Volleyball England

Volleyball England, is the trading name for the English Volleyball Association Limited or EVA, and is the controlling body for volleyball in England. It picks the national team, runs the National Volleyball League, National Knock-Out Cup and Student Cup and organises the training and assessment of referees and coaches. Volleyball England is a member body of the FIVB, and has its offices at SportPark, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire.

National Volleyball Centre

With £3.5million of funding from both the UK Government and the UK National Lottery in the run-up to London 2012, in 2007 Volleyball England signed an agreement to accommodate the National Volleyball Centre within the Kettering Conference Centre. Made possible with a grants from Kettering Borough Council, Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd, and the East Midlands Development Agency, the four-year agreement came into place on the opening of the centre in November 2010.[1]

The 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft) facility houses both National Volleyball Centre, as well as home of Volleyball England's national men's and women's volleyball squads, and several national competitions.[1]

League history

In the past, men's volleyball in England has been dominated by London Malory, led by Canadian coach Jefferson Williams. However now Sheffield have become one of the strongest teams in the league winning the 2008 National Cup Final against London Malory. Sheffield is also one of the youngest teams in the league, and is led by coach Keith Trenam.

Women's volleyball in England has also been dominated by London Malory in the past, again led by Jefferson Williams. However, in 2008, the University of London Union (ULU) women's team defeated London Malory in the Cup quarter-finals and left them out of the Final for the first time in 13 years. The student side, which competes in the London Premier League and is led by coach Mark Kontopoulos, then defeated Wessex-Team Bath in the semi-finals and London Polonia in the Final to become the first ever non-national league team to win the National Cup.

Wesex-Team Bath won Division 1 of the 2008 National League.

League organisation

Since the 2010-2011 season, the Super8's represents top level volleyball in England. As the number suggests, there are 8 teams in the men's and the women's leagues. The National Volleyball League (NVL) is split into men's and women's competitions, each with 3 divisions, with the 3rd division made up of 3 regional areas- East, North and West.

The following table shows how many teams are in each division for the Men's and Women's National League.

Division Men's Teams Women's Teams
Super 8's 8 8
One 9 10
Two North 9 10
Two South 10 10
Three South (m) East (w) 6 6
Three North (m) Central (w) 7 7
Three West (w) - 6

2008-2009

Below are the teams found in each of the divisions as of the 08-09 season:

Men's 1-

City of Bristol 1 Coventry & Warwick Riga London Docklands London Lynx 1 London Malory London Polonia Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club Reading Volleyball Club Sheffield Sheffield II

Men's 2-

Brentwood Partners Cambridge 1 Dulwich Knights Guildford International Leeds Leicester V.C. Loughborough Students Manchester Middlesbrough College Oxford Students Plymouth Activate Wessex

Men's 3 East-

Brentwood Estonians Cambridge Danes Watford Dartford London Lynx Newmarket Richmond VC Stowmarket Sussex Dolphins Tendring

Men's 3 North-

Barnsley Boathouse Dewsbury Chester VC City of Preston Leeds 2 Leeds Carnegie Middlesbrough College 2 Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club 2 Nottingham Rockets University of Birmingham University of Birmingham 2 York VC

Men's 3 West-

Bridgend City of Bristol 2 Coventry & Warwick Riga II Milton Keynes New Forest Volleyball Club Newbury VC RAF Harriers SGTV Solent Wiltshire Mavericks

Women's 1-

Loughborough Dolphins Volleyball Team City of Wolverhampton Coventry & Warwick Riga 1 Dulwich Tuskers Leeds London Malory Loughborough Students 1 Polonia Ladies Reading Aces 1 Swiss Cottage Wessex

Women's 2-

Ashcombe Dorking 1 Brentwood Ladies 1 Cambridge Chester VC Guildford International Herts Nomads Middlesbrough College Norwich Ladies Plymouth Portsmouth South Hants Tameside V.C.

Women's 3 East-

Ashcombe Dorking 2 Brentwood Ladies 2 Coventry & Warwick Riga 2 Dartford Dulwich Knights Ealing Energy Leicester Northampton Sussex Dolphins Tendring Tonbridge V.C

Women's 3 North-

Chester VC City of Salford NW VC Loughborough Students 2 Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club Nottingham Ladies V.C. RAF Hawks Sheffield Tees Valley Telford Ladies University of Birmingham

Women's 3 West-

Cardiff Ladies Cardiff Tigers City of Bristol Ladies Devon New Forest Volleyball Club Oxford Students Reading Aces 2 Solent Ladies Team Southampton Wiltshire Mavericks

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "National Volleyball Centre". Volleyball England. Retrieved 2012-08-13.

External links