‘Castle News

Number 57 May 2011

Time to have some fun...start of the summer season!

Welcome from the Chair

Contents

3 – Let’s Play Volleyball Tournament

4-7 – ‘Castle News Updates

8 – NVL promotion play-off

9 – Social Volleyball poster

10 – Meg Viggars’ Olympic Dream

11 – under 15 boys at the Top 8s

12– Sportset advert

13 – Sitting v Standing Volleyball

14 – National Schools Beach Volleyball

15 – ‘Castle Shop

16 – Castle online

Main sponsor www.marangoni.com

Main school-club link and training HQ:

Madeley High School

Official Equipment Supplier: www.sportset.com

Sponsors

CBL Welding Supplies Cornovii Investment Management www.cblsupplies.co.uk

www.cornovii.com

MATRIX

AGGREGATES

May is usually a quiet month in the volleyball calendar and so I used the opportunity to take a holiday, but as you can see from another jam packed edition of ‘Castle News, this year the month was very busy!

Inter Regional Championships, International Tournaments, the start of the LPV season, Beach Volleyball, National u15s and a promotion play-off!

Colin RobertsNSVC Chair

News Updates from ‘Castle!

2012 Test EventsJuly 2011 sees the Volleyball and Beach Volleyball test events for the 2012 Olympics and ‘Castle News can bring you all of the latest information on these events.

Indoor Volleyball – Men’s event – NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Participating Teams: Brazil Egypt, Great Britain, Mexico, Serbia USA

Competition Schedule:

Wednesday 20th July 3pm Egypt v Brazil 5pm Mexico v Great Britain 7pm USA v Serbia

Thursday 21st July 3pm USA v Egypt 5pm Mexico v Brazil 7pm Great Britain v Serbia

Friday 22nd July 3pm Egypt v Serbia 5pm Great Britain v Brazil 7pm USA v Mexico

Saturday 23rd July 3pm Brazil v Serbia 5pm Egypt v Mexico 7pm USA v Great Britain

Sunday 24th July 11am Mexico v Serbia 1pm Egypt v Great Britain 3pm USA v Brazil Followed by medal ceremony

Beach Volleyball Test Event: 9-14 August 2011The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has announced that tickets for some of its first test events this summer are on sale to the public from Thursday 26 May

The events that LOCOG is organising are branded the ‘London Prepares’ series, and include Beach Volleyball at Horse Guards Parade in August 2011.

These events will give you the chance to see exciting competitive sport in Olympic and Paralympic venues for the first time and by coming to watch, you will play your part in enabling the London 2012 Organising Committee to test the venues, fields of play, scoring and timing systems.

The Visa FIVB Beach Volleyball International will be an intercontinental women’s exhibition event featuring 24 teams between 9 and 14 August 2011. A total of 54 matches will be played across the six days of competition, with tickets available for two sessions each day.

Tickets are available online through Ticket Master

News Updates from ‘Castle!

‘Castle players in England Junior ActionIn late April/early May the England Junior girls and boys travelled to Italy to play in an international tournament, with five boys and two girls from NSVC featuring in the Squads. Unfortunately the lads who had agreed to write an article on this appear to have forgotten to do so, so we are unable to provide much info – but well done all for your selection... Lads, we won’t name and shame you!!

CBL extend sponsorshipLocal firm CBL have sponsored ‘Castle for the last few seasons and this year have agreed to pay for the purchase of £450 worth of equipment for the club! This willbe spent on new antennae for our match and training nets, and additional training balls – with so many sessions going on within the club’s busy training schedule these days our equipment needs continual replacement and upgrading. Thanks to everyone at CBL for their ongoing support of NSVC!

Manchester LPV FestivalOn a very windy and chilly May Saturday the ‘Castle travelled in good numbers to the Manchester LPV Festival. We entered a number of teams with the under 15 boys winning the event and the under 15 girls coming 2nd along with goodperformances from each of the other teams thattook part with many players representing the clubfor the first time. The summer programme allowsless experienced players to take part and competeIn matches in a less formal atmosphere and is seenas a great way for our young players to develop by Girls and Boys Head Coaches Ant Viggars and Will Roberts.

News Updates from ‘Castle!

City of Stoke-on-Trent 6th

Form College: Volleyball Success

On Wednesday 4th May the girls team from Stoke-on-Trent 6th form college won the National Plate competition beating Richard Huish College 25-10, 25-14 in the final with ‘Castle’s Charlotte James taking the MVP prize in a dominant display. This is the fourth year that NSVC has worked directly with the college to develop its’ volleyball programme and the success of this work continues to be seen with new players coming into the sport and our own youngsters able to access additional training sessions.

Potters ‘Arf: Get Involved and SupportSunday 12th June is the day of the Potter ‘Arf – the ½ marathon around the streets of Stoke-on-Trent.

The players of the men’s 1st and 2nd teams have decided to enter a team in the relay races that go on as part of the ½ marathon. Unfortunately only one team has signed up to take part but Sam Allen, Dave Lovell, Dann Williams and Will Roberts will be working hard to raise money for your club so please do donate generously – they will be collecting at the LPV on the 11th June!

Who is going to take on the toughest challenge...!?!?!

Relay Distances• Stage 1 3.3 Miles (Probably the easiest stage)• Stage 2 3.4 Miles (Involves climb up Anchor Rd)• Stage 3 4.7 Miles (Mainly flat, hilly finish)• Stage 4 1.7 Miles (Includes Milton Road)

Monday Night Social VolleyballThese new sessions started with a bang on Monday 16th May at Madeley and now regularly attract over 20 players.

The sessions are for over 16 year olds and it is intended that this section of the club will grow and ensure that we cater for the whole local volleyball community. If you are 16+ and fancy some casual fun volleyball, or a parent who fancies a go to see what all the fuss is about please come along to Madeley from 6.30pm-8.30pm on Monday nights this summer!

News Updates from ‘Castle!

NSVC Annual General Meeting

The club AGM will take place on Saturday 11th June at Madeley High School following the end of the LPV festival at around 5pm in the sports hall. Please attend, at this meeting the MVPs for each of the NVL squads will be announced.

‘Castle at the Inter Regionals

The first May Bank Holiday weekend saw large numbers of young ‘Castle players representing the West Midlands at the Inter Regional Championships which took place at the National Volleyball Centre at Kettering. The top performing West Midlands teams were the under 16 girls featuring ‘Castle’s Harriet Roberts – who took the silver medal, and the under 15 boys. The boys were captained by Rich James and the squad also featured Will Richardson, Dan Arme and Rob Bellamy, and also took the silver medal. With numerous other players playing for the other age groups (u14 girls and u17 boys) and Doug Ross playing for North West u15 it was a good weekend for all involved.

FUNDRAISER CAR WASH: 11th JUNEBring your car along to the LPV at MadeleyHigh School on Saturday 11th June and get it washed to help raise funds for the club. The men’s NVL teams will be washing cars all day, charging £5 for a car and£10 for a minibus or van.

Promotion Dreams

crumble in play-offOn Saturday 7th May the ‘Castle Men’s 1st team travelled to

Whitechapel in East London to take on London Lynx who

finished 7th in the Super 8s. This was a single match shoot-out

for the final place in next season’s Super 8s, a real winner

takes all occasion. Whilst it was a shame that it was just one

match and not two legs, and that it was hosted by the Super 8s

team rather than played on neutral territory ‘Castle could

have no argument with the result and a bitterly disappointing

end to their season.

‘Castle travelled with a strong squad despite the injury suffered by Aykut

Nafioglu at training the night before the match and arrived at the venue in

excellent spirits. With their London based supporters and travelling fans in

full voice, and much of the London volleyball community present it was a

noisy atmosphere in the small venue with the crowd sat courtside.

‘Castle started with the young team that had emerged over the last few weeks

of the season, with captain Will Roberts the only player that was out of his

teens! When they took control of the ball, ‘Castle were easily able to match

their opponents and James Goodwin continued his excellent form, but with

Roo Scott struggling to be at his imperious best and Sam Shenton and Adam

Bradbury playing a little tight with nerves the first set went the way of Lynx.

The second and third sets went the same way with the experience of Lynx

being just too much for the ‘Castle team. For a spell in the second set ‘Castle

increased their serving pressure and this resulted in a rapid decline of Lynx’s

performance, only for ‘Castle to take their foot off the gas and let their

opponent back into the game. The 3-0 defeat was a fair result based on the

performance, and left the ‘Castle team struggling to reflect back on the season

and the missed opportunity... If’s and But’s do no good, but had ‘Castle won

the 5 set clash at Birmingham in March it would have been they who

celebrated automatic promotion!

What now remains to be seen is how many of the squad will hang

around for next season with Super 8s clubs sniffing around for their

signatures. There is no doubt that this squad has the potential to

become the best in the club’s history but the young players must decide

whether to look at the short term and Super 8s next season, or if they

want to be part of a team that could challenge for all of the major

honours in two to three years. It will be an interesting summer!

Meg’s Olympic Dream moves a step closer

Castle Girls in International Action this month

‘Castle duo Meg Viggars and Paige Nelmes were twice in action this month for England – for the Junior Girls in Italy where the team performed excellently against international opposition with Meg setter and Paige captaining the side. The girls also played in two full u20 international against Scotland prior to the GB Men’s Euro League matches against Croatia with England winning 3-1 and 3-0!

Article taken from www.gbwomensvolleyball.co.uk

With more than 22 athletes to choose from, there have been some tough decisions for GB Women’s Head Coach Audrey Cooper to select a squad of 16 for the upcoming Summer programme. With 20 athletes having played professionally abroad over the last 9 months as well as the inclusion of home based players and upcoming younger players, competition for places was higher than ever.

Having seen the majority of the European based players in action during the winter season and knowing they would not join the programme until the second week at the earliest due to club commitments, Cooper took the opportunity to look at some new faces during thefirst 7 days of training including 3 athletes from the Volleyball England National Academy (Hannah Carey, Paige Nelmes & Meg Viggars).

Making the squad for the first time is middle blocker Ciara Michel, at 1m95 and having had a successful season with GB setter Lucy Wicks playing for Alemannia Aachen in the German Bundesliga, she will be a great addition to the squad and has made competition for places in the middle position even harder.

Another new face is 17 year old setter Meg Viggars who has impressed at the VE National Academy and in the domestic scene. She backed this up with a solid 2 weeks trial period and has been rewarded with a place in the 16, a great achievement for Meg.Cooper comments: “It was probably the toughest selection we have had over the last 4 years and that is a credit to the girls and a great sign for British Volleyball. There were some very close decisions and for those athletes that have just missed out, the door is not closed. It is now up to them to prove that they are worthy of a place in the squad before the 2012 season. As for the 16 selected, I am really looking forward to working with the squad over the Summer.”

The chosen squad of 16 for the 2011 season is:2. Lucy Wicks3. Nicola Osborne4. Rachel Laybourne5. Rachel Newton6. Jenn Taylor7. Maria Bertelli (Libero)8. Rachel Bragg9. Jo Morgan10. Lynne Beattie (Captain)11. Meg Viggars12. Lizzie Reid14. Victoria Palmer15. Stacey O’Connor17. Janine Sandell18. Grace Carter19. Ciara Michel

Two reserves are also selected (Jennifer Thom and Jilliane Goulet) who will not join the squad on a permanent basis but will be invited to join the squad when required.

Under 15 Boys Top 8s – ‘Castle’s semi-final disappointment

Sunday 15th May saw the under 15 boys National Last 8s at Thorns School in Stourbridge with ‘Castle Boys hoping to make their third National Final of the season. With captain Dan Arme, Rich James and Will Richardson having all played well in the under 16s final ‘Castle had high hopes of challenging for the title, but they knew that the whole squad would have to be on top of their game. With Joe Richardson and Jack Sweeting missing due to injury Jack Pickering missing due to the FA Cup Final (a highly committed Stoke fan) the squad lacked experience with just 4 players in year 10 involved. ‘Castle were drawn in a tough pool with Wessex and Ernest Bevin, and last 8s debutants (at least in the last decade) Harrogate. It was the Yorkshire team up first for ‘Castle who beat them in convincing style 25-10, 25-10 – pleasing the coaching staff of the two Will Roberts’s (!!!) and Rod Stockwell with their rhythm and ruthlessness.

Next up for ‘Castle were the powerful Londoners Ernest Bevin who has just lost a really close game against Wessex. At this competition the rules in group matches are 2 sets, capped at 25 so you can have winning and losing draws! ‘Castle lost the first set 25-21 but won the second in excellent style 25-16 with some great all round play and great

tactical changes applied by the young players. The last group game was Wessex and ‘Castle knew that a specific points tally would see them through, but could they win the group? In both sets ‘Castle has their chances but could not take advantage and lost out 25-22, 25-23 resulting in a second place group finish. This was a real disappointment as it meant that they were up against pre-tournament favourites Boswells in the semi.

Despite missing their 6 foot 5 inch star player, Boswells were strong and outmuscled ‘Castle in the first set with great strong serving. ‘Castle fought back excellently in the 2nd set but somehow contrived to throw away a 10 point lead to lose 25-22 in the decider! A tough lesson to learn for the young players, who then watched Boswells do exactly the same thing as they had done to lose the final against Wessex!

SQUAD: Dan Arme (c), Will Richardson, Doug Ross, Izaak Bourne, Will Beacon, Rich James, Rob Bellamy, Conner Grimes, James Stuart, Jonny Denfhy

Sitting v Able BodiedRod Stockwell reports from the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester (23-28 May 2011)

As many club members will know, I have been involved with taking and producing volleyball statistics for a number of years, at all levels of the sport. Recently, I was asked to take a slight deviation away from statistics, to be the official scorer at the display event for sitting volleyball at The BT Paralympic World Cup that was being held in Manchester. Now that I have the time to be able to do this during the week, I grasped the opportunity to broaden my experience.

I know that you can’t directly compare scoring and statistics, but whilst scoring, I could make comparisons on how the game would be statted and the differences that I would find.

Obviously, the principals of the game are the same, but there are a few subtle rule changes that would make things a little more difficult when statting. For example, the serve can be blocked, and if there is a joust between 2 players (where players on opposing sides try to block the ball at the same time), this is usually played out. There is also the speed of the game. As there is no jumping involved in the sitting game –part of the torso between the buttocks and the shoulders must be in contact with the floor when you are the player either moving to, or playing the ball – the speed of the game is much faster, with most sets at the net being very quick, similar to the middle attacker in the able bodied game. The size of the court (6 metres x 10 metres) also affects the speed, and seeing someone shuffle backwards to cover court area quicker than most people would be able to run to cover the same area, is quite amazing. In fact, to give you an idea, there are only a few passes that go above the height of the net that is used in the senior men’s game (2.43m or just about 8 feet in old money)! If you are taking statistics a great deal of concentration is required, and when the game speeds up, the amount of concentration needed increases greatly.All of these factors mean that not only do you have to concentrate for a couple of hours for the match, but you also have to watch the referee’s decisions a lot more. Whilst in the able bodied game, the referees can make decisions that you are not expecting, these can quickly be changed and are few and far between. In the sitting game this can certainly be different. Because of the speed of the game, there are a lot more subtle touches off the block which can easily be missed by the officials and the line judges because of some of the strange angles that hits come from. This does lead to more frequent arguments as to whose point it is and can lead to more frequent changes of mind from the officials.

So whilst I feel confident that I would be able to stat an international sitting volleyball match, it would certainly present its own challenges, and I know that it would be just as mentally tiring as an able bodied international match, but for different reasons!

National Schools Beach Champions: Rob Bellamy and Rich James!

On Thursday the 12th May Rob Bellamy and Rich James travelled down (thanks to Rob’s Dad!!) to Bournemouth to play in the National Schools Beach Volleyball Championships for teams born in 1996 and 1997. The boys event featured 8 teams and the ‘Castle lads, representing Madeley High School played some great Beach Volleyball to make it all of the way through to the final and then to go and win it!

Having overcome a team from Wessex in the semi-final they then took on another pairing from the North Devon Club Academy of Beach Sports, who they beat to become National Champions.

The event had been put together at short notice by Volleyball England with the winners earning the right to represent England at the ISF Beach Volleyball World Schools Championships in Puerto Rico at the end of June/early July. At this stage, due to the incredibly tight timescales and high costs it looks highly unlikely that Rob and Rich will be able to take up this opportunity, however they can reflect on an excellent National Title, and have been invited to the official Volleyball England Beach Volleyball Junior Performance Camp – the High Peaks of Beach Volleyball!

Well done lads, another fantastic achievement in this great year for the club!

‘Castle Shop

Training T-shirt: £15.00

High quality performance material NSVC club t-shirt, Navy Blue and now in White!

Classic Grey ‘Castle T-shirt ‘Castle Hoodie ‘Castle Polo Shirt ‘Castle Drawstring Bag

£10.00 £20.00 £10.00 £5.00

To purchase any club kit please contact your coach or a club official on match-day or at

training

www.nsvc.co.uk The club website gives regular updates of information on both the home and news pages,, team and player profiles, plus carries all club match reports and an up to date club calendar

‘Castle: onlineThe club’s communications strategy (part of the four-year club development plan) is now very well advanced following the launch of our You Tube channel and Wikipedia page in the first few months of 2010, plus a Twitter feed. These additions to the existing ‘Castle News, www.nsvc.co.uk and Facebook group give us what is hopefully excellent connectivity to our members through whatever medium they prefer.

You TubeMatch videos can be posted online at our very own You Tube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/NSVC1Recent viewer numbers:- Men 1 vs Richmond (NVL1) highlights – 92 views- Men 1 vs Wessex (NVL1) highlights – 92 views- Ladies vs Northampton (NVL2N) highlights – 81 views- Men 1 vs Leicester (NVL1) highlights – 92 views

‘Castle News The club’s unique monthly e-newsletter is now available only as a download through the club website’s news pages at www.nsvc.co.uk/latest-newsReader numbers from recent editions:- January 2011 – 803- December 2010 – 701- November 2010 – 601- October 2010 - 364

FacebookSign up to ‘Castle at www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=12327566316

TwitterWe have an active Twitter account for those of you who want up to the minute information on the club. Go to Twitter and search for us

WikipediaThe NSVC Wikipedia page was launched in March 2010 and will provide a great historical record of the club and its’ achievements over the past 30 years and the years to comehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_(Staffs)_Volleyball_Club