There are three forms of Volleyball; Volleyball, Beach Volleyball and Sitting Volley Ball. Although Volleyball and Beach Volleyball are widely known, Sitting Volleyball generally is not so well known.
It was with great interest that I visited Portsmouth Sitting Volleyball Club at the Mary Rose School in Gisors Road, Portsmouth, PO4 8GT, on 22 May for one of their Thursday evening training sessions.
Coach Brendan Williamson explained that although Sitting Volleyball is played by people with disabilities and by people that do not have disabilities. The key exception to this is at National Team and Paralympics levels where it is a requirement that all players must be people with disabilities.
At training there was a good mix of players, both male and female and people with and without disabilities. The game requires all to play and propel themselves in the seated position. Watching a game played it was clearly physically demanding, very technical, skilful and above all, exciting.
Portsmouth Sitting Volleyball Club plays in the National League and had a rollercoaster season. The League itself struggled following a drop in interest in sports for people with disabilities, following the massive high from the 2013 London Paralympics Games. There were just 6 teams in tact for the 2013/14 season. Although under the new leadership of Richard Stacey-Chapman, Volleyball England are turning things around for Sitting Volleyball and the future looks brighter.
For this season, top four teams in the Sitting Volleyball National League would go through to the semi-final stage of the season, and this was the goal for the Portsmouth Club. Portsmouth finished fourth in the table to qualify for the semifinal stage, where they had possibly their best match of the season, losing to eventual championship winners Battleback..
Team member Charlotte Hughes was selected for the GB squad but this achievement was offset by a mid-season injuries to the Club’s Setter Tarnya Barrow and Hitter Steve Bailey, who were difficult to cover for.
The Club has recently recruited some new players having attended events at the Southsea Seaside and Rural show and at the Limb Power games, but are always looking for new players to join. The Club trains every Thursday night from 18.30 to 20.00 at the Mary Rose College on Gissors Lane, Milton and all are welcome. Sitting Volleyball is a fully inclusive sport played by teams with both men and ladies, with and without disabilities, forming part of league teams, although to qualify to play for the National Teams it is a necessary requirement to have a disability. The Club’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Portsmouthsitting- volleyball-club/107482315942209?fref=ts