Indoor)Our club were winners of the Western-Super-Mare Beach tournament, Division 2 - Men's Fours in 2000!
There are many more tournaments throughout the country that we can apply for if the interest from players is there.What about social events?
The weekend tournaments we attend are, in themselves, sociable events and all usually follow a general pattern: -
· We travel to the event on the Friday evening and set up camp, usually on a campsite (near to) or rugby ground (right next to) the volleyball courts (Hotels/B&B's are available for the faint hearted).
· Have a few drinks to help us relax for the arduous games on the Saturday.
· Play games from early morning (lots of us agree they are TOO early) until late afternoon.
· We all flood down the local supermarket to get further supplies, such as burgers, sausages etc.
· These are promptly cremated on our barbeque then eaten just as quickly.
· Guzzle a few cooling drinks to help our food down and retire to bed.
· The following morning, persecuted by a headache from hell, we play another days worth of volleyball.
· Late afternoon or early evening on the Sunday, we all return to our comfy homes where a hot bath and lots of sleep are essential.
Last year, during another night under the stars at a tournament and after consuming far too much alcohol, a few members of the club decided there should be humorous trophies for the best and worst player at each tournament. The trophies, known as "The Golden Awards" are presented at the tournament (usually during the evening's festivities), to the two people who have been duly elected by unanimous (anonymous) vote by his/her co-players. Anyone winning an award will be placed in the hall of fame on our web site and should display his or her trophy with pride!
And if that's not enough …………
Last year, in conjunction with the Men in Black club from Cardiff, our club took a team to Venice, Italy, where they played a few local teams in a friendly tournament.
The trip took the form of a long weekend and other activities included group singing in the local restaurants, a visit to a vineyard and a sightseeing trip around the waterways of Venice.Some of our club members represented the Texaco Company at the World Corporate Games 2000 held in Aberdeen. The World Corporate Games are run in conjunction with the UK & Ireland Corporate Games, which is run in the summer months. The games are to be held in Limerick, Ireland, later this year, where teams from most of the large corporate companies, such as Texaco, BP, and IBM compete. It is hoped that interest will be high enough to enter a team of our own into this event.
The club usually goes out for a meal at Christmas time but we hope to arrange more social events during the year also - any suggestions?
There you have it! In short - These are the reasons for training and learning how to play volleyball - even if it is to enjoy the camping, barbeques and the couple (Hmmmm?) of beers during the evenings of weekend tournaments!