Volleyball England Club of the Year
York Volleyball Club were named as the Volleyball England Club of the Year for 2017/ 2018. This is our nomination:
With over 100 regular members we believe that York Volleyball Club is one of the largest clubs in the country and it is continuing to grow year on year.
We have eight teams playing in competitive leagues which allow over 100 people to take part in volleyball training sessions each week. This would not be possible without the 15+ volunteers who give their time each week to coach, manage teams, referee and score.
Due to the number of coaches we have at the club we are able to support coaches as they learn and develop by sharing experiences and allowing coaches to learn from each other. There are now; two level 3 coaches, three Level 2 coaches, six level 1 coaches in the club. We also encourage continuous development through the use of online sources, attendance of courses and the annual coaches conference in Kettering.
Our club runs because of volunteers, the committee meets each quarter to discuss developments and opportunities for the club and our members. With so many teams playing regularly we are keen to ensure as many of our members can help to officiate as possible. New referees can gain support to complete their initial training through courses and established referees work to compliment this with extra coaching and practice sessions. Each team supplies volunteer scorers for each match and they are trained by someone else in their team. Committee members have also had the opportunity to learn with training support for our volunteer treasurer and welfare officers.
During the summer months we run recreational outdoor sessions, during summer 2017 these sessions regularly attracted 30-40 players and sometimes as many as 70. The weekly participants are usually made up of a mixture of juniors, new adult players and longstanding club members.
Many of the new players took part in our flagship summer event last year alongside our longstanding club members. VolleyFest, is an outdoor grass tournament supported by local businesses open to 40 mixed, men’s and junior teams and one of our key fundraising initiatives.
In addition to our grass competition, some of our members independently run Yorkshire Series beach tournaments at Bridlington Beach over a number of weekends from May to September. The series has seen an increase in participants and the team involved plan to take this to the next level in the coming year, with training camps and junior competitions.
Following on from the summer success we were able to add an extra training session to our winter programme which led to increased opportunities for new players to access volleyball coaching and compete on a regular basis.
Through our commitment to making volleyball accessible to more people and increase participation we are in regular contact with local media and have a working relationship with York Council. The council helps to advertise outdoor sessions and York School Games coordinators have helped YVC to develop links with local schools, particularly Archbishop Holgate and Huntington School, both have added volleyball to sports leadership courses.
As well as setting up afterschool clubs with Archbishop Holgate and Sherburn High the Club has played a major role in restarting the Yorkshire Junior Talent Pathway with three out of four age group teams coached by York VC coaches. Many of the Yorkshire players train on a weekly basis with York VC and we have been able to help some of these junior players to attend national training camps.
As part of our support in the local community we have been involved in running volleyball and sitting volleyball sessions for disadvantaged groups in the City, including young carers, refugee groups and people with mental and physical disabilities.
We continue to work closely with the Council's new sport facility providers to ensure volleyball can be played at the new Indoor Arena currently in development and are looking forward to the future of volleyball in York.
YVC has significantly increased participation in the city over the past 12 months and has plans to increase this further in the coming years. We believe that the efforts of our players, committee members and volunteers make it the 2017/18 Club of the Year.
York Volleyball Club key facts:
46 registered women’s league players
41 registered men’s league players
20 junior and recreational members
2 x Level 3 coaches
3 x Level 2 coaches
6 x Level 1 coaches
10 x Qualified referees